Lights, camera and action.
More accurately there were no lights other than sunshine, but all the other necessary elements were there for the filming this week of a short Haibike documentary by our sponsors Haibike Germany of the E-Bike Cycle Tourists ongoing record-breaking e-bike journey throughout mainland Europe and the UK.
With 24,816 kilometres now cycled since we set out in April 2015 to set a new world long distance e-bike record, the documentary, when it is released in a few weeks’ time, will give e-bike enthusiasts a special insight into what self-supported cycle touring on an e-bike is all about during what has essentially been our full-time job for the past 14-plus months.
After so many months of pedalling our Haibike xDuro Trekking e-bikes over so many kilometres, the four days of filming in the Chinon region of France was a welcome distraction for both of us.
Also, after a lifetime of being on the asking end of questions in my day to day job as a newspaper journalist, it was interesting indeed to have the tables turned and to be the one answering the questions.
It was also fascinating to see how a documentary is filmed, with Haibike social marketing manager Piers Spencer-Phillips and his cameraman brother, Luke, using every method possible to get what should prove to be some amazing footage of us on our Haibike e-bikes.
In particular some of the footage we have already seen that was shot from a drone as we cycled through seemingly never-ending vineyards is amazing, with the symmetrical lines of the vines contrasting perfectly with the straight lines of the roads and trails we were cycling on.
Other interesting footage was also shot from a GoPro camera spinning on a special mount attached to our cycling helmets, from a car, from bicycles, by Luke as he ran along next to us and from strategic positions in small villages, along the Loire River – which is currently in flood – and near the beautiful Rigney-Usse Chateau.
Overall the decision to base the shooting of the documentary in the Chinon region of France in the Loire Valley was a good one.
Firstly the region is one our all-time favourites, but more importantly it provided all of the necessary elements for a documentary – amazing natural scenery, some of the most picturesque and famous chateaus in France, a wild untamed river, historic villages, vineyards … basically there is a picture postcard scene at every turn of the road.
All in all we had a blast of a time and now can’t wait to see the finished short documentary which will be used by Haibike to not only promote our record-breaking journey, but their Trekking range of touring/commuting e-bikes.
Actually, if the truth be really known, the real stars of our journey – and the documentary – are our Haibike Trekking xDuro e-bikes, with our participation limited to ‘extras’ status.
Basically all we have done is provide the muscle power to keep the pedals turning over the past 14 months while at the same time enjoying a life-changing journey, with our e-bikes repaying our determination to keep going many times over with trouble free cycling.
After all, 24,816 kilometres is an awful long way to cycle without a hint of a major problem, with the heart and soul of our e-bikes – the Bosch Performance Crank Drive motors and sturdy, well designed Haibike Trekking frames – performing faultlessly.
With the filming of the documentary now complete we are continuing to cycle across France towards Hungary and are currently camped at La Charite-Sur-Loire, a historic village on the banks of the Loire River that was established in 1059 around a famous monastery.
The best way to describe the scenery as we follow the EuroVelo 6 cycle route along the Loire River is stunning … to do the area justice you would need to stay for weeks or months, not just days as we are as we clock up 80 to 100 kilometres per day.
Early on in our record-breaking adventure we realised that our trip was all about the journey on our e-bikes and as such it was impossible to see everything along the way.
As a result we are more than happy to limit our “sightseeing” to what we can see from our e-bikes – maybe at some stage in the future we will return for a more leisurely exploration of the beautiful Loire region.
Anyway, keep your eyes peeled for the soon-to-be-released Haibike documentary about our travels, it promises to be veeeeeeery interesting!!