By Derk Thijs

Ralph Tuijn is on the road again in Australia. Ralph rides the northern route through Australia from Perth to Brisbane, approximately 7000 km.

Theo Homan first attends the Ringvaart Regatta in a skiff on May 28, almost 100 km of rowing. We’re curious if he’ll be victorious for the third time in a row or if younger heroes will rock the boat. After the regatta Theo wants to do the 100 colls tour in France on his THYS 209 with large  Ø 250 mm Snek. Theo isn’t the youngest anymore ( 50 +), but it’s especially the oldies which can excel on these long distances. Theo showed his skills in this area in a number of occasions and we hope he’ll set another good performance once more. Younger rowingbike heroes gave him with respect and a smile the nickname “Oldie Homan”.

Evert Edel does a round trip from Belgium to Gibraltar on a THYS 222 rowingbike. He hopes to cover the distance in about six weeks. Seems to be an almost impossible goal, but that doesn’t matter: even if he would take a train or a plane from Gibraltar or somewhere during his return journey I’ll still yell “Chapeau!” Evert carries his luggage with him, including a tent, using a steel rowingbike with Ø 250 mm Snek. The mountains will be strenuous, but Evert is young, strong and enthusiastic, the right ingredients for a good outcome.

Bartel Lamers will row from Athens to Amsterdam. In fact Bartel wanted to cover this trip already last year with Alexander Strietzel, Jacques Choppinet and Derk Thijs. However,  Bartel had a completely unexpected heart attack in December 2012. Luckily he was resuscitated by his colleagues. As soon as May 2013 Bartel shows on Crete that having a stand also has its benefits. He ascended the Greek mountains faster then ever before. Apart from a proper medical treatment, Bartel worked hard for his recovery. Healthy nutrition, lots and regular sports and hardly any alcohol have contributed a lot to his recovery.
This year he’ll ride Athens-Amsterdam all alone, his rowingbike buddies all cancelled for varying reasons.
When Bartel sets his mind on something it’s hard to talk him out of it. So, he has prepared 3409 kilometres on his GPS and once under way he’ll send us reports about his progress. He starts May 30 from Athens.

Thijs de Neeve will attend Alpe d’Hu6 for the second time, again by rowingbike. Thijs is cured from Hodgkin, so the fight against cancer is important to him. You can support Thijs via his action page. Ascending by rowingbike is much harder than by race bike, an extra challenge for Thijs.

And I’m telling myself to take it a bit easy.  My old bones aren’t fond anymore of these long distances and maybe I have the same attitude. Like almost every year I’m going to Crete, again with the familiar group of rowingbike friends. I’ll try to make some pictures while on the road. If nothing appears on rowingbike.com, make sure to check Facebook instead.