Black sunday and a farewell

Burgos, monday, july,16 - I am sitting thoughtfully at Hotel Norte y Londres. So what has happened in the past days, where do we go now, who will be with whom?let me tell you the story....

We carried on walking after Santo Domingo de Calzada towards Burgos and tried to find another launch field. On sunday morning we had a flight, or better, I had a flight, while Ales motor broke during launch attempt. Hanka got into the air with the trike turning around with Dominik for the filming.

I flew to Zunado, a small village near the highway to Burgos and came down as I saw that no one is behind or coming. Unfortunately I had forgotten my bag with money, celphone and documents.
So I had to improvise with people totally busy with harvesting fields. A man finally helped me by calling the Guardia Civil, the police. They arrived on the spot and curiously saw me and the paramotor. I told them my situation and asked them to help me to get into town so I could eventually contact the others.They brought me to a train station and gave me some money so i could continue into Burgos where in an internet I checked my email account to find any hint about Werners celphone no. and finally got it. I called and was explained their situation with the motor damage.

For me after all the decision was ready, it took days,but somehow I was clear about it: look, I am a beginner of paramotoring with yesterday having executed my eight flight ever, but, done so with Ales# help! I am not yet an independant pilot, I cannot do miracles and I will for as long as the project goes, be exposed to all the risks that I am unfamiliar with.
I have given up that "no risk,no fun" adventurer thinking, as our project requires much more careful planning and knowledge of a field where any tiny little detail counts. I have not much knowledge in this field and the time to get into it,unfortunately, is not given anymore.

Thats why I took my decision for the sake of all of us:
I will renounce and leave my motor to Ales,so that he has a certain chance to accomplish the idea that once has brought us together (and I just found out that he is doing well so, meanwhile - a flight to Sahagun across the Meseta!).
The proejct goes on without me but with my spirit. Because its the spirit, its the thinking that creates realities. So my thinking stays firm with the cause and the cause is to reach the far coast at Cabo Finisterre! To reach the city of Santiago de Compostela, to realize the dream that has been dreamt!

I will stay and reorientate and who knows what other opportunities will rise... I am glad that I was for one third of the way member of a team, that I could inspire people to do something so different and also exhausting and costly.

When I spoke my decision we were all fine with it. No regrets. No refusals, no "but"s". Farewell from Werner (we will see each other home again in august) and from Dominik (make the best film ever,please!) and some words for Ales and Hanka who were already ahead of Burgos.

YOU WILL MAKE IT - GO FOR IT!

The winds but touches my nose and brings the smell of new air for adventure and new ideas and powerful days coming......lets go for it!

In the line of fire - heavy thoughts & getting to Santo Domingo

Wow! The past days were heavy. We had harsh discussions, flights in strong winds and also were we experiencing the beauty of the morning landscape. Probably its a ll part of the game!

On my side the questions arose and remains:
did I underestimate the game? Did I do my part too selfish? I was ready to leave yesterday. Its usually day 12 before friday,13 that made occasionally the biggest trouble in my life whenever it occurred.

Well, there is the technical part: I hate paramotoring but I do not see any other choice to receive an aerial image of the path, to combine both elements. I always said of paragliding that it is not a sport to me but a means of perception. I am a philosopher and an experimentator of life and its circumstances. With all the good and the bad consequences. With all the prsent state of mind that man can develop due to outer reasons that hide from understanding. I brought them in, too, and I was completely misunderstood.

I appreciate the energy of my companion Ales and his girlfriend Hanka, both are behind the idea like hell but both are totally into paramotoring. I don't.
The second thing is that I always feel like a beginner that cannot (for the time being and the time is running...) launch independently on the way and needs others help.
And I come from the most independant way of flying - the solo bivouac flight.

My problem therefor is - to agree with others and swallow different circumstances and that the game is not in my hands. It is played by Ales and Hanka who have invested more,much more than I.
I know it and I had never agreed to play a smaller role in such a game. But thats the point: will I accept it or not? Can I live with it? We are, after all, human, and we are so different.
But still one thing we all invest, and thats our life.

And also I must confess and clearly state that without Werner it would not be possible too. He is the one contact I made and brought in who brings the necessary support: the helping hand and the vehicle to carry the trike and all the rest. Without him, Pilgrim-Flight would remain a mere idea or a chaos ending quickly. With my Kangoo I don't have enough space to help transporting all the amount of materials. Its him who is there and who brought in some aid money as well.

Thanx, Werner, you are a little big man!

And there is cameraman Dominik who finally joined us at Logrono. Dominik will do his best to make a great film. And I will discuss with him the scenarios worthy to be part of the film.

So thats the situation. I hate to be a beginner of something though I involuntarily agreed to that role accepting paramotoring.I don't know what will be on. I had harsh discussion with Weener and Ales and Hanka hates me. Too many misunderstandings. But they don't know me, they see only what I showed and that was not good.

From Puente la Reina I marched my motorglider to Lorca and found a great place to sleep and launch. Ales joined in on the morning of july, 10 and we started immediately, but he had to return due to motor problems while I went to Sansol, thinking it was Viana. I landed on a good launch field and was waiting for the crew.

Werner went to pick up Dominik and joined me. My right ankle looked bad and a doctor told me not to use it for walking a couple of days. I spent the night in the local pilgrim hostal and the next morning Ales came flying to land in and help me relaunch.

Day 11: I launched and went to Oiya only. A sudden noise in the air followed by a loud crack and a pitch of the glider. My exhaust had broken and I was forced to land. The others came to check and we went back towards the outskirts of Logrono where we camped near a bird sanctuary and had a great opportunity to launch in the evening again. Ales prepared the auxiliary engine for himself and gave me his paramotor.

