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Cycle Your Heart Out  in...
ENGLAND | GERMANY | SPAIN | ITALY | FRANCE | NETHERLANDS | PORTUGAL | BRAZIL | MEXICO | DENMARK

6/8/2018 0 Comments

Heart Route 30 in Brighton - The Route to friendship

​The Route to Friendship 

Sometimes in life you’ll visit somewhere and fall in love
Destined to return
That place for me was Brighton
It stole my heart not once, but twice
Recently made fuller
Thanks to the beauty of 
Friendship

Sometimes it’s weeks 
Months
Years
Time passes and not a word exchanged between you

Yet put together in the same room
The stories
The memories
Retold as if they’d occurred last year

Jobs, partners, cities, may have all changed
But some friendships remain the same
Unable to budge for anyone
Not even time
Follow your heart

I dedicate this heart route to my friends Jimmy & Kieron, and their wedding coming soon!
It was also an amazing opportunity to be able to reunite again with old friends, and dance our hearts out to Britney Spears at Gay pride!! 

Cycle your heart out... the route to friendship

Location
Brighton, England

I first fell in love with this city about 7 years ago after visiting a friend. The minute I left the train station it was as if I'd arrived home. The warmness of the people, the charm of the North Laines, the endless choice of veggie restaurants, and then of course the cycling! Riding along the coast, the scent of fish and chips in the air, and views of scattered of deck chairs. Coming back here after so long, all those feelings remained. 

Heart route
4.73km route

Cycle your heart out

Highlights:
Bike rental: Brighton Beach Bikes
Brighton Palace Pier
Brighton West Pier
Brighton Beach
Royal Pavilion
North Laine Bazaar
The White Rabbit pub
Iydea Vegetarian Kitchen

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Thanks so much to Mark and Mel at Brighton Beach Bikes for advising me on how hilly Brighton is, and helping me create my heart route!

My amazing friends, for making a ton of new beautiful memories together!

If you would like to create your own heart route click here to learn my top 5 steps!

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26/3/2018 0 Comments

Route 28 & 29 - Costa Brava, Spain

One day

I would always reserve certain places for one day

I'll go there when…
Or I'll go there with…

Costa brava it was one of those places

Year after year I put it off
I don't drive
I'll go there when I have a partner

I was living in the permanent future, blind to the now

This year changed all that

Now I replace one day 
With today
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22/1/2018 0 Comments

Cycle Your Heart Out in Rio De Janeiro! Route 27

The Rio Whisper 

Two years ago you sprung from a photo 
And remained imprinted on my heart
But the noise of life covered 
And concealed your naked beauty
Month by month you’d whisper in my ear
But each night I'd rock you back to sleep
I guess you grew tired of my excuses
Of putting loved ones first and myself last
So you decided to remind me 
Through rejection
Through pain
Through dance

Thank you, for melting my heart 
And washing my eyes clean again
That photo from two years ago flew back into view

Never have I seen a heart route this unique
A bike path hugging every turn, every curve
A heart-shaped lake, 
In a city that beats to the rhythm of my soul
A heart-shaped route to remind us to follow our hearts
and listen to our inner voice
“If you're searching for that one person that will change your life,
​take a look in the mirror”.
Follow Your Heart

When was the last time you put yourself first? ​​So often in life we spend so much time and energy bringing a smile to everyone else's face, that we forget the most important person of all, ourselves. That cliche we have heard our whole lives, is probably the single most important thing we can learn in life, love yourself first! Buy yourself flowers, take that trip to the mountains that you continue to put off, that outfit? Buy it? Meal for one? Enjoy it! That crazy adventure? Book it!

Cycle your heart out...and follow your heart!

Location


A country I've dreamed of going to for years, but always put off, that 'perfect' time never seemed to arrive. In the back of my mind the movie 'Up' would replay, I don't want that to be me, one day on my deathbed wishing things could have been different. October 2017 I lay in bed contemplating who to message for advice… instead my fingers led me to something else...PAY NOW I clicked. Rubbing the morning sleep from my eyes, I'd finally done it! One ticket to my dream destination coming soon! Sharing a sunrise breakfast on the beach a couple days before with my beautiful friend Vanessa  had filled me with so much gratitude. Some friends have this amazing ability to help push you in the direction of your dreams...magic is something you make, and I'm so glad to have her in my life. Cherish these friends with all your heart.

