réunion à la marocaine?

Dag Toon,

 

Maandag 12 landen we in Marrakech.

Eerst gaan we naar Imsouane, nadien (tegen het weekeinde 17,18, misschien vroeger) komen we terug naar Marrakech.

Dinner perhaps? Somewhere, sometime?

 

Happy trails.

Stay healthy.

Motilium helps ;)

 

Kouhn.

 

 

KOEN PHLIPS koen@glue.be Mobile +32 (0)473 973 363 www.glue.be - info@glue.be

IIC, Technologiepark 3 B-9052 Ghent - Belgium Tel +32 (0)9 241 56 33 Fax +32 (0)9 241 56 56

 

The roads to kill my germs

Looked up the heavy trail of cirque de jaffar to kill the germs . . . Took a wrong turn and ended up in some really rough area with hardly a path , only rocks and ice. A local berber boy put me on the right path again go exchange for some cigarettes. Sometimes smokinp comes in handy in this country as a basis of trading. The landscape is overwhelming and makes you feel so small in the big picture of things . . Now back to the hotel to kill the remaining bugs in my body . . . . Happy travels . . . Toon

I know i'm not the most pretty guy . .

But today i really look like i've run over by a truck . . . A truck loaded with bad food and unhygienic kitchens . Having yesterdays meal throwing up all day is not a pretty feeling. After consulting the home front the decision has been taken to do it easy today and stay an extra day in Midelt . Today i will be exploring the cirque de jaffar a path along the mountains. For now i'm trying to get my stomach in order with some good old fashioned coke :) . . . . Happy travels . . . Toon

The serious roads . . .

I said something about the road conditions yesterday, well today was beating it all. The road Midelt was like i said going over the Zaidia plains with star wars like scenes. The wind was blowing hard and the road sometimes looked like a ballet of thumble weed . . . Like the one flo had in the first office of dare digital. The afternoon i first checked in so i had a place to come back to (always play it safe and the lonely planet guide is really helping with it ) and than i set off without the big bag to Aouli , a now abandoned minning village. The road was really rough and the different bridges over the Moulaya river shaky as you can see on the picture . . But it was great fun riding it. The best however awaited me when i pushed through to the water reservoir for electrical power. The area is sealed off and you can only pass with a chaperon along the 6 km road along the artificial lake. Arrived at the other side the guards and myself started talking and i was invited to take a pretty heavy trail to see the dam from below. I must say for offroading this was divine . . Going down the steep rocky trail was like the course i took in spain but two knots up . . . The behind the scenes look i got is a little secret :) . . . Anyhow it was very very nice today . . . Hope all is well with everybody and i've started the count down to see Agnes and the kids :) . . . Happy travels . . . Toon

Me in the open plains

Betwee two chains of mountains the plain looks like a steppe . . Wonderful . . Last bit to Midelt in a strong cold wind.

Rain is taking away the land

Due to heavy rains combined with too many sheep the landscape starts to erode . Government is trying to help people moving from sheep or battle to olives, nuts and other less damaging agriculture . . .

Am i getting older or is it called wiser

As you can see it's looking grim today so i took the wise decision to go via the main road to Midelt and not over the mountain pass. My host of last night said it is feasable but when it starts raining it can turn into a mud pool and even snow considering i'm going from 1200 meters here to about 3500 meters at Imilchil . . . . . . Also it has been extremely cold up go the mountains with already 3 people freezing to dead. Not really a sight that motivates me to go that direction . . . Will have to come back to see it . . . Happy travels . . . Toon

I present to you casa Diependaele for tonight . .

Found a very nice auberge for the night . . Surroundings are overwhelming. Will post pictures later . . .

My private parking spot

Wonderful lunch go Khenifra with a parkins spot for the bike on the terrace :)

On the condition of the roads . . .

