Category: cycling

  • Tour de France

    Tour de France

    As planned I left my hometown again for the continuation of the Secutec Seven Summits, on the 3rd of January. This time the goodbye was a bit different as we’re still in a full pandemic. No hugs, no kisses, just a wave goodbye of my beloved friends at the starting place. Still very happy and grateful to have seen these people before leaving.

    Planning mania

    The first 60km my brother and some friends are joining me for the ride. There we have the same awkward goodbye and I’m off by myself. It’s always very strange to suddenly cycle alone again. From now on I’ll be by myself for one month, and social contact will be very limited due to corona. Because of that I have been planning my sleeping places a bit more in advance. Mainly contacting people if I could pitch my tent in their garden. Usually I cycle till the evening and try to find a place to sleep, but this time it’s different.

    Warm nights

    The places I’m sleeping at is in people’s garden and they’re all concerned about my comfort, especially this time of year. Still I’m very well equipped to do winter camping and luckily I’ve got some experience in the cold 😉 . Most families I go to even invite me in their houses to eat or sleep. Which I mostly refuse just to keep them and myself safe from corona. Mostly, because I had the occasion to have a complete place by myself. I’m enjoying the time in my tent a lot. It’s very cosy on those winter nights to read a book from my sleeping bag. Only in the morning it’s a bit harder to get up and get everything ready so I can leave when the day comes. Still the coldest it has been in minus 6°C which is not that extreme.

    Birthday fun

    I had been rushing a bit to the pyrenees because I knew Glenn and Steven would be there waiting for me. I wanted to be there on my birthday so we could have a ride together. Turned out to be a great day going up to Arudy, having pizza on the streets (only take away allowed in France) and then enjoying a beer before going to bed. Again here I have a place for myself which is awesome to sleep in a bed.

    On my rest day (today) I’m visiting Pau again to get a covid test, just to have some extra administration to enter Spain. All negative so I’m good to go again!!

    I want to thank all the people and families I’ve been passing by for their generosity and help during these strange times. I really enjoyed these first 10 days and looking forward to the next part!

    And many thanks to my sponsors to help me in these Secutec Seven Summits!

  • Pandemic life

    Pandemic life

    After my arrival from Congo I was very disappointed that I had to return and pause my project to Kilimanjaro. As time progressed it became clear that I wouldn’t be able to continue in 2020. Things have gone pretty fast, and currently I’m about to leave on the next step of the Secutec 7 Summits: human powered to Denali. First it’s 2400 km cycling to Portugal followed by 7200 km rowing to Miami (with Koen and Gijs), then again 10.000km cycling to Alaska. There’s the highest summit of North America: Denali. Here’s a small overview of what I been doing and what we’re up to.

    • The suggested route to Denali!

    Bad News/Great news

    In the past months things got quite interesting. I got to hear that one of my main sponsors (Vayamundo) is quitting the sponsorship. But, at the same time Secutec grabbed the opportunity to become name sponsor of this project and from now on it is called the “Secutec Seven Summits”. I’m very happy and proud we’re reinforcing our partnership! Secutec provides businesses with integrated security solutions for a fast, efficient, secure and enjoyable IT experience. They are CyberSecurity experts and provider of the Secutec Secure DNS to give your company an extra layer of security. Secutec was founded in 2005 by Geert Baudewijns.

    Product partners are excited about this project too. I became ambassador for Elements. They strive to enforce the relationship between human and nature. Therefore they’re an agent and distributor of brands that take the responsibility for the environment. As part of the 1% for the Planet, they donate 1% of their revenue to environmental organisations. Some of the brands they’re distributing are: Houdini, Spektrum, Nordisk, CarePlus and Klean Kanteen. For sports nutrition we’ll be supplied by 4GOLD, which provide sports supplements and DNA based performance advice for athletes. We’ll be undergoing a DNA analysis to check our profile and connect it to the best possible nutrition to perform on the extreme expeditions.

    Preparation

    The last couple of months have been going very fast! Regular meetings about the ocean crossing, trying to help where I can on the boat that Whaleboat is building. Next to that I’ve been working back home as a physio, which felt strange. We’re not allowed to see many people in Belgium now, and we now have a ‘knuffel contact’. Which is one person outside your home situation you’re allowed to hug. As a physio I’m hugging more people professionally than in my private time!

