Faces from the Road: Henk from Holland

Henk from HollandThe Earth may be huge, but the world is small and coincidence abounds. For example, take Henk, whom we met in Southern Utah in Escalante in May. He was halfway through a bike tour up through the national parks to Canada. I grilled him for info on our upcoming tour and then honked and waved as we drove off in the Sprinter as he pedaled along, American flag flapping in the desert wind.

Imagine my surprise two months later when a leaner, extremely tan Henk pedaled into our campsite in Glacier with a spirited and accented “hello!” Unmistakably the same friendly, grinning guy from Utah. We quickly caught up and enjoyed chatting about our respective trips. Other than passing out from the heat in Moab on a 100+ degree day (yikes), his trip had gone well and he was loving life.

When we first met, Henk mentioned he was afraid that touring solo as a foreigner would be lonely (his wife had to work and couldn’t join him), but that the U.S. has been so friendly and he was having a wonderful time. It’s great hearing that kind of information from visitors to our country! He looked strong, fit and happy and I was stoked to have crossed paths again while on our own tour.

It’s a small world, after all!

Til next time,

Dakota

P.S. We’re exploring the Black Hills of South Dakota the next few days on a great rails-to-trails route, in case you’re wondering. Here’s the trip map for our journey so far!

9 replies
  1. Edmon
    Edmon says:

    Just stumbled across this. By any chance, did this Henk happen to mention if he had done the Trans America trail in 1976?!? This guy looks familiar. Age looks about right.

    Reply
    • Dakota
      Dakota says:

      Hey Edmon, thanks for stopping by. How’d you find this particular post?

      Henk has done other cycling in the US, though we didn’t talk about when or exactly where it was. I love the idea that you may have met him!

      Reply
      • Edmon
        Edmon says:

        I spotted your site from a link on the Adventure Cycling email newsletter. Very cool journey. Mike (above) and I did the Trans Am with a Henk from Holland in 1976, would be the same build and age, but not the guy. As much as we drool over bike infrastructure in Amsterdam, the Dutch I’ve met just love bike touring in the US. Funny. Be well.

        Reply
        • Dakota
          Dakota says:

          I suspect it’s because we actually have mountains here! And big open expanses. I didn’t see much of that in Holland.

          Ah, cool. I love ACA, they do great work.

          Reply
  2. Toni
    Toni says:

    Hi! I know this was a long time ago but do you by any chance still have Henks info??
    We met Henk in South Africa in the early 2000’s while cycling and have been trying to find him for YEARS! Any info would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply

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