Yes the drive like crazy. I have seen till now no accidents, which suprises me greatly since the way they drive would justify about at least 10 accidents a day on one road . What about going 90 on a one carriage way, overtaking just before a bend of 90 degrees, hanging out of a van holding on to the spare wheel which is mounted on the back , sitting on the roof of a car only holding by the edge . . . Plenty enough reasons , so i adopt my riding style. I'm more vigilant about what is coming my way than ever. But still although the quality of also major roads is bad i still love my hours on the bike. As you can see we got the picture blog working so i hope to send some more pictures now . . Happy travels . . . Toon

Landscape . . Landscape

Is like a continue drive through forest , plains . . . Rocks . . Sheep . . Have the impression people are getting nicer :)

On travelling in foreign places

What to expect in foreign places is very much up to what one is hoping to find. I guess i was hoping to find a seek into a culture living more close go harmony with nature and in a way i did, but not to the measure i thought to do. I have seen desserted places where few people choose to settle and build their shelters - you can only describe them as such since it are merely bricks piled up with a wooden roof full of holes, letting the smoke and scent of burning wood come to me - in conditions one could never imagine.
Am i envious, no i do not feel that way, i'm more aware of our fortune of having the live with the kids, Agnes, family and friends around me , enjoying the evenings out or just relaxed at home overlooking the market on saturday.
Sitting here in the lobby of a small hotel with the open fire bringing back memories of what was my youth i can only sweetly smile and thank my parents and brother and sisters for the cumbersome time i had growing up in such richness of experiences. Yes i know it's a bit mellow but that's how it feels after seeing kids play in the garden of fallen apart houses, having to walk 5 to 10 km to a school or having to guard a herd of sheep in the upper plains of the middle atlas at -5 degrees, hardly finding the energy to wave at the passing nutcake on the bike. When i stopped they ran either run away afraid of the unknown or as one did today firmly came my way to ask for money.

It's a totally different world i keep repeating go my head and go the blog . . . But it is : people have a different way of looking at things here: everything is a trade. Getting of the bike is waiting for the first one coming up to you to trade something, even if it was only for using the right to admire the panoramic scenery on the plains near Ifrane . . . .
On the downside of it all the impact of western aspirations have brought polluting cars ( must have inhaled more exhaust fumes in one day than i do otherwise in one year ) , garbage on every corner and in every gutter . Between Azrou and Ifrane there was even a garbage belt which hosted the biggest population of storks ever seen together with berbers going through everything what still could be used. Not to mention the antennas on the most shabby places and the mobile phones in the hand of every merchant and customer.

So in my philosophical mood i would say we still have a long way to go in our aim to make this a better place . . .

Happy travels

Toon

Day 3 as planned but not sure . . .

Up to Azrou now from fes to go through the lake district . It is very difficult to get in touch with the locals . . . Or view avoid contact or they are selling more or less in a pressuring way something . . . Yesterday au one of the stops i tried to take pictures of the sins but nobody allowed me to , they were a bit reluctant, also when i started go french talking to them . . . Anyhow the views are beautiful and i'm loving the time on the bike . . . Hoping to get the picture blogging solved today . . . It's all go the hands of sony ericsson support now ;) . . .

Happy travels

Toon

Fes . . . The imperial city . .

How about putting 1 million people in less than 2 square kilometers (not sure about the size though ) . . . You create a labyrinth of small streets go which you can only walk 2 people next to each other . . . Thank god i had a guide and at least i hope he comes and pick of up from the restaurant :) or i will be old and grey before i get out . . . Colleagues who know me wil find it very odd but i'm putting whole of my faith in the hands of that one guy . . . The medina is so vibrant with a dark and dangerous edge to it . . . But nevertheless glad i have seen it but also glad to get out of it . . . Waiting for my dinner now . . . Real fes pigeon :) . .

Happy travels

Toon

Change of plan . . .

Since i felt more like going to visit the ruins of vobulis to take a picture for my sister Rebecca i changed the route a little bit . . . It's getting better and better and the people are getting also more friendly and less pushing than more north . . . However will find this back once i'm in fes ;) . . . . For the rest the weather is just fine . . . A bit cloudy but nice temperature . . .
The distance from home kicks in . . I suddenly feel far away from Agnes , the kids and the whole family . . . The question why i'm doing this kicks in from time to time . . Guess like i said to Agnes i just put it on the fact i'm crazy :) . . .
Happy travels

Toon

Freezing during the night . .

Thank god i had my sleeping bag , it was freezing this night and warm water did not bring the answer cause there was none . . . The place here is despite the cold very vibrant go colors . . . My visit to the market yesterday was very nice and less hassle than expected . . . Yes they ask money for guarding your bike with a police officer only 10 meters away , but i guess you just have to live with it . . . Also understandable go one way since it really local and you adopt to it, when changed my euro to dinhar i asked advice on the amount you should pay so i did not make a fool out of me . . . 10 dinhar is basicly the max you give in evenings, 5 during the day . . . Check for yourself what it means go local currency :) Now up to fes, trying to find out if i need to change route because of mountain passes closed ( for my trips in 3 days ) . . . .

