[where: pula, croatia]
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: morlaaDate: 01-feb-2008 7:43
Subject: [Biketour] cyclist traveller died in croatia
To: biketour at eyfa.org
hi all
i forward a sad story. dont know if any of u met rik-jan - he stayed half a year in the balkans now.
dont have much to say - one more reason to fight car culture
jan
Dear friends of Rik-Jan,
We are sorry to bring you the news that Rik-Jan has passed away in Pula,
Croatia, last Monday.
Monday evening he was biking. He was hit by a big truck, about 9.15 pm. The driver had not seen him. Rik-Jan was brought to the hospital
of Pula with severe injuries. He was in coma. The doctors tried to save his life, but Rik-Jan passed away 23.20 hour. The next day the Dutch police informed us about his accident and decease.
Rik-Jan will be brought to Holland on Saturday 2 February. Sunday 3 February there will be a gathering for Rik-Jan at Beekhuizenseweg 72, 6881am Velp, The Netherlands. You are welcome there. The gathering will be from 11 to17 hr, the most important part will be from 12 to14 hour.
The place of the gathering is close by camping Beekhuizen in Velp. You see the camping on your left hand. You pass a strange S-curve, after 50-100 meter you will see two white stacks and a small waterfall and a former teahouse. There it is.
If people want to do or say something that day, they can contact Bas Roufs
Mail: BasRoufs at
gmail.com phone + 31 64 4683510 or +31 30 7852040
With questions you can also contact Andrea Hoexum/ Hans Paul Maarseveen
Mail : info at
worldbeats.nl, phone + 31 26 3642795.
Or Helma van Eibergen. Phone
+ 31 26 8480220
Please bring something nice to eat and (warm) drink, it will be a sharing.
We don t know yet when Rik-Jans funeral will take place. It will be during the week of 4-8 February in Rheden, Gelderland. As soon as we have the funeral card, we will e-mail it to you.
With loving greetings, on behalf of family and friends of Rik-Jan,
Esther van Riet & Jan Brinkman
Eva Scheele
Andrea Hoexum
PS We have found your e-mail addresses on the mailing list of Rik-Jans last newsletter of January, 12. For many of you it was the last letter from Rik-Jan himself. It is added below the Dutch translation of this mail
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[paragraphing below has been modified]
Van: Rikjan van Riet
Onderwerp: Newsletter in a new year
Hello everybody,
Naturally a very good new year to you all with lots of love and joy.
It was sometime ago I wrote something, but here it is.
In the last Bosnian city (called Brcko) I stayed in a rather lux hotel, that's also concerning the price but for western people like me, I still can pay it if I not doing it to many times.
In the evening I got the change to talk with some people from the hotel. And in
the morning during the (indeed luxury) breakfast I met two guys who are doing
there final degree in Journalistic. Later on I joined them seeing a youthcenter. There I checked a little bit if there was some volenteerwork to to (the next morning I heard it wasn't going for now) In the late evening I got a place to sleep at a young couple where I stayed for two nights.
After that I crossed a border and said goodbye to Bosnia. But not to the Balkan
yet (the magnet is still working....). I entered Croatia again
Slowly I went north and after a few days I came in Osijek, a place I already heard from a radio station witch is broadcasting from there.
There I found a eco-organisation who have a eco-center in a very little village (5 man and 2 family's) that's next to the big river Danube (Donau).
In the coming weekend there would come some people around the eco-centar. I
first went for one nicht there and did a cycle around crossing the the river-also borders to Serbia- and came back at the place for the weekend. After that stayed there alone and was planned to leave a few days later to go to Osijek and take a train to do some work close to Zagreb.
But already the first time in Osijek and with the round tour I had several problems during the travel. And the last day before I planned to go on, I was
buying some food (shop is 10 km from the place). Just after one km cycling back
something was happening again: I felt with my bike. And when I tried to cycle
on I noticed it was not possible. I had to walk back about 8 km in the dark, with my bike at the hand. Totally tired and also confused about the incidents I came back at the eco-center.
I was thinking for a while about it but could not find out what it was meaning. But I decided to have a little rest and wait some time before I travel on to the direction of Zagreb.
One week later, after some repair of the bike I started travelling on but also because I was missing some tent-sticks I went to Zagreb with the train, bought some new sticks and the next day I went to one of the possible working places.
I stayed there for about one week and went then to Pula, where I also stayed
about a week. The first days (at almost old-, old- and newyearsday) there was a
winter workshop of a tantra-meditation going and I invited to join the last days.
Now I have come to where I hope to stay for a while.
It is, just like Pula, in the Istrie-area, most North-part of Croatia to the sea. Here I work a little bit for pleasure and fun. Next time I tell you more about it
I did also a little planning but nothing is sure.......
Anyway -the Dutch people know it already- half of February I take my bicycle again and go to Germany (the parts of the Alp-mountains could be with train) there hope to do some dancing during the eastertime (ja, ich hoffe nach die Contactimprofestival in Gottingen zu gehn), and then go back to Holland. After that I will see what my nose says.
Much love and greetings,
Rikjan