R&D: The Art of Getting Lost to Find Oneself

ESP – ENG

Research and development. Or what we commonly know by its initials as R&D. For a few years now, this is what I’ve called those days when I decide to get lost with my bike and bikepacking gear in search of new paths or linking places.

Often the results of these journeys stay with me, other times they end up becoming part of a new route. Just as in science, these investigations sometimes turn out well, sometimes poorly, and sometimes require a maturation process:

There have been sections of a route that just flowed naturally, almost instinctively. Just emerging in front of you. Other exploration days haven’t gone so well and have ended in miles of walking to get out of the mess. Sometimes, on the other hand, the process requires going back again and again, rethinking areas, waiting for the terrain itself to tell you the story you wish to share with future travellers. This last type is the one I enjoy the most, the one that tests me the most, and the one that gives me the most satisfaction when I solve it. Because in the end, it’s a process that allows me to feel alive. The process itself, not just the result in the form of a new route.

That is why these lines are intended as a tribute to this format—a type of journey focused not only on the line itself, but on its creation. To the uncertainty, to getting lost and finding oneself again. To the excitement of arriving at a place you didn’t expect to find. Or rather, somewhere you dreamt of finding, without ever knowing when it would appear before you.

I find it very interesting to show this part, and not just the route when it is finished, ready to go, with all the final photos and detailed maps. The road to that point sometimes takes years and many kilometres. Because I love that taste in my mouth that tells me I have to come back, that I need to keep linking, to keep listening to this land to see what it has to tell me.

Sometimes an area catches your attention on the map, or that orthophoto with ‘nothing’ in a huge extension surprises you, other times you rely on old routes without much use or connection, or on contributions from beautiful local souls who know every corner of their own backyard, as has happened in a good part of this case, in my days in the Cuencas Mineras of Teruel.

In short, following lines when we travel is a wonderful option if we want to play it safe, to enjoy with friends or family, or if we need a few days of escape from our worries to be with ourselves, in a controlled environment. But on the other hand, the magnetism of creating your own line is undeniable too, shaping it, researching here and there on different maps, or simply letting yourself be guided by instinct once you’re on the bike.

Some more photos…

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