    • the Front Row team
    • First test of the boat

    Behind the big preparations is a team that’s helping us. Koen and Gijs are mainly working on the boat and they’ll be in the team to cross to Miami. Andre_and Leon did a great job working on the sponsor file for the front row and they’re helping with the social media. There’s Dries (Taubevideoproductions) and Lars (Shiftvideoproductions) that are making a documentary of the crossing and dedicated to make a video now and then about the progress. You can follow it all on their social media. Then there’s other people as well working behind the scenes, we’ll be supported on the land by Els Bellemans, Elske will be taking over my social media account, we’re having weather updates by Frits, and much more!

    the filming crew
    the work by Anre_Leon

    Training

    To get in shape for the next year I’ve been working hard. 2021 seems to become an intense year with more than 10.000 km of cycling and +7000 km of rowing, plus climbing Kilimanjaro twice! What I’ve been doing in Belgium is lots of endurance training. Which mainly are low intensity and high volume trainings. I’ve been cycling and rowing, mostly as a combination. For example I go on a cycle ride of 5 hours and row on the ergometer for another 2 hours. Besides that I’ve been doing strength training, especially for injury prevention. On the boat we’ll be rowing in 2 hour shifts. This means we’ll be rowing for 2 hours, then we have 2 hour “break”. During this break I’m supposed to eat, wash, sleep,… and this will be 24/7 for about 3 months. Now in the final days I’m doing one more big effort which consists of 2 hours rowing, 2 hours off, and that for 24 hours long.

    The plan for the upcoming months will be like this:

    • 3rd of January I leave my hometown by bicycle to cycle to Portugal in 3-4 weeks
    • by the end of January we will start rowing from Portimao to Miami. It will take about 3 months to cover more than 7000 km
    • from Miami I will cycle to Alaska where I want to climb Denali. when exactly is not sure yet. I will not make it in time to arrive there in the right season to trek in the Alaskan wilderness and climb Denali for 2021. I should be arriving in Alaska in April for the right timing, so most probably I’ll summit Denali in 2022…

    Keep track of my progress here, and maybe send me an encouraging message or great joke when we’re out on the ocean

    Huge thanks to my sponsors who make this all possible!

  • Getting high in the Atlas

    Getting high in the Atlas

    The weather and wind cleared after our departure in Rabat which gave us a great boost towards the High Atlas. This beautiful mountain range had us amazed throughout the ride!

    Bye bye sea you again

    Getting out of Rabat was an easy ride and we followed the ocean for a while. Just before Casablanca we turned towards Marrakech. The first days land inward weren’t very appealing so we took the opportunity to cycle get cover some distance. Pretty soon we saw the mountains coming up and getting closer to Marrakech the landscape turned into beautiful sights!

    • enjoying the view

    City hopping

    We reached Marrakech and decided not to spend too much time there. We where a bit afraid of this crowded city, mainly because cyclists and big crowded cities aren’t a very good combination. To my great surprise we managed quite well to cycle through, some roads even had bicycle lanes! Once outside the city we got a much clearer view of the magnificent Atlas mountain range and Mt Toubkal (4165m).

    • Toubkal!

    Getting high

    The whole area is extremely beautiful and I’m glad to follow Steven’s (https://20angles.com/) idea of cycling the High Atlas. We decide to cycle the Tizi n’ Test pass up to 2100m. It slowly takes us higher and higher following a river. This makes it a very long climb but never very steep sections so we can maintain a good pace. Steven has intestinal problems (that’s a clean word for bad diarrhoea) which gives him a hard (get it?) time on the bicycle. Still he manages to continue and after a complete day of cycling we make it to the top of the mountain pass just before dark. We decide to stay in Augerge la haute vue for some well deserved rest and great food.

    • going up
    • just before sunset!
    • made it up!

    Going down

    After a great night and breakfast we start our long descent. We get treated with amazing views from the other side of the atlas range. After about 30km of winding corners we come into a whole new landscape. An almost straight road takes us gently and very easy to the Atlantic ocean again. In Agadir Steven will go back to Belgium, we had a great 2 weeks cycling here but now I’ll be on my own to be crossing the Sahara desert to Senegal!

    • small peloton
    • leaving the Atlas behind us

    Plastic soup

    Yesterday I visited the Surfrider Maroc foundation. An organisation that tries to educate, inform and clean up the area from pollution. It is a small team of great people who are working hard to make people aware of this problem. They are going to schools and companies to explain about the situation and how they can help. They organise beach clean ups in the area and make art with the found trash. To find out more about their project and goals please visit http://www.surfridermaroc.com/ you can easily make a donation through their website! One of their current projects is to make a competition between schools to make art of “garbage” and the winning school would be able to expose it at a roundabout or entrance of the city. (still trying to find support from authorities to do that).

    One of the things I discovered on projects like this is that they need support from the local government to be allowed to talk in schools. This is a big difference in Belgium because a school can decide this more or less independent. The same goes for my friend Wahyu in Indonesia and it is not easy to convince the right people to get this permission. Luckily here in Agadir, they have a partnership with the government since a couple of years now. This creating the opportunity to go to schools and educate the children about their cause. As I see in Morocco people are quite receptive about the ideas they’re spreading and about the environment. I hope they can keep up the great work and will be able to spread their word!

    Kilimanjaro

    It might seem early but the climb for Kilimanjaro is fixed. Together with Wild Tanzania we’re organising an expedition and anyone who wants can join on this trip! The climb will start the 23 of June until the 2nd of July and is open for all who want to climb with me. Contact me at Veyt.jelle@gmail.com or check out the following link if you’re interested. I’m partnering up with them mainly because they have an engagement in their trips that respect the environment and the people working for them.

