1993, a genuineTour de France for the Boeke brothers...

1993, a genuine Tour de France for the Boeke brothers...

Unmanaged, no support staff, no massage, just basic equipment, let the data speak louder than words:

Ville d'étape Saint Agil was a necessary break, since Luc's rear wheel axis had broken on a railroad crossing down a steep descent. The local garage (must have been Peugeot, Citroen or Renault...) helped us fix it, the spare part had to be fetched in Vendome at some 40km's bike ride.

At Burgos, Jochem decided to take a lef turn to continue to Portugal, Luc made a right turn for another uphill challenge in the Alpes. Col de la Bonnette, at 2802m, definitively satisfied his ambitions.

A day some people in Belgium may remember is August 8, 1993: le Roi triste mourut.
I remember the freezing cold morning at Attert (close to Arlon), almost crying for my painful fingers at 7:00 AM, every sunny patch on my track in the woods was a relief...  Victory was complete that night at Nijmegen, the finish line after a stage of 295km's, at sunset.

To close this Spartan epic, a couple of photographs...

luc & jochem upon departure, in Nijmegen

Luc in Les Landes departement (Bordeaux/Biarritz)

Luc exchanging latest news with a couple of Camineros, young Catalans on their way to Santiago de Compostella, close to Burgos.

Belgium Blues at Vilvoorde Railway Station

Hello Bikers, hello Commuters on your way home or to work

This is my second blog story about being on the move; the first dealt with the crazy 1985 history of biking to Greece, this second story is a bit closer to home and certainly much less dynamic.
Come and have a look at Vilvoorde NMBS/SNCB, for non-Belgians: the railway station...

Now what you looking at is a busy railroad junction, just north of Brussels, on your way to the second most important city of the country: Antwerp, Europe's number 2 port.

Ok, it is true, Belgian climate is friendlier than in Holland (less wind and rain, a bit more southernly temp's), but if I am not mistaken these metal grids used to frame real glass windows protecting travelers on their way from/to the platforms.

Even without huge quantities of rain, paint on wood is wearing off at a given moment; or should we, hasty commuters, simply not look up to see the label reporting the last painter made his round in 1981?

Are we travellers passing by Vilvoorde station that unimportant that even billboards stay empty? No cute faces promoting flashy products, just empty scratched off metal boards; guys, this is the city gate to the European Capital letting in the northern folks, what a missed opportunity...

Give me a million and I will make sure everybody will be proud and looking forward again to pass by Vilvoorde station, I have faith in you...

Your dedicated fan in the 8:33 Mechelen-Halle all stations train, peaking out of the open window at the very tail of the train

Biking to Greece 1985, a good way to end your college carreer

Hello Bikers,

Just a couple of photo`s to share this extraordinary adventure: biking to Greece in 1985, through a country that was losing the orderly lines of its old regime (YU) and a region that looked at war with northeners (South of Italy).

The journey started with the three of us, we lost one at the famous Werchter festival (U2 headed the play list, the Ramones kicked off that day...).

More stories soon!

Luc

Yugo Police Car, Province of Serbia

We made it to Greece, surviving Kosovo and Makedonian provinces of Yugoslavia....

Mere coincidence we passed here, many catastrophies like this one to follow ... Tchernobyl (9 months later), Bhopal, etc etc

St.Gotthard Col: The last big hurdle to take before our finish line...

And this is how it started, in Belgium: U2 playing Werchter festival