At 21h the wind picked up again and I was afraid that it will be unflyable soon. Ales helped me starting but I missed to just fly turns for the trike already being launched with Dominik filming.
So I climbed immediately to 2200 altitude (1700 mts above ground level) and crossed the Ebro river towards Najera but the engine stopped. The follwing glide brought me towards Sote a village past Navarrete and I hit extremely turbulent air that brought me to decide for an emergency landing in the middle of vine yards on a field. I did send my coordinates to Hanka who was doing retrievel.
Unfortunately we started disupting about the informations and found each other in the middle of the night on a roundabout with Hanka in extremely bad mood.
After my return I was turned upside down by the discussion following and had not much in return but to apologize and ask for a day off to reconsider.

This day today Ales flew an amazing 60 kms (he had nearly no sleep) and not knowing that he would not have another option. He landed at Reconcillo after Santo Domingo.
I woke up late and had a soft morning to recover my energies. With Werner and Dominik we went to Santo Domingo by car to do necessary shoppings and then to join Ales and Hanka.

I have decided for me one thing:
this is not a competition. I will carry the equipment when I feel strong enough and carry what I can carry depending on my physical shape. Because this expedition is anyway not possible without support vehicles that carry spare parts and our other stuff. So in any case we will never be able to carry all by ourselves. Trying to do so while having support vehicles sounds like the ridiculous attempt of looking like sportsmen. If it would be a bivoac flight with no engine and the light gear available I agree but not in the case of a motor flight. Our expedition is unique enough already and we have carried enough. I am not Superman and I do not need to convince people about my capacities. The bigger challenge is the human challenge - besides of the weather - to form a team and keep it alive until the end! Then, only then, it would become more than a dream!

And maybe thats exactly what the "Camino" is wanting of all of us: to get beyond our whatsover limits in the mind. we will see. Look at the pics....

Rollercoaster to Puente La Reina

We camped in the fields near Arre, which means that I was brought back again from my advanced psotion at Cizur Menor. Very little sleep and hectic preparations. I launched at 6h45 in my second attempt with Ales helping. Got straight west and climbed to 1050 mts asl. and approached puerto del Perdon, the last limit of the Pamplona valley feeling the sensation of being pushed by strong wind. (during my launch I had none!).
Crossing the saddle just above the road tunnel with strong turbulences and my first motorglider collapse which I recovered with little loss of height. I decided to approach Puente la Reina and saw the trees shaken by the wind. I landed safely 1km from the Hotel Restaurant Jakue, very nice place,also albegrue for Pilgrims and excellent buffet.
Ales had several attempst and got finally airborne but had to land shortly afterwards for emergency. He is waiting now for flight conditions to catch up with me. We hope for tuesday early. The wind is still blowing (at 22h 30!).
I have no pics to add - unfortunately - they are shot by Weerner but will be posted later or in the other blog in Facebook "Pilgrim Flight to Conpostela".
I say good night to all who follow our trace. I am 135 kms from the beginning with mostly walking. Lets hope we have better days ahead!

Walk & Fly & Roll across Pamplona

By afternoon on sat july,7 Ales had walked most of the way from Roncesvalle downwards to Zubiri, using his mini-roller for descent.
We wer watching him.
No flyable conditions and we finally spent the night at Zubiri. Also to discuss our further team preparations.
The morning of sunday,8, Ales wanted to launch fromn the road at km 17. We helped him holding traffic back for ten minutes. Ales eventually got airborn and had a bumpy flight 189 kms away towards west of Pamplona.

Werner brought me to my last position from where I started walking my equipment across Pamplona. The city was under control of the San Firmin Party and full of people in white clothes with red scarfs.

I reached Cizur Minor and the San Juan hostel by 13h in fast rush with bad legs. Werner joined me shortly later.
With Ales and Hanka we finally met at 18h on the other side at Arre to discuss mondays plan.

Ales and I would launch together and fly around the CTR to Estrella. Hopefully!

Days of back and forth

Stuck between Roncesvalle and Pamplona....the Pyrenees trapped us. While Ales arrived by 4pm on thu. 4, I have carried on with just the glider on my back towards Pamplona in order to wait out if he can fly from Roncesvalle. Unfortunately I missed the right path and followed on road 1720 towards Arries. My left leg hurt a lot ()the reason not to carry the motor anymore and,anyway, I will only carry it on short stretches again...it does overexhaust us too much).
I did not use my tracking logger due to failure. At Pamplona shopping centre after 6 hrs of fast walk I gave up and got brought back to Zubiri by Leo after hitchhiking. (Thanx, Leo from Buenos Aires!)
I spent the night at the Pilgrim Hostel (never again: they stole my watch the other morning and you can hardly sleep in a room with 30 dormitories and NO window open!!!!). and on fri 5 I moved again towards Pamplona following the pilgrim path while Ales had an engine problem at Roncesvalle (some parts caught humidity and had to be cleaned dry). I reached desperately the shopping centre at the entrance of Pamplona and bought us 4 spanish SIM cards and then waited out for Werner to pick me up and bring me back (!!!) to Roncesvalle into a stormy wind.
In the evening of day 5,july we waited until 22h for a launch attempt with Ales fixed engine. He took off and got into very bumpy air. Avoiding collapse he landed back in after a turn.

Now 9h morning sat 6 Ales is walking since 3am with the paramotor in order to find a launchable spot closer to Pamplona. We are getting ready slwoly and I have a rest day for my leg.