    Thanks to the sponsors who make this all possible!!!

    and thanks for the great support!

  • Road to Rabat

    Road to Rabat

    The first week of cycling is almost over and we’re up for a rest day in Rabat. The capital city of Morocco is not too busy compared to Marrakesh or Casablanca. Steven is working on the road so we need some time with a stable internet connection.

    • Africa!

    Headwinds

    Once arrived in Ceuta we cycle to the beach where I landed with my kayak 6 weeks before. From there the trip really starts and I’m up for 7 months of cycling. Crossing the border into Morocco was really easy going and soon we’re in a new country! These first days have been quite tough because of the weather. It has been a very beautiful ride so far, but the headwinds are killing us from time to time. The day before yesterday we covered about 150km into a 4-5 bft headwind. That took us about 12 ours for that distance. The good news is that from tomorrow on the wind will calm down and change direction.

    Planning

    On this restday we take some time to relax and recover. We’re planning now to leave the Atlantic behind us and go and cycle trough the Atlas. The next days we’ll be heading to Marrakesh and go cycle a bit through the Atlas range. I’m visiting an environmental project in every country so in Agadir I’m planning to visit the Surfrider Foundation Maroc. Hope to tell you more about their initiative in the near future.

    Kilimanjaro!

    It might seem early but the climb for Kilimanjaro is fixed. Together with Wild Tanzania we’re organising an expedition and anyone who wants can join on this trip! The climb will start the 23 of June until the 2nd of July and is open for all who want to climb with me. Contact me at Veyt.jelle@gmail.com or check out the following link if you’re interested. I’m partnering up with them mainly because they have an engagement in their trips that respect the environment and the people working for them.

    Thanks to the sponsors who make this all possible!!!

    and thanks for the great support!

  • New life, new adventures!

    New life, new adventures!

    A couple of weeks ago I took a train back from Ceuta to Belgium. I had to be there for the baptism of my Godson and the birth of my brother’s daughter. It gave me a chance to work on the preparation for the trip to Kilimanjaro. I’ve got a new bike for this adventure, my old one has been completely worn out. With the support of the grandparents (Willy and Doris) of my Godson and I got this beautiful great new Koga bike! Very excited to be testing this one out!

    Administration hassle

    In these weeks I’ve been training, working and planning. Some visas I already had to apply for since they are very difficult to obtain once on the road. The plan now is the I’ll be covering the whole distance to Kilimanjaro (15.000km) by bicycle in one go. I’ll be passing by some friends in Dakar for the holidays and get further south along West Africa.

    Join the group

    Because Kilimanjaro is not the most technically demanding mountain, we’ll be climbing with a group of people. By the end of June (starting the 22nd) a group of people will join me to the summit. There are some places available for everybody with this ambition so whoever feels like climbing with me, please let me know in a private message (veyt.jelle@gmail.com).

    Trainspotting

    Right now I’m at the train in the direction of Ceuta where Steven (20angles.com) and I will combine the first part. He will cycle along to Agadir where I will continue my way through the Sahara on my own.

    I’m taking a train and bus to the south of Spain. Mainly to avoid the high CO2 emission of a flight. For shorter distances I think it makes sense to use other transportation than a flight. Not only a flight would be faster, it would be cheaper and easier to take all my gear and bicycle with me and to book the tickets. It really doesn’t makes sense to me that in Europe it can be such a hassle. To get to a place by train or bus is more difficult than taking a flight. By doing some calculation on Greentripper and Greenseats it seems I’m emitting 4 – 5 times (0.37 tons vs 0.085 tons) less CO2 than by taking a flight!

    Sadness and joy

    It is with a double feeling again I’m leaving home. It will take me about 8 months before I head back to Belgium. I will definitely miss my friends and family! I’m very grateful to have so many supportive people (especially my girlfriend, I still don’t understand the patience ;p ) around me, who really help me to reach my dream. Thank you all for that!

    During this trip you will be able to follow me on my new tracker website here! Check it out and you’re always free to send me a message on my device.

    Many thanks to my sponsors and supporters to make this project possible!

    And many thanks to my product supporters as well!

  • A new continent!

    A new continent!

    After our couple of days of misery in the rain we made good progress to Gibraltar. The weather is great and not too hot to cycle. The only bad thing on our road is the road itself.

    • Exotic places
    • sick of the roads
    • “our view”
    • “cyclist’s/car’s view”

    Highway of hell

    Once we pass by Malaga we don’t have many options left to cycle. We can choose between the highway or smaller mountain roads. It is actually possible to cycle on some sort of highway following the coastline, giving us a good road to cycle on with not too many hills. Still we decide to go for the mountain roads because, come on? A highway? We don’t have a death wish handbiking on a road where cars pass by at 120km an hour!

    • Trying to escape the busy highways creates other obstacles

    Up the hill

    We decide to take the harder way, but it pays off. Magnificent views following smaller villages and quieter roads making us feel much safer. A couple of days later, trying to navigate these safer roads, we finally reach our main goal with Frank, Gibraltar! A very special moment since we shared this common goal for more than 3000km now and I’m very proud we achieved this together. We had a great time biking here and had a great team supporting us too. Many thanks to the people who came to help us in this amazing achievement Frank has completed!

