De Filosofie Van De Heuvel (NL)

A poet weighing over a hundred kilos and a Russian photographer decide to cycle from Leiden to Rome at a quarter to four in the afternoon on 1 June 2008. They are not trained, especially he, and not prepared. She has a yellow mountain bike, of which the most important thing is that it is yellow, he has bought a sixth-hand Batavus racing bike for 95 euros from the Turkish bicycle repair shop around the corner. Forty-one days later and 2600 kilometres further they arrive at Campo de’ Fiori in the heart of the Eternal City.

This book is their joint report, in words and images, of a journey via Zoeterwoude-Dorp, Tilburg, Marseille, Genoa and the whores of Pisa, over hills, mountains and passes, past wine cellars and roadside restaurants, parking lots and motorways, seaside resorts and wild boars – a journey that has changed their lives. A book for cyclists, dreamers and for all people who realize that you learn more from a difficult climb than from an easy descent and that the path is more important than the destination.