Happy travels

Toon

First stop . .

Arrived in chefchaouen my first stop on the trip . . . Going to explore the market later . . . Doesn't seem as bad as my spanish ferry friend claimed it would be, but we'll tell more once we survived the market . . . Nature is here wonderfull and there is a strange mix of sounds . . . Some people running and screaming . . . A bunch of guys watching football on the tele . . . . Birds singing their song . . .
Oh by the way i now know where all donkeys have gathered : Morocco, go other words i'm go home company . . .
Happy travels

Toon

Leaving europe

There we go . . . We're leaving europe to go to africa . Before leaving gibraltar i had to go and see the monkeys of course . . . One was even sitting on my bike , you really could not see the difference .
On the ferry an older man is trying to give of some good advice but au the end of the day he is talking about the negatives . . . . Just what i needed to get me started . . . Anyhow au least i have a nice fish restaurant to look forward to go the harbour of Ceuta . . .
I feel it is getting real now . . . There is no way back anymore, only some shortcuts possible . . . . Tonight i hope to arrive au destination 1: chefchoaun . . .
Toon

We got it working

After trying and trying i finally managed to get the blog feed done from the mobile . . . No pictures however . . . Will keep working on the technical hick up . . . Would really like to be able to share also images with all of you . . . . . . Happy travels . . .

Gibraltar here we are .. for the time it still lasts ...

Today the weather gods must have been mad for something i did or said since they have not been that nice to me .. Foggy between Madrid and Granada, topped off with some heavy rains between Granada and Gibraltar after my tyre switch .... (sorry for my Dunlop colleagues, but i had to go for the Contintental TKC80 tyres , since they are the only knobbed tyres that fit the BMW R1200GS - and thanks again to Ignacio for arranging this for me ...) ...

Granada was a lot of fun .. during the tyre switch i went into a small bar to eat some tapas and got permission to take picture inside ... they were so typical faces ... I loved the look on their faces and most of all the babel like conversation that followed ...

Going down to Gibraltar i took a road less travelled: the unpaved road next to the highway ... nice pratice for Morocco , especially that the bike was sliding from under me just before a river crossing ... at least i know for a fact now that i can lift it on my own :-) ....

In between Malaga and Marbella another surreal phenomenam: real estate wolfs. what do you think about the 5 giant billboards, even bigger than 20 square meteres, with a picture of a sharp Londener in pin stripped suit and pink tie looking at you with those eyes of promises and determination stating: This is MacAnthony territory .. and by god it was his territory: building cranes everywhere, building apartmentblocks around a golf course on the side of the mountain.. i wonder really when people will stop putting these ugly scares on the face of the world and just leave it in peace .... Guess when i will cross the street of Gibraltar an another world will be my part ....

Gibraltar than: well yuo know London: take away the parks and the underground and you have Gibraltar .. . riding into Gibraltar you basically cross the landing and take-off strip of the airport: cool, but to be honest that's about it about this place ... a very strange mix between english - spanish - morrocan ....

I'll save the real Morocco for tomorrow .. hope to find also there some internet bars so i can keep you all updated .. am really p***** o** because of the mobile blog not working ... Anyhow I'm sure i will fidn places to do the updates in the major cities of Morocco. Oh that's true I'm not really passing major cities :-) .. we'll see ...

Till then: happy travels to all of you and thanks for all the messages ...

Toon

an early morning

yes i know .. it´s very early in the morning this post, but have to get to Granada today before 12 to change me tyres. As you know there are some technical issues with the mobile blog. Seems that www.blogger.com itself has the problems , but anyhow now live from a dogy hotel reception my posting of today .. Spend the night in Madrid yesterday and met up with Ignacio, my ex-colleague from Dunlop. Wheni was riding down to Madrid i was already `planning in my mind a new adventure: The tour of friends. Seems that i know people all over the world and it would be nice to go from city to city,place to place just taking time to say hello to everybody .. have a coffee, relax and talk about nothing in particular ...

What has become apparent also is that a bike loaded like a mule always draws some attention in a gas station ... you immediately can start a conversation about the whereabouts and the where to´s ... a kind of like and love gas stations , they are a bit of a reflection of society ... i love to watch and observe the people there and try to figure out what is the story behind their journey or at least the story that i create for them ....