    • Mountain villages
    • Uphill cycling
    • The finishing team in Gibraltar!

    Getting ready for a new continent

    In Gibraltar we take some time to explore the area and I’m preparing for the crossing of the strait. The weather seems fairly good on the 23rd and Chris from Watersports training prepares the support boat. As I explained in a previous post it is necessary to have a support vessel, it is a very busy shipping lane and chances are that authorities will pick you up, especially if you distort traffic. The next day I cycle to Algeciras where we will leave the 23rd by kayak. They have arranged a kayak for me which is not the most fast one for a crossing like that. I’m curious how this will go.

    • Ready to go
    • Easy start

    Crossing the Strait

    We get up early and prepare everything for the day. Frank and the support team are able to follow me on the boat so I have a cheering (or mocking ;p ) team along the way. The first hour in the water was pretty easy but after a while the wind started to pick up to about 20 knots coming from the West. The surface current goes the same direction and I get splashed all the time by the waves. No problem at all but taking a good rest is not an option as I risk missing Ceuta completely if I drift off too much. I keep on paddling and when I take a small break to drink I drift away at about 4knots (!) to the east.

    • To Africa!
    • At least they’re having fun

    Digging deep

    I keep on pushing it and it’s getting hard to maintain my speed. I have lot’s of experience in rowing but kayaking is completely different so my efficiency is not what it has to be. Combine that with a simple sit-on-top kayak and it becomes a challenge, loving it!!! After about 5 and a half hours (30km) I hit the beach in Ceuta (Spain, Africa), tired but fulfilled about my effort. I reached Africa human powered! After a quick rest we sail back to Algeciras. I need to get back to Belgium for personal reasons and I leave my bike there. I will come back half of November to continue cycling to Kilimanjaro. Getting back to Belgium I’m doing by bus and train, just to avoid taking a plane. It’s not the easiest nor the cheapest of choices but it feels like still manageable to get back.

    • Africa!

    many thanks to my sponsors who make this project happen!

  • Here comes the sun

    Here comes the sun

    Leaving the tourist paradise behind us and getting into more quiet places was a nice change for us. The busy roads are pretty dangerous especially in handbikes. The goal for this week was to reach Almeria which we didn’t make in time.

    The eye of the…

    After a couple of days the weather started to look quite bad at the horizon. It wasn’t sure yet what direction it would take but it seemed something bad was coming up. Because of the limited visibility and being more vulnerable in handbikes we don’t like cycling in the rain here. A couple of times we get lucky as we hear about torrential rain in the region but don’t get rain at all. It is actually great cycling with some clouds protecting us from the burning sun.

    Fireworks

    On Thursday night as we’re celebrating Kathleen’s (one of the friends and helpers of Frank) birthday we start to get some fireworks in the form of lightning and thunder on the horizon. The owner of the camping assures us that as being the only desert in Europe (Tabernas desert) the rain shouldn’t be that bad. She was obviously wrong as there was a torrential rain, thunder and lightning all night long. I’m very happy to be in a great tent, but 2 of the helpers are not and they are forced out of their tents at night. Besides that we don’t have big problems. We learn the next day that this storm has hit a big part of the region.

    Drowned
    • Still having fun

    No fun at all

    We read and hear more stories about people being swept away in their vehicles and many roads are closed. There is still red alert for storms and we decide to only cycle in the morning. We dry the tent and clothes and try to relax the rest of the day. After a sudden storm in the afternoon we agree that we made the right decision. Even at night it got worse again. Kathleen and Melvin run away to the sanitary building for a dry place to sleep. The whole storm created many problems in the region, we are happy it didn’t affect us that much. Because of the storm we have a small delay in the schedule.

    • Back on track

    Here comes the sun

    We are very happy to welcome the sun again into this route. It is very hot but we are able to make good steady progress after the storm. Frank has set the deadline for the 21st of September to arrive in Gibraltar. This will be a big challenge to make it in time and we only take half a rest day to make up for the lost day due to the storm. In the meanwhile I heard that crossing the strait of Gibraltar will be possible ideally on the 22nd, 23rd or 24th of September. Apparently I need a permission from port authorities to cross which is not easy to obtain. Another way is to have a support boat, I’m going for that option as this is a very busy shipping lane. Most people around there and others who have crossed it seriously advice me to take a support vessel. Still we are very determined and keep on going to reach our goal!

    • sweaty days

    Many thanks to the sponsors who make this project possible!

  • Coastin ‘n cruising

    Coastin ‘n cruising

    After leaving Carcassonne I feel that it has been a while that I’ve been hand biking.  A couple hours later I get used of it again. The first stop is Perpignan to get a well deserved rest after a full day of cycling. The day after we set off towards Spain, the 3rd country of my journey to Kilimanjaro.

