“One cannot be unhappy when one has this: the smell of the sea, the sand under one’s fingers, the air, the wind.”
– Irène Némirovsky, The wine of solitude, 1935

You pedal, and eveything seems alright.
Same road, same sound, thoughts that go round without going anywhere
Then it takes so little: the asphalt changes, a wrong trajectory, a slight distraction. And you’re on the ground.
Nothing serious. Your hand on the asphalt, a couple of scrapes, the bike on its side. The smell of hot tar, rubber, dust. Your breathing out of sync.
Why me?
It comes out later. When it’s already happened.
A car passes, someone slows down, asks if you’re okay. You nod.
You get back up.
The chain is on, the wheel spins. So do you.
You set off again. A bit battered and messy, but that’s okay.
You just want to go.

Some contents:

• Luz do Sul. Raccontare il Sud del Portogallo attraverso la Volta ao Algarve.
• The present we didn’t see coming. Will Matthew Brennan be the next big name for the Classics?
• Rockets! From YouTube to the World Tour, the incredible rise of the team founded by Bas Tietema.
• The Gospel According to Matthew. We went to Nice, to Matthew Riccitello’s home.
• Stelvio Epic Rides. A challange of nine climbs around the ultimate Cima Coppi: it can be completed in a season, but we attempted it in two days.
• Roman’s Garage. The founder and soul of Canyon literally opened his home and memory book to us.
• Quí tè camí té món. If you have a road you have the world, in Catalan. Our road was the Grand Tour de Catalunya Gravel

… and much more!

[alvento is a state of mind]