Category: cycling

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!
September 16, 2019
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!
September 8, 2019
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!
August 19, 2019
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!
June 5, 2019
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!

January 25, 2019
Mountain ahoy!

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Let’s get cycling!

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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.

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Into the unknown

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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.

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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.

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Breaking down

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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.

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Hard reality

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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.

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Never give up!

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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.

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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!

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December 29, 2018
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.

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.

April 17, 2017
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?”.

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).

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.

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.

April 7, 2017
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.

March 16, 2017