    • Start from Carcassonne

    Into the Pyrenees

    We avoid the biggest climbs in the Pyrenees and follow the Mediterranean sea as close as possible because hand biking is a total different game than cycling. Only using the arms is a great exercise but when it gets too steep your front wheel begins to spin. The wheelbase is very long as well, taking narrow streets or corners is not an easy task.

    The route takes us to Girona, a beautiful city in Spain near the border with France. There we say goodbye to Tine, the first voluntair that goes back home. With Frank having a muscular disease and being in a wheelchair the volunteers are a very welcome help. Every week 2 new volunteers come by and will drive the van and help us with different tasks. The van is adapted to Frank’s needs and he sleeps in it. The others sleep in tents or sometimes we sleep at people’s houses. Some friends (thank you Anparo and Monica) arranged stays here with locals and I got to meet Alex, a friend I haven’t seen in 8 years.

    The long way south

    We average 60 km a day on a handbike and being very low to the ground we are concerned about our safety. We choose to take the more quiet roads but this only slows us more down. Every day we have to plan carefully which roads to take. Still, after week 2 we are ahead of our schedule. One of the concerns here in Spain is crossing the big cities. Surprisingly this has been very easy. Having crossed Barcelona and Valencia already this were very easy cities to cross with almost everywhere bicycle lanes. 

    • Barcelona!
    • Valencia!

    Holiday Mekka

    Following the Mediterranean coast isn’t always fun, although we have the sea and the beach every day. Many times we can only choose one main road, luckily it has kind of a “cycling lane”. Still it is crazy to see cars passing by at 90km an hour from a handbike which is almost the same as laying on the ground. That’s why I decided to get on my bicycle on routes that are too crowded. There are many tourists here and the only connection between cities are busy roads. While cycling I can more easily take care of our safety as I’m more agile and visible than on a handbike. Yesterday we reached Benidorm through a busy road from Calpe. Here we take a restday, the new volunteers will arrive and we’ll set off to Almeria with more uphill cycling. 

    • Benidorm Bastards

    Thanks to all the sponsors who make this human powered 7 summits possible!

  • Off to Gibraltar!

    Off to Gibraltar!

    First part

    About a year ago Frank and I left Belgium by handbike to the south of Europe. With this we were connecting the 3 hotels of one of my sponsors (Vayamundo). I met Frank during one of their events and we immediately made plans for an adventure together: hand-biking to the south of Europe.

    • Last year’s route

    Frank has a muscle disease and is unable to cycle (or walk) anymore. Therefore we had the plan to start hand-biking which is a complete new discipline to me. Because arms are not as strong as legs it takes more time to cover the whole distance. We decided to go to Gibraltar together but in 2 different stages.

    Last year we arrived by handbike in Carcassonne. After 6 weeks of travel and 1400km we reached our goal and headed back to Belgium with his support van. Since then winter came in and other plans of the both of us kept us away from the project for almost a year. Now the time has come to continue….

    • Arrival in Carcassonne after 6 weeks

    Part 2 Gibraltar!

    On the 20th of August we start hand-biking from Carcassonne to Gibraltar. This will take about 6 weeks to cover the next 1400km. Once we’re there Frank goes back to Belgium and I will cross the strait of Gibraltar by rowboat. Then I’ll continue through the whole western part of Africa. To make my route safer I have to avoid many areas. I calculated quickly that the shortest distance from Morocco to Kilimanjaro is about 8000km. To avoid certain places and being able to cover the whole distance human powered I’m getting to a total of 14.000km!

    Stay tuned to see my progress on this website or on social media.

    Many thanks to my sponsors who make this unique project possible!

  • The next challenge

    The next challenge

    What’s next?

    Being a few months back in Belgium, I’m getting more and more enthusiast about my next adventure. The most heard phrase since my arrival is undeniably : “So, what’s next Jelle? “

    I had to make a decision which mountain to climb next. One thing I knew for sure, since the east part is finished it had to be direction West or South. 

    Tossing a coin

    For a while, I was in doubt about the next destination. Of course I had many suggestions from many people. Direct West would mean crossing the ocean by rowing and climbing three peaks on the American continents and Antarctica. In the South the Kilimanjaro is impatient waiting for my arrival. It is only recently, after careful deliberation , that I made a clear decision to go to Africa first. It feels right and it gives me more time to plan the ocean crossing on a rowboat thoroughly. 

    The plan

    • The suggested route (green=completed, red=next project)

    In August I will start hand biking to Gibraltar, together with Frank. He is a friend in a wheelchair who joined me in the first trip as well. We expect to arrive at Gibraltar by the end of September. There, I’ll take a rowboat to cross the Strait of Gibraltar and cycle southward into the African continent. Curious about the exact route? Check it out here.

    • Handbiking with Frank!

    Crossing the Sahara

    Once arrived in Morocco,  I will start biking by following the western coast of Africa. After Morocco the Western Sahara will bring me to Mauritania, a country a bit more tricky. 

    The western part of Africa is however safer so I’ll continue biking by passing through Cameroon, Congo and Angola. To limit the risk areas in Congo I will cross to the East of Africa through Angola, Zambia to arrive finally in Tanzania where the Kilimanjaro is located.