Yesterday before noon the scenery was hidden by some thick fog. If evere Agnes was hoping for a white night on a black stallion: well she had it almost yesterday: I was white from the fog and my bike is like a stallion (ok it´s in yellow, but at least the bags are black) ... So in a way it took till 2 o´clock before i saw the sun .. of course could´t resist and took some pictures of a blue sky ... From Biaritz onwards the sky was clear and passing the pyrenees i had the pleasure of seeing snow along the road: meaning i was freezing my ass off :-) ...

Feel set to go now, it´s about time i arrive in Morocco because for me that is the start of the journey, this for the moment is just a little playing and fiddling around .. the real stuff is coming tomorrow i guess.

Tonight i will go to Gibraltar because i really would like to have a stayed in the UK enclave before it is handed back to Spain ...

Happy travels and i hope Agnes and me can solve the issue with the mobile blog

Toon
very nice , i even saw some snow along the way, which means it was very cold.

technical problems..

unfortunatelly, since leaving Belgium, it has not been possible to update the blog from mobile :-(
.. Now somewhere in south of France...

My frequent stops

Gas stations are like home now . . . With only 250 per tank i visit them quite often . . . . Nice to sit and observe the people and to create the scenario of their journey . . . Now of to a hotel . . .

Gasstations . . . My new home

Going to look for a hotel now . . . Been driving for 5 hours . . . Paris was traffic jammed as usual . . . :-)

My first mobile post

What a feeling . . May i present to you my companion for the next 16 days . . .

.. this is it ....

no way back, all i set to go now. Just had lunch with my dad to say goodbye and do the last fixes to the bike. Agnes already left this morning for Sweden so i'm all alone here ... listening to Coldplay - Clocks and wondering why i'm undertaking this trip. Some people would state it is a midlife stuff , others would say i'm serching for something ... but you know what: i just do it because i love it .... I can already feel the wind on my face when i'm crossing the Atlas .. i can see already the eagle circling above the plains ... i can already smell the woodfire of the little cafe in Imilchil .... and above all i can see the smile on my face when i arrive on the 17th of Feb in Marrakech to pick up Agnes and the kids ....

Yesterday was my finbal day at Dunlop and we threw a little farewell drink in De Cirque ... feels nice to see the people in another context outside the framework of corporate blue ... but now my focus is on my month off .. all the rest can wait ...

I promise to keep te blog updated on a daily basis through the mobile, so there will always be pictures, but the messages will be rather short ...

Well my friends: Happy Travels


Toon

meeting up the friends ....

it feels so strange , we invited some of our friends on saturday and the family on sunday to wave goodbye for my trip to Morocco. On Saturday the boss of my favorit pub did me a huge favour by making Couscous as some sort of an introduction dinner for my friends and us. (that's him on the picture: Alain). I wish one day he could join me for a trip to some adventerous place, i bet he would just love it and we would make an nice duo on the bikes ...

The dinner was very nice since Geert en Hendrik already went to Morocco before me (Marc the third hombres was not there for the dinner) .. i feel like i'm going to pick up memories there they left behind and plant already the seeds for a trip next year. Memories left behind by the three guys, but also by Bart and Nathalie in Marrakech, they had some found ones from their honeymoon in Marrakech. The seeds are for Michael and Kristin since we are already planning a trip with two motorcycles February 2008.

Today sunday it was the family coming over for some afternoon tea and cakes. Although it happens more often that they do not see me in one month, but this time it felt so much stranger since i know i will not be in the possibility to drop by or if something happens just be there in a splash ..... My sister and my mum are rather worried of what might happen in such a far away country. when saying goodbye my mum handed me a cross. Although i'm totally not relegious i promised here to wear it around my neck whilst riding the mountains and the trails , just to make sure my whole family is with me the entire time. My brother, dad, stephmom and younger sister are a bit more sober about it, they are just waiting to see me back with loads of pictures and stories to tell.

now the last days at Dunlop, making sure that all is well left behind without too many open items. Most difficult will be of course thursday evenign saying good bye to the kids .. but they will come togehter with Agnes to visit me on February 17th :-) ...

for now: happy travels


Toon

.... dreaming about what's to come ....