Accommodation:
I stayed at the hostel Lemon Spirit in Leblon, a short walk away from the famous Ipanema beach. It was really easy to meet people and make friends. On my first day I met a really nice girl from Melbourne called Amy, who ended up joining me on my heart route! The hostel also provided a free breakfast, delicious papaya every morning put a smile on my face, especially as it was combined with monkeys swinging from the trees in front of me!

Bike rental:
There was no shortage of places to rent a bicycle in Rio, especially around the heart shaped lagoon. I also decided to try the local bike hire scheme called Bike rio as I wanted the freedom to be able to cycle the whole time I was there. All I needed to do was download the app and use a Brazilian SIM card to register, it was also much cheaper than renting a bike every day.

Heart Route 
 

The unique heart shaped lagoon,  Rodrigo de Freitas! Following the 7.7km  bicycle path, there no need to whip out my map, no need to worry about traffic, and impossible to get lost. Instead I was able to cycle my heart out mindfully,  allowing nothing but my heart to guide me.
Picture
Picture
Cycle Your Heart Out

Along the route, I was greeted by a wave, swaying in the wind were pink petals I knew I'd seen somewhere before. Impossible to smell without closing my eyes, transporting me back to 2010, the first time me and the frangipani flower first met. Now whenever we do, I'm reminded of sunset bike rides along the crocodile beaches of Darwin, Australia, and the rice paddies of Ubud, Bali. M
aybe it was the scent that helped draw me here...

That evening I watched in awe as waves crashed against the Ipanema shore, and I reflected on my day. As I sipped my coconut, I gazed up at the same mountains I had once only dreamed about. Here they were, resting so effortlessly before me, while the Brazil flag danced in the wind. I pulled out my sketchbook, to imprint that moment on my heart.
“The meaning of life is to find your gifts, the purpose of life is to give it away”
Pablo Picasso
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Grateful to Elodie, the French beauty who got me painting again, I'll never forget the moment I spotted her in our hostel in Melbourne back in 2010. Hypnotized by the way she sketched, it was thanks to her I believed I could paint again, who made me believe I was good enough, and hadn't forgotten how. It was her who took me shopping to buy my 1st ever travel paint kit, and who introduced me to the magical water pen in Hobart Tasmania. From Australia to the stunning rocks of Rio's Ipanema beach, here we sit, catching up on 8 years of stories as the sun sets with a paintbrush in our hands.


Awaken love, a global meditation organisation that I discovered first in Barcelona. Instead of a typical Saturday night out in Lapa, I decided to go to this meditation event and get to know more locals. I was lucky to meet these 4 lovely Brazilian ladies and enjoyed sharing my heart shaped story with them, thanks Raphaella, Debora, Izabella, and Fernanda for a lovely evening and night!

My tour guide Lucas from Intrepid Travel. After cycling my heart out I decided to explore the rest of Rio! It was beautiful to discover that locals call the lagoon ‘The heart of Rio’!  Click here to read my full review on Trip Advisor.
​
All the people from Lemon Spirit hostel who helped me climb to the top of the Dois Irmãos hill, and made my dream come true! Zipping up through the Vidigal  Favela on the back of a locals moped, a 1 hour hike through the bushes and sweltering heat! Gazing down, the whole of Rio de Janeiro lay below me.  My heart skipped a beat when I saw the heart shaped lagoon! 

Finally thank you Rio, for making me ride around your every curve. For making me follow my heart and not drown my dreams. For making my heart beat again and believe in love. This route really took the phrase 'follow my heart', to a whole new level! 