    The 4th summit

    After a cycling trip of about 17.000 km, I will arrive at the base of Kilimanjaro. After taking a ten minutes break, or maybe a bit longer.. we’ll see about that, the goal is to start climbing this giant in June 2020 with sponsors and partners!

    Higher goals

    When I was 18 years old,  I once lived in a forest to protect it. Most people told me it was a waste of time because it would be chopped anyway. Being a stubbornly teenager, I told them it was not just about the forest but also about bringing a message. I wanted to show we shouldn’t chop down trees that easily. Today, 16 years later the forest is still standing…”

    Why this small anecdote?

    During my trip through Africa I want to visit an environmental organisation in each country from my route.  I’m currently still preparing and searching for these organisations, so tips are very welcome! The idea is to blog about these visits and make video episodes about it. Purpose is to see and show what their fight is about, how they do it and what obstacles they encounter (funding’s, politics, traditions,…). The aim is to connect different organisations that might help in finding a way to overcome some of the difficulties, as well as to inspire people to do similar things. 

    Hope you are as excited as I am! As always, you can follow my adventures on my tracking page and blog. See ya!

  • 3rd summit!!!

    3rd summit!!!

    After my cycling trip to Enarotali I had to get helicoptered over the area where recently the shootings and killings happened between separatists and the army.

    On the 1st of January we started climbing to the summit of Carstensz Pyramid. By then I was already well rested and recovered so the whole climbing went pretty well. this isn’t an expedition like Everest where you need to acclimatise for weeks. Just going up and down fast can make a fast ascent of this mountain. It is a great mountain face and I really enjoyed the type of rock and the quality. Too bad this is such a difficult area because I would love to explore this a lot more! The climb itself went pretty good and with some good rock climbing basics it is not an extremely difficult climb. After about 3 – 4 hours of climbing I reached the summit, crying from happiness. All the amount of effort I’ve put in this to get to this point was a very special moment to me. After about 10 minutes of crying and enjoying, Anthony (USA) Yosh (Indonesia, guide) and Ilina (Macendonia) arrive at the summit. We take some pictures and descent down back to base camp.

    Only by the end I’m starting to get a headache. I realise why, because of all my enthusiasm I forgot to eat or drink the whole day. I eat and drink back down, but start to vomit for a couple of times. After that I get some tea which slowly starts to make me feel better and I can eat again without the headache. The next day we again take a heli down which is the end of my big expedition here!

  • Mountain ahoy!

    Mountain ahoy!

    ..

    Let’s get cycling!

    ..

    After a couple of days in Sorong arranging permits and getting the bikes ready we leave on an unknown trail to Manokwari. As far as we know, nobody has ever cycled this route before and people warn us for long distances without asfalt, small villages, extreme temperatures and steep uphills in jungle terrain. Luckily I found some maps and gps files with the help of the local cycling community. The first day goes well as we set off together with the local police. They have organised a cycling event and very coincidentally it is at the same day we planned to leave too! We get off the asfalt road after 50km not to see it again for another 350 km.

    ..

     

    ..

    Into the unknown

    ..

    It is a big guess what we’re up to while we’re slowly advancing more and more through the jungle. The first night we see an abandoned wooden hut and decide to sleep in there. We also get to see the torrential rain that can occur here and were warned not to continue cycling then. There would be river crossings coming up and with rain like that we could easily be swept away.

    ..

    ..

    On day 2 we continue pushing our bikes uphill and realise this will not be an easy ride… Our bodies need to adapt to this new type of exercise, but I’m really happy to experience this beautiful land from the inside. For months I’ve been seeing all these islands from the outside, and now I can finally explore more of it. George gets some flat tires and the spare tubes were awful quality… The same day, my rack breaks and we need to decide that George will truck hop from there on to Manokwari. The good thing is that he takes part of my gear, so I can cycle the whole way with a less heavily loaded bike.

    ..

    ..

    Breaking down

    ..

    Because the Indonesian government is making a trans-papua road, we pass by many different camps of road workers and regularly get transport for George by truck or jeep. We don’t know exactly when we will find the next village, so we try to be careful with our food and drinks. The good thing is that we find water everywhere: we cross many rivers with clear water. Because there is no phone signal, communicating with George to know where to meet up is difficult. If he goes too far, I can’t reach him by the time it gets dark – and you don’t want to be cycling in the jungle in the dark here.

    Sometimes I’m faster than him anyway, because the trucks often get stuck in the thick mud, or break down on the steep uphill. Other times I envy him for being on a truck because the suffering is pretty hard these days, with little food, a hot and wet climate, and very steep roads.

    ..

       

    ..

    Hard reality

    ..

