Cycling in Mauritius (part 1/5)

From the white snow-capped Alps, to the white beaches of Mauritius, this has been my Wilier Granturismo’s first overseas trip.

I never considered Mauritius a cycling destination, for me the island was just a beautiful holiday destination where you fly to when you wish to relax, enjoy the warm sun and escape the cold winter of Northern Italy.

We decided to go to Mauritius with my family, it was my second time, the first one was 16 years ago and I did not bring my bicycle then! I read some articles and posts on the internet about cycling on the island and because I am preparing for some granfondo, I decided it was worth the shot: let’s bring the bike to Mauritius, after all, it is summer there, roads should be decent and it looks like there is a growing cycling culture on the island.

I asked my friend who went through some granfondo in various locations, if he could lend me his Scicon bag for the trip. I think it is worth mentioning that this was all new to me: I have never taken my bicycle outside Lombardy!

Bike ready to fly with its bag

Thanks to a YouTube video, I smoothly packed up my bike: with the help of my daughter (6) we packed it right the first time, nice and easy. Take off the wheels, deflate them completely, fix the bike on the bag frame and place all the pieces in the very-well-built bag. The bag was well padded but I still wondered, “will my 5-month old bike get to destination safely?”

We flew Emirates with a stop-by in Dubai. With a nice surprise! I didn’t have to pay anything to bring my oversized bag at destination, everything is included in the luggage allowance: bag is 8.5 Kilos and bike is 7.5 Kilos, so I had 14 kilos for another luggage and 2 handbags to carry inside the airplane, what a deal!

I handled the bike at the oversized bag area with the request to handle it with extra care, something useless, I know, but that was what I needed to stay calm at that moment: I read some nasty comments about the way airport personnel threat luggage. I also asked the lady at the counter to put a fragile sign on the big luggage and she kindly did it, another kind of medicine for my anxiety on how the bike would have been travelled to destination…

So after 12 hour of flight and the Dubai stop-by I got the bike back at the airport in Mauritius. I saw the bike coming through the extra size delivery counter and there it was. She was in one piece. Nothing went wrong: the bike was in perfect condition ready to be ride through the Mauritian roads, the next big question mark!

Beach stop