​
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25/8/2017 0 Comments

Heart Route 26  - We are Barcelona

We Are Barcelona 

Birds replaced by helicopters
Music drowned out by sirens
​
Hate breeds hate
Love breeds love 
Reaching for my map, I know what needs to be done 
Drawing a red line 
From the top to the bottom of Las Ramblas 
Following the pen along Passeig de Colom 
And into Ciutadella Park
Line by line
Passeig de Gracia
La Pedrera
Plaza de Catalunya
Line by line
You’re now complete

The red pen is then replaced by bike tyres

Every pedal
Every push
Breathing in and out 
Soaking into my memory

For every flower I see
Every candle I notice
Every message I read
I no longer feel fear

We are not afraid
We are Barcelona
Our heart beats on
 
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24/7/2017 0 Comments

Cycle Your Heart Out in Amsterdam - Route 25

The Fly

Woven in a web of confusion, my wings tightly bound
It took six years and twenty-five heart routes to realise it

Sure, it would've been nice if it had occurred overnight 
But it didn’t 
And maybe it wasn’t meant to

Maybe each heartful route was a lesson to learn 
A blessing in disguise 

Maybe each one was a chapter to be told
In a story that was unknowingly writing itself

Maybe that alluring spider’s web 
Was meant to catch me

Maybe I was meant to fight my way through
To come out the other side
As a grateful little fly
Follow your heart

Cycle Your Heart Out and... write!

All week leading up to my trip I'd been reading Elizabeth Gilbert's book ‘Big Magic’. Having been on my reading list for ages, it more or less jumped off the bookshelf into my hands at the Airport. The more I read, the more it made me realise I write because I freaking love it. I understand not everyone will enjoy reading what I have to say, but that's OK too. I'd rather write for the rest of my life than live in a criticism-free bubble.


My favourite part was when she wrote about how we should have more fun with our creativity.
For many years I would stress myself silly about writing up my heart routes, I would try and force myself to write, even if I didn't have a creative cell in my body that day. I would then get burnt out, loose my words, conclude I was a terrible writer and keep it only for myself. I now whisk myself off to romantic locations on my own to allow myself no time limit, just the sheer luxury of being able to write, zero interruptions, other than my wine and olives arriving.
Location 
Amsterdam!

I'd created a heart route in the 
tiny coastal town of Westkapelle back in 2015, when I first discovered how much the Dutch love cycling, and how super flat this country really is.
Having returned to Holland for the 2nd time to spend time with family at the beautiful beach Callantsoog, I managed to arrange a 1 night stay in Amsterdam on my way back to Barcelona.


Heart Route
On the train ride to Amsterdam I looked up bike rental and straight away found MacBike. Located next to the canal, a short walking distance from the famous Rijksmuseum museum and my hostel. I hired my beautiful red bike and got a detailed map of the city. After finding a nice spot on the canal to sip my cappuccino and plan my route I realised it had created itself organically. The more I studied my map and all the canals, the more a heart shape emerged!

Cycle Your Heart Out

Riding down the canals I loved that I had no expectations,  I think along the route I developed an addiction for canals, each one I passed I couldn’t help but take a quick pic! Having been up since 6 am my stomach started to protest at being neglected. A few metres away I found an inviting canal boat, a perfect spot for filling my stomach on some Dutch cuisine. While I ate dozens of touristic boats passed, I felt a little bit like a lion in a safari park as they whipped out their cameras ready to capture the beautiful picturesque canals, with myself modelling a mouthful of food.

I was about to jump back on my bike when I looked across the road and saw the Cheese Museum, I remembered a fellow cheese fanatic friend of mine had mentioned it to me last year. My taste buds melted as my eyes feasted on all the different flavours... truffles, pesto, a rainbow of colours from blue, purple and even green! 

As I cycled along I came across a large group of people all staring up at a house, curious to know what it was I then saw a small sign, “Anne Frank Huis”. Memories came flooding back to me as a child, reading her book in my bedroom, wiping away the tears. In that moment I immediately dedicated a piece of my heart route to Anne.

After gliding along the scenic streets and canals of Prinsengracht Joordan I noticed how quickly the vibe changed. Arriving at the centre of my heart route, I had also reached the HEART of Amsterdam. I came face to face with the grim reaper at the Dam Square Royal palace, and dead bodies at The Body Worlds museum. Cycling through the craziness of it all, one thing remained the same, it was still full of bike lanes, and easy to ride through despite the masses of tourists.