    The first city (Manokwari) we pass by, we take a rest day. I can definitely use it and by then I discovered that it will be impossible for me to get to Carstensz Pyramid (CP) on human power only. My goal was to walk from Enarotali to CP, but recently a separatist movement killed 16 government people and the Indonesian army is after them. The situation here is very fragile: things can seem clear today, but be very different the same evening. That’s the way it goes and for now I can’t get there human powered. To climb the mountain I signed in on an expedition and this is still on schedule. Only to get to the base camp, the group will get helicoptered over. I realise that that’s my option to get there. I have to skip 70km of papuan jungle – for now. Because one day I want to walk that last section, but at least I will have done the climb now. So far I covered +24.000km by bicycle, rowed +4000 km to get here.

    ..

    ..

    Never give up!

    ..

    Despite knowing I will not make it completely, I decide (for myself) to get as close as possible to the mountain as I am allowed to. So I continue to Nabire with George. Some locals heard about the shootings and are very worried about us. But when we look at the map this happened quite far away from us, so we don’t worry too much. We don’t cycle at night and keep our eyes open. When we reach Nabire after 2 weeks of extreme cycling, we are very happy to have reached our goal. From there George flies back to England and I go more land inward to Enarotali.

    Getting there seemed like an easy trip at first, as there would be an asfalt road the whole 270 km. But things turned out differently! Although it was asfalt, the up and downhills got quite extreme with a crazy 8000m elevation gain in 3 days, more than 270km! Despite that, I really enjoyed it and got to see more of Papua, which by now is a magical place to me. I love the mountains and the people here, although I was warned a lot about the Papuans in advance. But that didn’t seem to be correct. One time I got stopped and was offered money to buy drinks. Another time someone stopped me to give me orange juice… I was happy to see people working and living in their traditional clothing, not intended to amuse tourists, but as a very real thing.

    ..

     

    ..

    Mountain ahoy!

    After Enarotali I get back down and start to prepare and rest for climbing. I’m extremely exhausted and my girlfriend is coming over to see me. We take some time to rest, eat well and prepare for the expedition. While writing this I’m ready in Papua to fly over the jungle by helicopter with the team and go climb the mountain. If everything goes well, we leave tomorrow (30/12/18) and will reach the summit on the first of January! Let’s hope for good weather!

    ..

      

    ..

  • The waiting begins

    The waiting begins

    After leaving the resort where the boat was supposed to arrive the 7th of April I cycled towards Bali to drop off my bike. In a meanwhile the boat arrived in Surabaya and is now waiting to be cleared by customs and delivered to the resort. From there I’m trying to arrange transport to the most eastern part of Java, the city Banyuwangi. By doing this I’m saving again 400km of rowing, instead of just waiting in the resort for the boat. This all seems very nice, waiting in a resort in Indonesia, but the timing and seasons don’t allow me to just wait and do nothing here.

     


          Floodings along the road

     

    Despite that I try to enjoy my time here off course. And how else would I enjoy it than cycling? I decided to make a detour by bike to go and climb Mt Bromo. This is an active volcano at 2329m above sea level. Not very high, but to come from sea level with your 80kg bicycle on the ridiculous steep roads they make here is quite a challenge. The last day I just needed to cover 16km, a light ride some would think. Well I covered 1285 altitude meters, with this bike I was able to get an average of 4km/h…

     

     

     

    The effort was clearly worth it when arriving at the crater. I got rewarded with a very impressive view and experience of this beautiful volcano. The next day I take a day off cycling but hike op to watch the crater from close by. The force that you feel there is really impressive.

     

      

    After this restday I wake up at night to hike up to another viewpoint to see the sunrise to cycle down afterwards. The view is once more fantastic and after this it’s an easy 50km ride down, what a great descend! There the cycling continues and after a couple of days I’m in Bali. From here I’m leaving my bicycle to send it back to Belgium with a friend. I started to realise that this is my last bicycle ride in Indonesia and actually on this bike. Everything is falling apart (my derailleur broke, my rim is breaking, brakes don’t function,…) but I really loved cycling with it. It is some kind of emotional goodbye, it served me well and we went through a lot of things, cycled so many place.

     

    I’m being hosted here by Peter-James, a great guy who’s helping cyclists having a good stay in Bali. He grew up as a street kid after losing his patents at a young age, very strong and brave guy.  He has a great webshop selling glasses and jewelery from recycled products and 10 percent of the sales go to PJ foundation for street children. Please check his website www.pj-collections.com .

     

     

    I feel my body is very tired (I covered 1300km in about 10 days) so I could use some rest and good food here before I start on the next stretch of this human powered adventure.

     

     

  • The journey continues

    The journey continues

    Now being in Tanjung I have time to look back at my first week in Indonesia. After a 3 month preparation which consisted of rowing, working and preparing I set off to Jakarta once more where my bike was waiting for me. Saying goodbye is never easy, especially if you don’t know how long you exactly will be gone. It all depends on the timing of when the boat arrives (the logistics and customs are turning this one into a real hassle).  I just heard as well that the containership with the boat is already on a delay for at least a week.

    When arriving in Jakarta I got hosted by Jos and his family which gave me a pleasant stay and good food to start this new adventure in great shape! This gave me the opportunity to clean my bike and get ready. A couple of days later I start my cycling journey to the east of Java!