the departure is to Morocco is slowly but surely creeping up on me, i hardly can believe i'm actually going to go ahead with it. a mixture of excitement and fear is confusing my thoughts in between working on the hand over, closing all my administration at the office and my luxembourgs appartement, preparing for the departure ...

my god, there is still so much to do .. i got the shopping list ready for saturday but don't know if i will have enough time. putting the bike into maintenance, adding the last accessories for a safe trip ... the packing will be limited: just a couple of sock, underwear and t-shirts will do the trick. and of course packign up my new toy : a new digital camera ... doubted a long time but now i decided to buy it to make sure i can share the beautifull things i will see on my trip ...

i will update you later on the actual departure time, but for the moment it is set for Friday 2nd of February ....

in the meantime: happy travels

Toon

... it's getting closer ...

well well ... it's a world of travel ... the more i think about it the more i'm happy with my tagline i use very often in my blog : Happy travels ... It my sound mellow but we are on a constant journey.

To everybody you talk you hear that they are going places or planning some sort of a trip. Brenda said goodbye to Amsterdam in style last Thrusday, unfortunately i could not be there since it was a kids week-end, but i partied with her in my mind ... happy travels to her ..

from my side.. well the professional journey is coming to an end at Dunlop, feel like taking a plane to the next job, but before doing so the real work i awaiting me: Morocco .. I feel very nerveous about it , my maiden adventure makes me feel very unusual .. I'm going to a place i have never been before and going off-road for the first time in a complete unknown area .... what has gone into my head to plan for this ....

i still have so much to do to get all the things in order: a new pasport because mine is only valid till beginning of March, so i do not want to run a risk... for the rest i still need to decide what to bring ... one tells me to leave home my sidebags, others say no problem .. one says to take tyres others say to leave home all technical equipement ... my god they confuse me all ....

i took it out on the people closest to me this week-end .. my god they suffer with me when i'm in a situation that i do not have fully under control .... but i feel the structure and methodical approach coming back in my brain .... First working on a couple of pure pratical issues and i'll be fine ....

the counter is at 2663 km on my planned routes for the moment with a total of 13 motorcycle travel days in Morocco (Agnes and the kids are coming down for one week to Marrakech and there we will travel by 4x4 and camels), but now i see the number i will re-adjust to make this 12 days or 14 days .... don't want to have a bad omen hanging above the trip ....

anyhow i keep you informed but for now ... happy travels

Toon

close your eyes and jump ....

spent this week 2 days in France, more precisely in between Marseille and Saint Tropez. My colleague Jeremy Ferguson - Manager International motorsport - and myself were to visit the homebase of the Tech3 MotoGP team ...



My god .. i start to understand why people have a smile on their face in the south of France during winter time. ... First of all: no tourists what so ever .. the odd lost Brit or Dutch who can hide his origins by their loud voice and desperately trying to speak French fluently ... for the rest south of France belongs to the natives in this time of the year ... they go for lunch on the terraces that are still bathing in the sun, even the odd jeu de boules after lunch is not far away .. the temperature plays a vital role of course: chilly 16 degrees the guy told me ... bloody hell shall i invite him to Brussels or to Malmo ?

the meetings were very nice and the left me with a very mixed feeling about leaving my current job .. i really love the motorsport and know for a fact that one day i will end up in that business. maybe as a sponsor :-) ... I really hope to achieve this before Jeremey goes on his retirement since i really love the guy ....

.. the end of a year .. a new beginning

I believe that a lot of you were already aware that I was looking to spread my wings back into the technology sector. Well today I can tell you all that as of 1st of March 2007 I will be again working as European Group marketing manager for the mobile Device division of Microsoft.

I feel really excited to go back to the fast paced technology sector, but also feel very sad to leave behind me the motorcycle world. A world I have gotten to know as being very addictive, especially the motorsport environment has gotten under my skin. The thrill and excitement of the races is now here to stay. I promised my son and myself to make sure we keep following much closer than before Dunlop the exploits of the MotoGP racers and of course we will try to pick up one or two Grand Prixs in Europe.

But on to technology marketing again, I hardly can't wait to get back into the development of campaigns that rock the industry. Also it is a very crucial period for the industry with Microsoft focusing a lot of attention to make sure they can make their breakthrough in the mobile world. I'm thrilled to be part of this .. reminding me a bit of the start time at Sony Ericsson: building and working on something new and great.

