The weather should be great this Sunday - sunny and about 30 degrees Centigrade. After breakfast I slipped into my enduro jacket, took the water and ice filled camelbak and my Scott SixDays enduro hipbag with sandwiches, bars and tape for the roadbook. It was about 10 o'clock as I entered the pub in Grathem, the location for the breefing After I met Jan, Angeline and Marielle (I got their names back home from the telephone emergency list - a hidden function of these lists) I started taping my roadbook together. Nineteen sheets of A5 paper to ride 140 clicks in the dust.
Outside the entire paper roll fitted well into the Acerbis device - those with a bicycle roadbook reader had more worries. Tripmaster reset to zero and half past ten I left Grathem on my F650 'SixDays'.

After about 10 kilometres I met a bunch of KTM's that seemed to be lost somehow. In front of them Aad (that was what his sponsor shirt said) rode a Suzuki DR800. The DR and me took the lead close riding to each other. The DR rode very fast and therefore missed about every fourth turn so every now and then he passed me. Meanwhile I really managed to ride the soft dusty sand very well by simply opening the throttle. My TKC80 tyres managed to do the job very well.
Dirtroads alternated with beautiful field tracks and forest roads. I should look for a job in these parts! Close to my home in the centre of the Netherlands everything that gives you the idea of enduro is closed. This allroad trip is really great!

Somewhere in the woods - i really haven't got a clue where I am riding, it might be even in Belgium - I suddenly ride behind a KTM Adventure. I am amazed by the fact that the angry sound from the exhausts is missing. Together we follow the roadbook and have a few encounters with the DR. Do we follow him or is he following us? At the point where we should take a break we exchange stories about our bikes and trips and other riders enter the parking lot: the KTM riders, two BMW GSses, the other Funduro rider (great job on T66) and an old XL. Besides one Ténéré I didn't see many more of the 40 (?) participants
After some refreshments and some luch the Adventure and me ride off together. Actually it is more fun than riding on your own. My Sigma tripmaster stopped counting for some reason. Every now and then a few metres are added until it stops working completely. Magnet and sensor are still aboard and later I found out that the sensor is full of Limburgian dust... I am happy that the roadbook also had a column with intermediate distances and with simple aditions I use my standard odometre on the dashboard. The roadbook is very well layed out so I really can find my way well.

After I passed the finish of a bicycle race withing 12 seconds (that was what the display said as I passed the finish line) I turned left onto a very sandy track - actually it was more like dust! I opened throttle as much as I liked, moved my ass to the rear and GO! I hope the photographers in the grass had dustproof equipment or otherwise they will have scratches on their films ;-) After my first sanitary stop my Adventure buddy passes and some time later we again engage the DR that assisted two others. The DR really takes off like a rocket and we would see him back at the finish.
With 60 to 80 km/h on the speedo we rode through fields and forests with large dustclouds behind us. Riding together means riding very close or with a minimum of 100 metres in between. I rinse the dust with regular sips from my camelbak. Who said that more of the same would become boring? Riding this way never bores!

After a long leg alongside the canal I see the churchtower of Grathem. Those 140 kilometres really went fast! Inside the pub we found out that the Adventure rider and me are the first ones that came back. The others that started before me must have get lost because I only saw few of them... Whatever, the whole thing is just to enjoy yourself.
I take the opportunity to take a ride on the KTM Adventure. Great bike! After some 20 minutes and a coke the DR arrives with a flat rear tyre. It must have rained nails since there were a few punctures. Outside I exchange stories with other participants and start my Funduro for a ride home. Next time I'll surely be there again!