Category: Communication

Françoise Denel, the dean of the Sun Trip, was honoured with the Public Award. She was acclaimed for her enthusiasm and optimism in all circumstances, her benevolent and poetic look at the regions crossed.

Jack Butler received the Jury Award that rewards the adventurer who knew how to achieve the sun Trip in recharge 100% solar, while communicating best on his adventure. The organization team particularly appreciated Jack’s talent for making videos (sometimes even with the use of a drone), as well as his strong presence on social networks.

Youssef El Haouass and Mohamed Said Kaan have received the  “Coup de coeur 2018” award by the organization team. Together they formed a welded duo, capable of an exceptional performance: the design and construction by Youssef of a solar tandem adapted to the handicap, the courage of Mohamed Said to embark on this adventure despite his handicap. To move the mountains!

Visits: 83

The organization team decided to award a "coup de coeur" 2018 to the Moroccan duo Youssef El Haouass and Mohamed said Jberi. In fact, their participation was a challenge to the administrative realities and the physical constraints. Their performance was at the height of the hopes brought!

First of all, Youssef managed to design and build the first solar tandem adapted to handicap and able to travel over a very long distance.
And on the other hand, Mohamed said accepted the crazy bet to embark on this journey France-china, despite his handicap.
Together they formed a welded duo, able to overcome all obstacles, including some administrative complications. Together they inspired the world and grew the adventure of Sun Trip.

This performance is part of the continuity of those of other SunTripers, since the first edition in 2013. The solar bike is a way to push the limits and it is an honor for the Sun Trip to be the vector of such a humanist message.
Bravo again to Youssef and Mohamed Said who will be celebrated on their return to Tangier in Morocco.

Visits: 92

Jean-Claude Viguier delivers his vision of the adventure of the Sun Trip, a human adventure above all, as can be read in these lines:
« Few adventurers have approached the sun trip as a competition. Through this comment I do not want to obscure the extraordinary performances of the SunTripers that have permanently marked their footprint solar mobility. The meeting with others, the sharing of values, the exchange are more important in my opinion than any timekeeping performance. The objective of this project was to demonstrate that solar energy was able to achieve very beautiful things without any environmental consequences. Nevertheless, we do not travel 12000 km without a thorough and long physical and psychological preparation. The trainings carried out in all the times allowed us to forge a steel mind. The stresses imposed on the winter outings have strengthened us physically and psychologically. There was still uncertainty and not least: how the organism would support several hundred km per week, for three months, without other days of rest than those imposed by weather, shipping or technological vagaries. Physiologically our organism sends us signals that are as many messages as we have to interpret. For my part for two years the internal faces of my knees are painful. Many specialists have "prescribed" me the end of my sports competitions. That there is no challenge without sacrifices. Sixty physiotherapy sessions were needed to alleviate my pain and allow me to support 150 km training on a 1000 to 1200 km/month. Even though my pain persists the temptation to go at the end of this adventure has never been altered.

From the moment I met Mohamed, Youssef, Paul, Françoise and I spent I drew in their mental strength what I still needed to meet this challenge. Most of them, except Youssef, have a physical deficit, caused by illness or accident, or have undergone significant operations. They deliberately excluded from their vocabulary the word failure. They replaced it with the words Joy of Life, will, success, generosity… These are probably the most beautiful meetings made during this summer among the competitors. I do not mean of course the group of Tarnis Cathy, Francois, Didier, Gilles who have become true friends and whose values of humanity are equal only the courage they have shown to overcome all the difficulties of this journey. Some of the anonymous people who met during the adventure will surprise me with their generosity. Knowing nothing about us or us on them, we shared short moments of happiness during which we received beautiful lessons of life. Self-transcendence is a subjective notion. In the most hostile part of the world, Mike Horn travelled thousands of kilometers in appalling conditions to the North Pole, often putting his life at risk. I've never heard him say "I'm putting an end to this adventure". »

« Mohamed Said and Youssef are in my opinion, the same caliber as Mike Horn, and are undoubtedly the two greatest adventurers of the Sun trip 2018. They never consider ending this project even if the weather is sparked on them. Youssef studied in France and, back in Tangier, he climbs his manufacturing workshop, designs and manufactures several trikes. Mohamed who no longer has the use of his legs contact him so that he makes him a gear adapted to his handicap. Mohamed embodies the joy of living, he accepts his handicap very well even if he had the use of his legs at birth. It was no longer necessary to Youssef, convinced by this strong personality, to imagine the project of tandem Trike. There was only one step to be taken to get these two up to the challenge of the Sun trip. Their minds are out of standard and their duo is endowed with an extraordinary complementarity that allowed them to go at the end of the adventure. Youssef has a mechanical engineering background. With a limited amount of resources, he creates his own workshop, with computer tools and design software. Very quickly he imagines, models, and analyzes the behavior of his solutions in materials resistance. It turns out that they are terribly effective. Its trike has impressive stability. The structure of its chassis is designed to collect the efforts to deform and guarantee a very appreciable flexibility by the cyclists. A major step towards industrialization could be envisaged, which would be a well-deserved outcome. Even if the market is restricted the prototypes imagined by Youssef deserve to be marketed. If only to meet the needs of people with reduced mobility. It is in my opinion the two heroes of the Sun trip 2018. If the price of self-transcendence and generosity existed, they would be the indisputable winners. »

Visits: 96

Romain Neauport (Team O2Feel) is interviewed on WEO, the TV channel of Hauts-de-France. He tells his journey, the good times, the difficulties too. This interview is illustrated by images shot this summer in Kazakhstan by Guillaume Devot of the Sun Trip organization team.

Visits: 82

Today, July 12th, 23rd day of trip, Raf Van Hulle has exceeded the 6000 km route at 13h30, which is half of the estimated distance between Lyon and Guangzhou in China. This performance shows both the personal qualities of this solar cyclist and the quality of the solar vehicle he designed. It also shows the interest of the concept of solar bike experienced from 2006 by Florian Bailly, organizer of the Sun Trip.

Visits: 67

Visits: 70

Visits: 72

Lionel Serra, who works as a researcher for the National Institute of Solar Energy/CEA, was interviewed by TV Channel UA Rivne. He explains the operation of his solar bike and the reasons for his participation in the Sun Trip 2018.

Visits: 65

Arriving in Kiev (Київ), Auguste and Camille Colle have lent themselves to a photo shoot with the photographer Anastacia Tkachenko.

Visits: 72

Jack has been offered a saddle from the legendary Brooks brand!

Visits: 75

Visits: 67

Michaël Joguet

Daniel Jenni

Visits: 66

Visits: 64

This reporting has been broadcasted on France Info channel :

Visits: 106