Hello and welcome, dear readers!

The regulars on this site will already know me fairly well, but I hope that through this regular blog I will have the opportunity to allow you to get to know me a little bit better. More specifically, I hope to transmit something of my love of bicycles and cycling and fan the flames of this passion for man’s noblest invention which unites us. And hopefully entertain you with my retelling of the adventures I experience while out on a bike.

I must admit to you all that in a way it still feels a bit odd for me to stand here on this podium telling you about bikes. I was not always someone able to speak about bikes, mechanical issues and riding them with any kind of authority. Not at all. As a matter of fact I still don’t regard myself as an expert and probably never will. As with anything in life, Goethe’s idea of ‘the more you look, the more you see’ holds equally true for the world of cycling.

Although I grew up in The Netherlands, where bicycles are the norm as a means of transportation, the way I look at bikes and cycling has undergone rather extreme development. Within the space of, say, five years, I have gone from a utilitarian cyclist in true Dutch A to B style to someone in love (my wife would say obsessed) with bikes and riding them. I have gone from riding a tired old racing bike and, on occasion, my then girlfriend’s pink £100 MTB (yes, seriously) to completely pimped out carbon racing machines and off-the-wall frame designs. It has been quite a ride and if I have my way it will be a ride that will never finish.

On the 22nd of May 2010 I will be embarking on the second edition of the 1000Mile Challenge, a yearly cycling challenge my close friend Dirk Bischof and I thought up through which we aim to harness our cycling prowess for good causes and improve the lives of people and the health of this planet.

After the successful completion in 2009 of the first 1000Mile Challenge through the mountains of Japan, we’ll be riding from Land’s End to John O’Groats this year and covering a grand total of almost 1100 miles in 10 days. And where the first edition was a rather loosely organised affair, this year we decided to pull out as many stops as possible. However, before I start going into too much depth about this major ride I would like to share with you how I actually became the cycle-nut people describe me as being.

It all started with a copy of the UK’s CTC magazine which I happened upon by chance back in 2005. Inside was a mention of an organised cycle ride from Paris to Dakar, which promised adventure I hadn’t ever dreamed of. A bit of research later fuelled by a curious interest brought up stunning imagery of beautiful countryside with forests, plains and deserts on the way, mountains (lots of them), gorgeous weather and the sheer exhilaration of riding into Africa.

Somehow it did not just strike a chord but it hit all the right notes. I was hooked. Obsessed, some of those close to me would say. It was a strange thing really, because as a Dutchman who had grown up with cycling as a purely utilitarian mode of transport I had never before considered myself as the kind of cyclist who would embark on these kinds of things. At all. Ok, sure, when I was 16 or so I rather foolishly thought that I’d be able to just slap on one of those large trekking backpacks, get on my dad’s ex-Eddy Merckx 1977 Peugeot PX10 and trek through the Ardennes, camping along the way and experiencing great descents and beautiful wooded countryside.

As you do. I still smirk when I think back of those crazy days. This trip to Belgium and Luxemburg never happened though due to a complete lack of organised preparation. It also didn’t help that the school friend who I had been discussing the ride with ended up going away on holiday with his folks in the period we were supposed to go. So the idea quickly fizzled out.

In hindsight it was probably a good thing it didn’t happen. Huge backpacks, fancy lightweight racing bikes with crappy brakes and total lack of understanding of how to organise such a ride would likely have ended up in tears.

But then here was this story in CTC…It reawakened old desires and multiplied them by a factor of at least 1000. I was mesmerised. Every day I talked about it to anyone who would listen. Every night I dreamed of riding those two months and 5000 miles, traversing the beautiful countryside of France, crossing the Pyrenees into the Spanish plains, crossing the Mediterranean and winding through Morocco and the Atlas mountains, followed by the deserts of Mauritania and then heading into Senegal. All of these places had a near-magical attraction.

I had enjoyed great times in France as I had visited many times, hugely enjoyed Morocco, and after spending a couple of holidays there I had fallen in love with Dakar, Senegal too. My wife was born in Senegal so in my mind’s eye I was already seeing myself arriving amongst a throng of familiar faces and hugely welcoming atmosphere having completed the ride of my dreams.

But the dream was soon shattered. Alas, the cost of the event, the large amount of preparation required and the arrival of our first child rapidly put paid to my dreams. Yet again. The inner giant was forced to go back into hibernation. But I did promise myself that one day I would ride this route. And this change of perspective made that I underwent a rather major change. I was no longer a utility cyclist. I discarded the jeans as riding kit. I bought a cheap but very decent Cube racing bike off Dirk. I fitted clip-on pedals. I started enlarging my operating radius. I stopped using the bus and the underground system. I rode everywhere. I was a new me. A cyclist rather than someone who rides a bike. And I loved it. Every minute of it. Spontaneous races with other cycle-nuts over the wide and fast Embankment in London. Life had a whole new meaning.

Next episode; The 2010 1000Mile Challenge – how to prepare for a multi-day 1000mile+ ride.

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