I looked at my map, and noticed I needed to head back towards the canal to start the other half of my heart route. As I stopped at Dam Square to check where I was I noticed a bicycle taxi on the look-out for clients. He must know every single path in Amsterdam I thought, so decided to ask him for some directions. After pointed me in the right direction, and before I knew it, the lines had joined again, heart route 25, now complete! 

After waking up so early and cycling the whole city until 8pm I was on the verge of passing out in hunger and exhaustion. Thank you Lorenzo restaurant, I didn't get the waiter's name, but I'm grateful for his kindness. I'm surprised I could even get my words out, I mumbled something along the lines of, "I'm hungry". Not only did he give me a massive portion of tasty pasta , he cracked some jokes, then took my bike basket off the table to make my meal feel more at home. 

I pretty much passed out immediately back to my hostel! I'll need to return again soon to see Amsterdam by night.

​
The following morning it was time head back to Barcelona and press pause on my Dutch adventures. 
Before saying goodbye I sat in a cafe called Back to Black that I’d discovered along my heart route, directly overlooking the bicycle filled canals.

​Billie Holiday played in the background while I stared out the window searching for the right words to write up about Amsterdam. A heart shaped foam smiled up at me from the cappuccino reminding me of all the kind people I’d met along the route, and helped me make route 25 possible.

No longer had I finished Route 25, I was already starting to dream of my next heart route, and all the adventures yet to come.

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Thanks to everyone at MacBike for telling me all the best canal and paths to ride, as well as nice spots to relax and enjoy the open markets and cafe scene. 
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5/7/2017 0 Comments

Cycle Your Heart Out's 6th Birthday

“Start a ripple effect of heart shaped bicycle routes, and create a more heartful, loving world”...
​
​
Day after day, night after night, that sentence would whirl around my head. Approaching Cycle Your Heart Out’s 6th birthday, I needed to finally fulfill that wish and overcome my fear of organising! For years I’ve helped people make heart shaped routes, but never in a group picnic, June 25th changed all that.

Celebrating Cycle Your Heart Out's 6th Birthday in Barcelona with 19 different nationalities was a dream come true. It was beautiful to watch people's faces as they created their own heart-shaped route, and see the ripple effect finally come to light.​..

Click here to read more
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4/7/2017 0 Comments

Cycle Your Heart Out in Cambridge - Route 24


The Screenshot

It started a few years ago
A screenshot to capture the special moment
I've lost count now, it's become the norm
And it's only sunk in recently

The realisation that I’ll never be able to take a
last-minute coffee
Pop over for dinner
Or enjoy a long comforting hug
The realisation that our future children will never
grow up playing together

Multiple countries, all spread out around the world
I’ve slowly had to accept the fact that my family
may never agree on one country to settle

However, with acceptance comes comfort
Maybe we all have different destinies
Life has a unique plan for us all

So here I am, on my way to make my Cambridge heart route
My mum and sister by my side
Their faces not on a phone, but right here, next to me

What I once took for granted, I now cherish with every inch of my being
To be with them, and not through a screen, is the best birthday gift 

No longer a screenshot
But here side by side
Follow your heart
This July I was grateful to finally celebrate my birthday again with my beautiful mum and sister, and I knew exactly how I wanted us to spend it!

Location
Cambridge, England

Bike hire: Rutland Cycling and Cambridge Bike Tours

Heart route

We arrived in Cambridge with the rain to greet us, so decided to take shelter and relax at the cosy  
Senate bistro and bar. After sipping our coffees and gazing at the map for several minutes, a heart shaped route slowly began to appear!

Cycle your heart out

Highlights:

Inner Space 
Kings College
River Cam

Trinity College
The Anchor Pub    
Jesus Green
Midsummer common


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Grateful to my beautiful mum and sister for giving me a birthday I'll never forget!

Would you like to create your own heart route with your family? Click below to watch my 5 part video series.
​
Let's Ride
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6/2/2017 0 Comments

Heart Route 21 in Barcelona

The Heartful Sunrise

​The feeling of satisfaction as you plot your heart on a map, set off on your bike and ride for the sheer joy of riding, is priceless. 

Your mind only focused on the heart map before you and the next road you need to take. 

