North Holland Daily Newspaper story appeared June 4, 2013

Following is a story written about my recent bicycle adventure in Holland, written by reporter Martijn Gijsbertsen and appeared in the June 4, 2013 isssue of the North Holland Daily Newspaper.  It’s a pdf link just click on and the story will open.  Below the link is an English translation of what the reporter said.

Holland Newspaper story Frank Briscoe

Holland Daily Newspaper Story June 4, 2013

He calls himself “The Old Guy on a Bicycle” and has a web with that name.  His real name is Frank Briscoe, he’s 67 years old and has a passion for bicycle touring solo.  On his website he has numerous bicycle adventure stories from having ridden most of America.  Along with his bicycle adventures Frank is a man on a mission to raise awareness and money to defeat the serious nerve disorder Multiple Sclerosis (MS) but is not fundraising on this journey.  He is a member of the “International Travel Writers and Photographers Guild” and upon his return to the USA he plans to write a story about riding solo through the Netherlands.

In the two weeks he has been here he has discovered, “The people of Holland are very friendly and helpful.  Your ever changing landscape of beaches on the North Sea, the dunes, forests, meadows and wetlands are beautiful.  I had no idea there was so much open land in the Netherlands”.

Mr. Briscoe was invited to come to the Netherlands by a family from Limburg.  He had met them while crossing America on his bicycle in 2011.  On May 22 Frank arrived in the Netherlands with his bicycle which he has named “Spirit”.  He and Spirit have logged over 20,000 kilometers exploring America.

Frank’s Holland journey began in Middleburg, Zeeland he has traveled north along the North Sea, turning east and inland at Callantsoog.  He then crossed the 32 kilometer DamFriesland.  Due to a very strong headwind it took him 3 hours to cross the dyke.  He then turned south to Stavoren, took the ferry over to Enkhuizen, turned south once again and rode across the 25 kilometer dyke to Lelystad, turned north to Emmeloord and northeast to the Kalenburg National Park wetlands.  From there he will head south ending in Maastricht.  He expects to complete his journey on or about June 10^th when he returns by train to his friends in Echt.

When he returns to the United States he will continue putting in training mileage and resume his fight to rid the world of MS.  In the next 3 years Frank said he plans to head to Central and South America, then cross the Pacific Ocean to the Philippines and ending his journey circling through Thailand, Laos, Viet Nam and Cambodia.  It is his hope and desire to write of his bicycle travels and sell to various publications but most of all to entertain and inspire folks to create their own adventures.  There is so much to see and do in the world rather than to sit back and waste one’s life on a couch.

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