Hardy

Everything is now romanticized and 'specialized'. For example, riding on a motorcycle during the winter. That is something for the toughest people. That is not true. Modern motorcycle clothing, handle and buddy heating and possibly even winter tires make 'riding on' anything but ice much more uncomfortable than a ride in the early spring. That all that dirt on the road is not by definition good for your motorcycle? Well, then he should have learned a trade.

Yet from December you will see very few motorcyclists on the road

What you see are usually older BMWs, surprisingly many Guzzis and service bikes such as Deauvilles. In this area there is also the almost daily meeting with Ruud's purple Kawa 500 from the year jar. His old Guzzi remains brine-free. Smart.

You used to drive on because your motorcycle used to be your only transport

The clothing idea was to wear some layers over each other. Including long underpants, your pajama pants, jeans and PVC pants. Above the belt it was just like a layered party. With a Saturday Telegraaf in between the layers. Wearing a cat skin on the chest was also practiced. But Continue driving in winter was mostly ... cold.

And if you as a young person went on a parental visit from elsewhere in the Randstad?

Then your parents would have heard you coming through the exhaust sound and your chattering teeth. When they went outside after about five minutes to see where you were, they found you stiff on the engine, while it was leaning against the shed. A long hot shower plus a pair of distilled glasses helped defrost. You woke up at night. You felt your aching knees. The bones there were still stone cold. The knees hurt in the morning.

Now we are a lot further. We don't have to go on winter rides for a long time.

But we will continue to do it for as long as possible, thanks to the climate change. And what if it's really cold once? Then we call each other. The 'we' are then a maximum of four, which they meanwhile call 'older young people'. That's kindly said when you talk about a quartet of nostalgic romantics, the youngest of whom has already passed the five crosses.

Because if you are on a pair of old motorcycles on the road under circumstances where even seasoned Volvo drivers are sitting behind the wheel with their shoulders raised? Then you are a fearless God in the depths of your thoughts. The benefit since your childhood is that you then thought that everyone looked at you with admiration. We used to make that estimation simplicity in the past when it went as fast as possible and made as much noise as possible.

By the way, another one: If a beautiful princess had landed on your buddy, what better way than to drive as fast as possible and brake as late as possible. We were convinced that such an approach would make a deep impression on our dream princesses.

Oops: passenger lost

With Emile, the coin fell when he lost his passenger when accelerating at a traffic light. That was the end of a romance that had not even begun. Now we know that citizens and motorists only stare at us because they think we are crazy.

In the meantime we are now doing it more relaxed

Our Lieven stay at home, and we take an indoor ride of a maximum of 150 kilometers. We are dressed in a mix of oldskool layers plus affordable textile motorcycle clothing. 'Rukka' is the absolute top brand that we lack. But Difi thermal overalls are great for much less money.

We also build in enough coffee stops where we look at each other with satisfaction. And we do lunch with cool things that horrible things have to do with our cholesterol values. Comrade Henk reminisces about his youth ride from Central Netherlands to Friesland: In his pocket he had a liter of gin. He had inserted a gasoline hose into the cap of which he had the other end in the corner of his mouth. When it got really cold, he took a sip. Once with his girl in Friesland he was cold and giggling. To combat the cold, his Lief immediately took him to bed.

We don't make it that crazy anymore

After such an excursion we are tired, satisfied and cold. As usual, we pack either a hot bath or a shower. After dinner it's time for the last drink. Then just under the hot shower. And then into the basket. Where the electric blanket provides a warm welcome. An electric blanket is the pinnacle of motorcycle clothing. And when our respective Beloved ones also come on board, they are happy: "You are nice and warm!"