As your eyes dance around a route which you’ve created, 
you begin to notice your surroundings with more intensity, more wonder. 

You spot a tree you never appreciated before, 
the looks on people’s faces as you roll on past. 
The surrounding birdsongs appears to grow in volume. 

Thoughts of what you need to do tomorrow somehow get put on hold, regrets about past failures fade out, your inner critic takes a nap as you cycle your heart out heartfully, appreciating the whole journey,
​from beginning to end
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11/11/2016 0 Comments

Cycle Your Heart Out In Barcelona - Route 19

Follow your heart
Do you ever notice how little we sometimes look into people's eyes? All our information seems to be at our fingertips. But can our smartphones smile back at us, or hold a gaze enough to lift our mood? I've been wanting to create a new heart-route in Barcelona since 2013. At the end of October, my heart finally spoke...

The World's Biggest Eye Contact Experiment took place on Saturday 29th October around the world, a beautiful annual event run by The Liberators & Good Vibrations Barcelona. The idea is simple, share 1 minutes eye contact with a total stranger to help regain human connection. I grew up extremely shy, always avoiding eye contact... which is why I went last year to the event. I was a bit nervous at having to stare into a stranger's eyes for 1 whole minute, but the more I did it, the more my confidence increased, convincing me to return again this year. The event was back again in Gracia, one of my favorite neighbourhoods in Barcelona, the perfect place to cycle my heart out!

Cycle your heart out... and share 1 minute!

Location
Gracia, Barcleona 
If you live in Barcelona you can use their local bike hire scheme called 
Bicing. I love how much freedom it gives me, and has saved me from going crazy without a bike these last 2 months. If you’re visiting Barcelona there are also plenty of good bike rental shops to choose from.

Heart route
On the morning of the event I was looking at my map of Barcelona and the route just jumped out at me, it was probably the fastest route I've ever made. I cycle frequently up Passeig de Gracia and Gran Via which I think helped in creating the route. These 2 streets are super wide and I love how bicycle friendly they are.

View Heart Route Map
Length: 8.22km 

Cycle your heart out

I really love this new route, you get to cycle past all the popular spots of Barcelona, while still making use of the wide bicycle paths. Highlights include Passeig de Gracia, Casa Batlló, Casa Milà, Gracia, Placa Del Sol (where the event was) and the Sagrada Família. 

I love eating in Gracia, one of my favourite spots to eat is Sol Soler in Placa del sol, the same place the Eye experiment was in. I love their Bravas and being able to sit and relax on the terrace.
I discovered this rooftop at Royal Hotel with a friend last winter and instantly fell in love with its views. It's the perfect spot to sketch as the heaters keep you nice and warm, while the views of the sea keep you in a state of pure bliss.

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Thank you to Emma Bradford, one of the Co-organisers of Good Vibrations for taking the time to share her thoughts on the event in my video (see below). Emma is also a NLP coach and runs an online Facebook community which offers free guidance and support, to find out more you can visit her website here.

I am also grateful to all the people I shared 1 minutes connection with at the event. I really admired one lady who told me she has trouble looking into people's eyes, which was why she came to the event. A big thanks also to my friend Guiu for sharing the event with me for the 2nd year in a row!

The song in the video below is called Pillow Talk by Guh, it's been part of my morning playlist for over a year now.

Would you like to create your own heart route? Click here for my top tips!
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3/11/2016 0 Comments

Cycle Your Heart Out in Toulouse!

Follow your heart
​Today I woke up with some incredible news, my sister Helen had finally completed her mammoth 3007km trek across New Zealand with her boyfriend Alex! Their Te Aroa Charity walk was complete after 4 months of adventuring. Smiling from ear to ear I couldn't explain in words how proud I was of her... so I decided to show her instead.

Location
Toulouse​, France
Hostel: La Petite Auberge de Saint Sernin

Heart route
To see the 6.8km route click here  - no live gps route due to little bit of a battery fight!