For now I'm still trying to finish off as many projects as possible so I can leave the business with a good feeling. I do not want to let down some of my friends I found in this business.

I wish everybody a happy new year and let 2007 be full of travels


Toon

Our maiden trip

what to say about the following figures:

Total time : 35:12
Overall avg speed: 67.8
Max speed: 186km/h
Distance: 2388.9 km


That are the stats on our maiden trip. A trip that took us from:

Thursday : Valencia - Teruel
Friday: Teruel - Barcelona
Saturday: Barcelona - Carcassonne
Sunday: Carcassonne - Cleremont Ferrand
Monday: Cleremont Ferrand - Home

The trip as a whole was just wonderful. We enjoyed the new experience and I was so glad we did not really come across any obstacles such. Although Agnes never did a trip like this and that it was really the first really big and long trip for me as well: all went superbly well. Especially if you look like in the below picture you do not have a guarantee of success.




Ok I look smaller than the bike, but once I managed on to it I swear: I'm just flying

But the first day was all about taking in the scenery and getting used to ride the bike with the two of us. It is very strange to be so close to each other but for about hours not being able to talk sicken we do not have a communciation system in our helmets. So we took regular to enjoy the scenery both of us and at least be able to say what we were thinking, but in a way it was not necessary because the vibes filled the air.

The first night we stayed in a hostel in Teruel, more precise: a room in some sort of a elderly house for priests and nuns :-) .... Hope we did not disturb them too much. But I guess we did given the gazing stares we got in the morning at breakfast.

Day 2 brought us from Teruel to Barcelona. Again the scenery was just breathtaking and the stops in the small villages a lust for the eye and the mouth. The last part we were forced to go over highway since it was getting dark. First time lucky on that trip. With only fuel left for 10 km and no gas station in the neighborhood we took our changes to ride on the highway with a gas station about 15km away. With all our hopes we achieved the station with 0 km left on our on-board computer. In Barcelona we of course visited the tapas area around the cathedral and enjoyed the nice and warm weather of around 18 degrees.

Day three was a challenge: planning 451 km over small windy mountain roads from Barcelona to Andorra to Carcassonne. With a delay of two hours we left Barcelona around noon. I just wanted new tyres because the ones I had were worn out and I finally could throw the competitors onces away and have them replaced. Unfortunately with all the effort we could not find Dunlops in Barcelona, so we settled on something else .... hope my boss agrees with my philosophy of: to beat the competition you need to know them :-)

As said: the day trip was a challenge and we failed. We passed Andora and the Pyrenees already after 5 with still 3 hours to go in the dark and cold. It was about 0 degrees in the Pyrenees. I just enjoyed myself going down the small mountain roads and especially the joy of breaking the 11.111km barrier on the bike. The joy was not really shared by Agnes, but all the troubles were washed away once we got to Carcassonne.



but with swapping the rather rough nature from Spain with the more green from France we had to take on the flipside the change from a warm welcome every time we stopped in Spain by the typical French " friendliness" of what the @%&$ are you coming to do here .... The stay in themediaval town of Carcassonne was not going to be spoiled by that and we took the time to visit the place before taking of to Clermont Ferrand: another ambitious 513.1 km, but now with an earlier start.

All preparations albeit: I ended in the water. During the day the weather was wonderful , we even tried to figure out who lived where, since the place is so deserted they put indicators on where everybody lived with the distance. We had the sun to keep us warm, but once past 3 o'clock the clouds came in: time for the rain suits ... In a storm we still had to go the Cleremont so we altered the route.

Day 4 was a straight on trip home from Cleremont to Mechelen: around 760 km highway in a rather hefty wind, but still manageable. Also the rain was not really there, we almost avoided it completely .... Apart from the like shower we got around 11 .... After having spent 3 day in the outskirts Paris confronted us with the term traffic jam and overcrowded stress again , luckily witht he bike we could jump the traffic jam in between lane 2 and 3 .

Back home we were so happy we did it .. not that it was such a difficult trip, but the fact we both really enjoyed being on the bike. Now the only that needs to be done is to get the drivers license for Agnes. I'm set to go to Morocco hopefully in February to take my first real adventure trip. With everything I learnt on the course and the experience with this maiden trip I guess I'm armed for an exciting adventure ....