    Cycling the busy streets of Jakarta which isn’t very pleasant. It doesn’t happen a lot that I get caught in traffic jams with my bicycle. Combine this with a hot sun in 32°C temperatures and you’re in for one hell of a ride/wait. That first day I was barely able to do 110km in total.
         


    It is really crowded here with crazy traffic and pollution, but luckily no traffic jams anymore. The Indonesians are really friendly and helpful people. When I broke my chain, immediately people come to me, telling me where I can go for help. They’re very surprised when I start to take out my own equipment and they help to fix my chain. While cycling, once in a while someone offers me drinks or to come to their house for lunch and everywhere people shout at me “mister, mister, selfie please?”.

    fixing the chain   Another cycle enthusiast who bought me lunch

    It is truly amazing how open, generous and helpful the people are here. On the other hand smelling and tasting the burnt gasoline in the streets while cycling isn’t my favourite thing to do.  Another thing that bothers me is that almost every day I arrive at a guest house or hotel, someone asks me if I ‘want a girl’. I find this very sad and disturbing that men try to get money from a girls’ body and sadly it happens all around the world… But still so many good and beautiful things are in this world as well, so don’t let it stop you from exploring, just be responsible (especially to the men who read this in this situation).

    Beautiful country!

    I see a lot of garbage everywhere, actually all around the world where people live. Here now the past couple of days I saw a lot of it on the beaches and sea. I really hope we get more aware about such growing problem. It’s not just here, before I left Ghent we had fairly good weather with people gathering at a river and by the end of the evening a lot of garbage was left behind.

    too bad about the pollution

    Here I’m writing this blog at the location where the rowboat would arrive today. But today I got the news that it is one week in delay. Thats another part about this adventure, the logistics are a complete hassle. If someone knows a good transportation company that could suit for the next episodes of this project, please let me know. Just waiting here is not an option so I’m trying to have the boat sent to a more eastern point of Java where I can start as well. Then I won’t loose too many days just sitting around and waiting. I will cycle my bike all the way to Bali and leave it in a guest house for a while and pick it up returning to bring it to Belgium.

  • New adventure, same goals, new look

    New adventure, same goals, new look

    A lot has been going on since my return from Indonesia. It’s been a pleasure being back in Belgium seeing back my loved ones. There has been so much preparation going on for the next episode of this human powered adventure. The rowboat is finished, tested and shipped by now and should be arriving the 7th of April in Surabaya (Indonesia, Java). The 27th of March I’m flying to Jakarta where my bike is waiting for me to continue a 750km cycling trip to Surabaya. There I’ll be waiting my boat to arrive and start rowing to Papua. An estimated 2500 km rowing trip following the Indonesian archipelago from Bali to Lombok, the Flores Islands and on to some bigger stretches of open sea into Papua. This is all very new to me, but luckily Koen De Gezelle (the boat constructor) will assist me for 3 weeks to give me the needed experience I need on the further stage of this journey. From there I’m on my own for a couple of weeks to have another companion help me cross the bigger section by the end of the rowing trip into Papua.

     

     

     

     

    The support for this project from all sides is getting bigger and I’m happy to announce my ambassadorship for Vayamundo. They are providing a good platform for my expeditions and help me achieve my mission. By having the same values we strive to invest more on international solidarity, Active ageing, Ecology, tourism for all and multiculturalism. I keep on giving full support to the INGO shangrilahome which gives opportunities in life for street children in Nepal. Therefore the name of the boat will be baptised the “Shangri-La”. This is a Utopian place described in the book ‘Lost Horizon’ from James Hilton, we’re trying to provide such place to the children in Nepal and the rest of the world. Besides that I want to create more awareness on some other problems I will meet along this trip and all continents and oceans. This creates an extra value to this project and is not all about adventure, it is about connecting people, their worlds and our environment.

     

    Our partnership with Secutec is continued for this year as well and I’m very proud to be part of their team. This is a fast growing company delivering data security for companies, which is a becoming a much bigger concern nowadays. Without their support I wouldn’t be able to fulfil my goal and I’m honoured to partner up with their strong team. Secutec is an IT security company and founded by Geert Baudewijns in September 2005 to meet the market’s needs for security solutions. The idea was to establish a strong link between vendors & distributors on the one hand, and professional clients on the other. The objective was to provide businesses with integrated security solutions for a fast, efficient, secure and enjoyable IT experience. Security is a very important aspect during my expeditions and the same counts for IT security solutions. Therefore this partnership focusses on security with the tagline your security above everything!

     

    Another major partner in the team is Whaleboat. Owner Koen De Gezelle constructed the boat I’ll be rowing with to Papua. A great machine that will give me the necessary safety and speed to clear this expedition. A beautiful boat already winning many prizes and I’m sure many more to come, I can’t wait to get rowing!

     

    This website is completely renewed  that is the result of the collaboration with my partners. This all to make it easier to follow my progress and adventures while I’m away. I hope you enjoy the new interface and please let me know if there are any issues regarding the website.