Enrique’s bicycle

Working on an article for the sailing magazine Velejar, I arrive in Buenos Aires and head straight to a meeting with sailor Enrique Celesia for an interview with him.
It’s a cold and rainy August afternoon and for the first two hours I try to get to know more about his ideas and plans of being the first Argentinian to sail around the world solo, non-stop, along the 40th parallel south – that is, in the circle where the icebergs that get detached from the Antactica are.
And it’s amidst his musings about several subjects, among which he confesses his admiration for Vito Dumas, that I discover his attachment to cycling.
He states it’s his private means of transportation on dry land.
In the water, of course, he has the boat he’s been building for 10 years in order to carry out his project. The bicycle stays on the deck, tied to the mast. I just think that, since his next trip will be non-stop, he won’t take it with him.
But, till then, the bicycle stays close by, like a companion that helps him carry his dream on.
As I go back downtown, Enrique comes along because he has a meeting.
On the train we take at San Isidro there are also some cyclists with their bicycles. When we arrive at the imposing Retiro Station, we all get off together, but the cyclists mix in the crowd moving towards the exit. Enrique and I pass by the Sheraton Hotel, which popular movements dreamed of changing into a children’s hospital in the 70s, before the military coup.
"Qué lindo, que lindo, qué lindo que va a ser, el Hospital de Niños en el Shératon Hotel..." the crowds used to sing in the political demonstrations, he confesses.
Crossing the huge open space of the avenues surrounded by an impressive group of buildings among which the Kavanah Building outstands for its impression of solidness, we keep on walking along Calle Reconquista up to the hotel, on the corner of Tucumán, where we say our goodbyes.
The cyclists, I don’t know what destination they might have taken.
They spread across Buenos Aires, disappearing incognito into the night.

Photo: Giacomo Orlando
English Version : Renata Kabke Pinheiro