I must admit I was already passionate about bikes with the sidecar, but now it is getting to me even deeper. How foolish it may sound, I even consider to enlarge the collection with a red stallion.



but first Morocco .....


Happy travels


Toon

... Preparation for the big thing .....

Well it finally happened, I got my enduro adventure training in Spain: Aras de los Olmos, about 90 km west from Valencia. I left Belgium on Thursday 23rd of November with the bike from Mechelen to Montlucon where Dunlop has it's factory.

A straight trip in the pouring rain for about 6 to 7 hours to attend some meeting in the afternoon and on Friday. The very positive thing about the meetings was that I was already something like 3/5 down of the way to Valencia :-). It was just a thrilling feeling to be able to go down fully packed in the rain. The rain never bothered me to be honest, only the wind was a bit of a hassle.

On Saturday I took myself from Montlucon to Barcelona and maybe some of you recognize the picture below; as you can see I indulged myself into the tapas culture of Barcelona. In between I added some more accessories to my GS: a genuine tankbag so that I at least did not have to step of at every toll station.



On Sunday I took the trip from Barcelona to Aras de los Olmos, about 90km west from Valencia. After some speed on the highway I considered to ask the GPS the shortest route to the destination along the small routes. It was a magnificent experience. Going up to the mountains along curly roads, but of course the shortest road is not always the surfaced roads. There was a crash course off road riding for the last 15 km with a little tumble as a consequence .. my god that bike is heavy , thank god a farmer was close by to help me getting the bike out of the ditch :-)

Sunday evening I got to meet the other participants. All were German speaking but one: Ben Chu Schott from Canada. I was immediately promoted to the translator of duty. The others were from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The fact of translating was nice since I improved my German rapidly and I always had to repeat everything twice which made it stick even better . The instructor Michael could not be more fit for the job: German and a police driving instructor :-), Thomas the second instructor and Gert "megafix" mechanic were way more Latin in their thinking and acting.



The course started on Monday with some training in the enduro park to learn to get used to the turning and standing on the bike , for warm-up we were even riding the bike in amazone way .. It is amazing how fast you learn to control the bike with their tips and tricks, even doing a circle with the bike was no longer a problem. In the afternoon the first "steady"off road was a fact.

Wonderfull scenery was our part. It is amazing how wonderful it feels to combine the steady pace and the scenery ... your mind is really getting empty and you can only admire the view and the things you learn on the bike .. no more deadlines .. no more office .. no more troubles , just the tremendous feeling of freedom and adventure. And the desire to go out and about ...

Tuesday was the slimming down of our group. Before noon we learned to ride without ABS, but Toon took this a bit to serious. On a steady piece of the track I tested the limits of rear wheel breaking without abs with of course a slide as a consequence. Leo who was following me a bit too close could not avoid me nor the bike and fell down. Consequence: a broken ankle. So we were down to 5 inour group. In the afternoon another slide of an insecure Michael made him loose control in a curve and hurted his shoulder. He still finished the day but thought that day 3 was too demanding.

Day 3 was magnificent. The terrain they selected for us was getting technically more and more demanding and I just loved it. Going steep hills and rocky paths down was just so satisfying once you achieved. Our group with the couple Lucia and Herbet, Ben and myself with our instructor Thomas was a very jolly gang stressing the aspect of having fun and taking the time to admire the scenery.

At the end of the training I can say it was wonderful and I have some trips to make: to Canada. By the way Ben and his wife Mel were at the beginning point of their world trip. They are traveling till next March 2007 around the world. Their tour will take them from Ottawa to Spain to Turkey to Greece to Egypt to Dubai to India to Hong Kong to Thailand to Singapore to Australia to New Zealand and back to Ottawa, returning on March 10, 2007. I already hooked him up with Brenda in New Zealand.

In the meantime we write Thursday 30th of November. Agnes is getting on a plane to Valencia in full motorcycle gear to join me for the trip back home. But that part of the trip deserves a separate section which I will be writing tomorrow.

Happy travels and that your dreams may take you there.

Toon

Went south and going even deeper south

I'm back from a week-end in Valencia where I had to attend the last Grand Prix of the MotoGP season. My god do I love the atmosphere on those Grand Prixs, specially if you can have the privileges of being in the paddock and having access to a lot of extras :-0 ..... Although that I must admit that I have been running around like crazy to entertain all our guests that came flying from all over Europe. I think one day I will buy my self the Sony Ericsson phone with the step o meter ... hint hint .. It's the W710i ....