Cycle Your Heart Out

Highlights: great views along the La Garonne river, including Dôme de la Grave, Ecole des Beaux Arts. Cycling along Canal du Midi, Jardin Compans Caffarelli, the tasty food market on Boulevard D'Arcole
​
Bike rental: Pierre Qui Roule www.pierrequiroule.fr, you can also use the city's hire bike system called Vélô Toulouse
Food: Amazing traditional food at La P'tite Gouaille

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Thanks to all the the kind people I met along my route, who showed me the best bicycle paths, great tips & good tea!

Flavien at Pierre Qui Roule bike shop
Marieke & François in the L'Impro
Bernardo de Jeurissen at L'appart cafe
Manual at Le bonheur est dans le for my cup of Yogi tea, the quote said "Il n'y a rien de plus precieux que la confiance en soi" which means There is nothing more precious than self confidence, so true love it!
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31/5/2016 0 Comments

Cycle Your Heart Out in Lisbon! Heart Route 18

Follow your heart

I'm excited to share with you my 18th heart route & 7th country!
Lisbon, you've always held a special place in my heart. Finally getting the chance to cycle my heart out in this colourful city has been a trip I won't forget. Have you ever continued to put off the very thing you know that deep down, will actually make you incredibly happy? I'm guilty of it, so instead of trying to tell fear to go away, I decided to invite it on a heart shaped bike ride around Lisbon.

Cycle your heart out and embrace fear!
Location
I stayed in a beautiful central Air BnB flat full of world maps & a helpful host, Marina

Heart Route

Bike rental: Bike Iberia, founded by the inspiring Didier Mimoso. Their bike map highlights all the best bike paths and even shows you the hill incline! 

Cycle your heart out


Highlights:
Cycling from the centre of Lisbon along the river Tejo to get to Belém to the start of the heart route! This enabled me to create a cool big heart balloon!

-Cycling past the Ponte 25 de Abril suspension bridge, which was actually constructed by the same person who did the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
-In the distance you can see the Christ the King statue which was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
-Museu Nacional de Arqueologia
-Padrão Dos Descobrimentos
-Centro Cultural de Belém
-Jardim Botânico Da Ajuda, getting shown around by the peacocks
-The famous Pastéis de Belém, words can't explain how tasty these custard tarts are!

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​Andre & Didier
from Bike Iberia for helping me create the heart route & showing me how to avoid those huge Lisbon hills!

Borja, fellow bicycle adventurer for sharing his fun cycling stories with me
Diana, my beautiful Portuguese friend. It was eating her homemade Portuguese food over the last 3 years which helped fuel my desire (and stomach) to visit Portugal!
Rakhee & Laura for sharing the experience of Lisbon together, especially the green wine ;-)
Katrin Beckmann, for her beautiful mindfulness techniques on fear

Picture
Improving people's wellbeing sits very close to my heart. It was therefore a great pleasure to meet Positive Psychologists Helena Águeda Marujo and Luís Miguel Neto from ISCSP, Lisbon University, and hear about their work.

​Together they run The Executive Master of Applied Positive Psychology and have just launched the Platform for Public Happiness.

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13/2/2016 0 Comments

Cycle Your Heart Out With... Nic!

Meet Nic, a Beauty Therapist from England

Follow your heart
This Valentines day Nic decided to cycle her heart out to follow her artistic dreams!

Cycle your heart out... and dream!
​

Location
Barcelona, Spain
Bike rental: Mondo rent, Barceloneta

Heart Route
11km, view heart route 

Cycle Your Heart Out 
Highlights:
Crying with laughter watching Nic chase her heart (watch the video below to find out more).
Riding past many of Barcelona’s main highlights, including Arc de Triomf, Barceloneta Beach and Gaudi's famous Sagrada Familia. Sketching our hearts out at the rooftop of the Barcelona history museum at the 
1881 Sagardi terrace. Ending the ride at the TedX event all about following your dreams!

​Watch the video below to find out what Nic ended up sketching!

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Feeling inspire to create a heart route with your friend? Click here to see my top heart making tips!
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9/12/2015 0 Comments

Cycle Your Heart Out in Madrid - Route 17

Follow your heart

"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”  - Dalai Lama

I was having coffee the other week in Barcelona with Positive Psychologist Miriam Akhtar. As we discussed the huge topic of happiness and wellness, she mentioned a fantastic UK Wellbeing Organisation called ‘Action for Happiness’. With the inspiring Dalai Lama  as their patron, they promote positive social change, bringing together people who want to play a part in creating greater happiness. The more I learnt that only we have the power to control our own happiness, the more I knew a heart shaped route was the answer!

