Over Easter weekend, Florianne and I planned to go on a three day bicycle tour. It was going to be Florianne’s first tour on her new bike, having put ~250 km on it since its arrival in early February. Understandably, she was a bit apprehensive about the trip but proper planning and a bit of…
Dragging myself out of bed at 4:30, I reminded myself that I chose to ride a brevet today. I had spent the evening before preparing the stead for a 10 hour+ sortie: mounting my handlebar bag, swapping garmin mounts and repositioning my front light (due to the handlebar bag). As a result, I could now…
The sound of the wind blowing in my ears drowns out all other audible impulses. Looking around, I’m surrounded by an arid landscape populated by low shrubs and the occasional dust devil blown up by the wind. My throat is screaming at me to drink, but the hot water in my bottles has failed to…
Leaving Passau on the fourth of March, I left Bavaria behind and entered Austria (the fourth country on this trip). This is probably the most popular section of the Danube bicycle trail with thousands of cyclists traveling from Passau via Linz to Wien every summer. I decided to make a small detour to Salzburg instead,…
I’ve long contemplated how my bike ride east can give back to society in a way that is meaningful to me. I considered (Flemish) charities on mental health, but felt I am not properly equipped to promote the message of said charities. While mental health is an important cause and I suggest that you have…
Despite the cold winter conditions during the last week, I have been surprised by the friendly people I encountered in Germany. One illustration is the multitude of generous warmshowers hosts that have invited me into their homes over the last two weeks. Another is when random strangers stop and ask if I need any directions…
On February 16th (just three days into my silk road trip) I had a short chat with MNM radio host Sander Gillis about my trip. At the time, I was nice and cozy in my sleeping bag on the bivakzone De Steenberg. The tent and the bicycle were covered in frost after a cold night,…