But maybe not .. I'm more in need of true GPS devices since the planned trip to Morocco is getting really close. I inscribed myself into a course for enduro riding from 26th of November till 30 the of November in Aras (90km west of Valencia) as a preparation for the trip ... Agnes will come down to Valencia to join me for the trip back up ......

When Morocco the trip will take place will depend largely on the timing of the new challenge .. I see it as some sort of a break between two jobs .. a time to reflect on my life before I turn the terrible sounding 30+10 ...

I have become painfully aware of my age in the last period. Not only do some people in my professional circle already give me the label "too experienced" also I had the feeling that sometimes it feels like I'm no longer the young one I think I am ... However nothing is lost: I feel younger than ever before, especially with the idea of crossing the Atlas Mountains on my bike ..

Believe or not ...

it has been one year since i left the world of telecomms behind me .... Life is going it usual way, you meet other people, make some new friends and try to find new challenges ....

I'm still as crazy as ever i guess, but it does not seem to rub off on my new environment .... although as i ance said once can always return, but not come back .... seems that the world has moved on in both places, maybe at a different pace, but it sure did ...



i'm getting more and more in to the need to go on the big strech .. or at least something like that .... need to break away from everything to make sure i can put everything back into perspective ....

So i guess this as good as a time as ever .... by the way did i ever tell you all that i miss the contact ..... it feels like it was a once in a lifetime experience that i will take with me for the rest of my days ....

happy travels

.. London calling ...

it's not going to clash, but this week-end London is on the menu. Finally doing the shopping with the gift voucher from my Sony Ericsson farewell present... it will bring back a lot of memories ..... Paul Smith here i come :-) ...

I'm trying to follow up all the changes in the other end, but i must admit: I'm lost .. but i guess aren't we all in one way or the other. .... We are trying to find a next destination, so if any of you have an idea: you know where to find me ...

... the holiday blues ...

As I told in my quick posting last week I'm suffering a bit of holiday blues. July was a fantastic month in Belgium with very sunny weather and temperature around 30 degrees, I brought also the long expected present I was hoping to get: my bike. The first step towards the trip to Morocco has materialized.

Agnes and I already enjoyed some very nice trips in Belgium as an appetizer for hopefully a longer trip in the coming period.

Although we hesitated for taking the bike on holiday with the kids in France we decided finally to leave on the 12th of August with the 4 of us in the car. Mainly to make sure that at least we had the time to talk as a little family about bits and bots. The trip down was very nice and went very smooth. We were lodged in a beautifully country house in the middle of a vineyard. It was marvelous to have a house like that .. nice bedrooms , very big kitchen (which of course I loved after I brought my own food processor and the coffee machine, which makes Agnes always laugh)

The highlight of the holiday was of course the fishing. I never considered myself a person who would love fishing , but at the end of the day Riens and I loved the fact of being till our middle in the water and just waiting for the fish to take bait. We were so proud of him when he caught his first ever big fish, without any help of anyone .. The kids are getting older and with every day it is getting for both Agnes and myself so much nicer. We praise ourselves to have such nice kids with whom you can talk in a very adult way.



The house we shared with friends of ours with some nice evening talk around some, or even too many glasses of wine. The second week we took an easy way back with stop overs in Il de Re, Mont Saint Michel and Normandy. The end of the holiday was less pleasant due the illness of both Agnes and me ... it felt as if they wanted to make clear to us that we had to take care of our bodies ...

Back to work was rather heavy, feels like I'm in an environment which is not really mine and although I'm convinced it should be possible it seems that all efforts of making a change to not rub off to the rest of the organization. This combined with the physical distance there sometimes is between Agnes and myself one starts to put the personal and family harmony on a higher level. This has of course the necessary consequences on the professional life, one cannot forget that about 60% of our awake life we spend doing a job, in other words happiness in the job is from big importance to make sure that the family life does not suffer under it ....

The questions that fly through my head in connection to this all are the basis of the summer blues, but as you all know me, it will not get me down, but will fuel my energy to find the best solution for all of us ... but as the song said: With a little help of my friends ...

.. after summer blues ...

hi there all, just to let you know i have put on my to do list a posting on my blog for this week-end. All has been delayed because of holiday and i must admit post summer blues .. but i will keep youposted this week-end with the full story ...