Stronger than the Tour de France. Antonio Gonçalves-Barbosa, 69, achieved the feat of reaching Essonne in Portugal in just six days. His amazing adventure ended on June 29.
The cyclist, a public works employee for 43 years and cycling enthusiast for 30 years, chose to rest for just three nights on the way out and two on the way back, Reports Parisian.
to
Without GPS he designs his route “manually”
Antonio developed his route without a GPS, using maps on pieces of A4 paper. To cover this distance, Antonio trained a lot. This experienced cyclist, who loves long distances, has five Paris Brest bikes to his credit.
In 2009, he had already traveled to Portugal by bike in 8 days, and returned by plane. For this new challenge, he decided to ride a bike at night with 5 kg of luggage and schedule his rest times to reach Portugal, his home and his family in just six days.
Distance 80 to 100 km
Far from resting once there, the athlete took the opportunity to make repairs and remove weeds around the house before hitting the road again. He was given a warm welcome to the Jesse Owens Gymnasium during the Rhythmic Gymnastics Division ceremony. “I couldn't believe it,” he testifies.
Antonio does not intend to rest on his laurels. Before his next big project came to fruition, he would travel the roads of Essonne four times a week to walk 80 to 100 kilometres.