Cycle your heart out ... and flourish
​
Location
Madrid, Spain
Bike rental: 
Rent and roll (next to Puerta de Alcalá)

Heart Route
An easy 6.13km traffic free route, view my map on Wikiloc

Cycle your heart out
Highlights
- Cycling through the beautiful Retiro park, past Monumento Alfonso XII
 , Palacio de Velázquez, Palacio de Cristal, La rosaleda del Retiro, Real Jardín Botánico
- Museo Nacional del Prado (walked my bike along Calle de Alcala to avoid traffic!) 
- Ending the ride at Puerta de Alcalá to drop off my bike & enjoy some tasty carrot cake next door at Vailima cafe


- After my heart route I rode along the River to Casa de Campo and enjoyed a nice cold beer with olives at La Bicicleta Restaurant overlooking the lake
- I also highly recommend drinks in the centre of Madrid at 
La Bicicleta cycling cafe, they have the best chai Late!

Scroll down to view my photos and watch my video of the route.

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Grateful to:
- Miguel at 
Rent & Roll & Lucas for pointing out all the best cycle paths & sights to see!
- Positive Psychologist 
Miriam Akhtar for telling me about the beautiful Action For Happiness initiative! 

​If you have been inspired by this post and fancy having a go at creating your own heart shaped bicycle route, check out my 5 step video guide here!​
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9/6/2015 0 Comments

Cycle Your Heart Out in Formentera

Follow your heart
Listening to your intuition is the main key to guiding you along your heart route. Last summer after a breakup I decided to cycle my heart out somewhere I've always longed to visit, and embrace change.

Cycle your heart out and embrace change!


Location
Formentera, a Spanish island next to Ibiza in Spain

Travel :
I took a ferry with Baleria from Barcelona to Ibiza, at one point 2 dolphins even danced alongside me. To get to Formentera I took a peaceful boat ride from Es Canar in Ibiza. 

Bike Hire:
Moto Rent Mitjorn check out this link for information on bike hire.

Accommodation: Camping La Playa in Es Canar, Ibiza, a beautiful campsite that even have teepee's for you to sleep in!

The Heart Route
After picking up my bike and map I had around 6 hours to make my heart route before my boat left. After studying my map and asking a few friendly locals for the best bike paths, my 11.14km heart route came to life! 

I took time along my route to simply live in the moment... noticing the colour of the sky, the sound of the waves, the feeling of the wind on my face. Every time my mind wandered I would bring it back to my breath, and the feeling on my upper lip as I breathed in and out. 

After I left Formentera I took a boat to Santa Eulalia in Ibiza and discovered the amazing Passion Cafe. The cafe is full of beautiful quotes and healthy food, it was the perfect way to end my heart route. Back at my campsite I discovered there was also a Yoga festival going on so enjoyed the next few days of my holiday meeting some beautiful souls!

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The most important part of your heart route is to remember all the beautiful people who made your route possible.
- My friend Guiu for his helpful Formentera map tips
- The friendly man in the cafe who advised me on the best bike paths & beaches
- The mystery cyclist who helped me when I got lost on my route
- All the lovely ladies I met at the Camping La Playa campsite for believing in my project
- To learn more about mindfulness and cycling check out this great link here for 5 tips.

Are you craving for some change in your life? Would you like to create your own heart route? Click here for my top tips! Remember your heart routes don't need to be perfect, because neither is life, just try your best and follow your heart.
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30/5/2015 0 Comments

Cycle your heart out in Westkapelle, Holland

 This week I spent quality family time in the Netherlands, my first time to the cycling capital! 
To celebrate the reunion I created my 14th heart route in the coastal town of Westkapelle! 

Instead of my usual heart plotting a little twist occurred while trying to find this route. As I was cycling and exploring the area I glanced at my phone app and noticed a heart shape slowly appearing, I guess I truly was following my heart after all!​ 
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