about
we've kept it short, so don't worry :)
Awesome, amazing, great, beautiful, funny, charming, the best.
Born and raised in Germany, lived in Stuttgart and Berlin, cycled all around northern part of the country, studied to become a teacher, but then decided to travel around promoting new school books in the beautiful Black Forest region in the south of Germany instead.
She has a soft spot for nice people and good food. You can follow her movements on Strava.
Nerd on a bike.
Born and raised in Chile, studied engineering, thought going to Germany to pursue a PhD would just be a short stint (he stayed for 10 years), worked in several projects related to energy efficiency in buildings before moving onto heat pump development in the middle of the hype (which was a lot of fun).
He has a soft spot for Chrissi and self-supported travel on foot, bikes or skis. You can follow his movements on Strava, too.
The Trip
Both of us had wanted to go on a trip like this for a very long time, even before we met. In 2019 we made detailed plans of a world tour, going from Germany to Vladivostok and then from Alaska to Patagonia. As the pandemic, wars, new jobs and other plans came in between, we decided to drop the idea and concentrate on other things, while still travelling with our bikes as much as possible (long weekends, holidays, etc.).
In April 2023 the idea came up again and, in spite of really enjoying our jobs, we decided to quit them and go for it, albeit with a more limited budget (financially and timewise). Therefore, unless we win the lottery along the way, we plan to start our trip in Patagonia and go as far north as our savings allow. The crossing of Eurasia will have to wait till our retirement.
FAQ
What's in the name "Pedal And Chain"?
Pedal and Chain (alternatively written Pedal X Chain) was the original name of our Instragram channel, which we started with the goal of increasing traffic on our RedBubble profile, where we sell cycling-related T-shirts. The original idea was to save up some money for our weekend and holiday cycling trips. We thought "Pedal and Chain" would be a brand name generic enough for cycling shirts. We were too lazy to create a new channel once we decided to use the Instagram to actually document our own trips. Hence the name.
Is selling T-shirts online good business?
It pays for a coffee or two a month, but that's about it. Our original goal of financing our trips has not materialized yet.
How long did you save up for the trip?
Francesco has been living on a low budget and saving up for "something big" since 2013; Chrissi since 2017. So for a very long time.
Were you sick of corporate life?
We actually really enjoyed our jobs. We just wanted to travel more than we wanted to stay, at least for a while.
Did you have any experience with bicycle touring before starting this trip?
Yes, we've both been cycling for many years, even before we met.
Contact
You can contact us via Instagram (dm) or by sending an email to pedalxchain (at) gmail.com.