Belgium 2006: First Annual HU Travellers Meeting

Tongeren, Belgium, September 8-10, 2006

Want to know what people thought of other HU Meetings? Is it worth coming to the Meeting? See some comments here.

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The Plan
Rally Location - Where was it?

The Plan

2006 speakers were:

• Sjaak Lucassen, "around the world on an R1"
• Janc Reikop & Kalle Kindel, Finland, "travels in Russia"
• Pascale Slootmans, Belgium, "Cruising down under on a BMW F650"
  - Belgian woman on her own around New Zealand and Australia, 40.000km... a "short resumé" of her trip.
• Pat Thomson and Sheonagh Ravensdale, two women in South America
• Martijn Pater, The Netherlands, “Asia roundtrip via Mongolia and India”
• Werner Zwick, "North to Alaska"
• Philippe Geelhand, Belgium, "Moscow to Vladivostok via the silk road. A solo charity fund raising journey (SOS Children's Villages) of 18000km through Russia, Kazakhstan, Ouzbekistan, Kirghistan and Mongolia."
• Gerald Regnier, Belgium, "Around South America on a Transalp"
• Jan De Vliegher and Brenda Froyen, Belgium, "Off Southeast Asia's beaten tracks on a Russian farm tool" (Friday)
• Gustavo Cieslar, Argentina, and Elke Pahl, Germany, around the world on 125's

Tech Sessions, 30-60 minutes:

• Grant and Susan Johnson, "the Acheivable Dream - how to ride around the world - or just to the next country" 4 hour presentation.
• "How to get someone of the opposite sex to go travelling with you - panel and discussion!"
• "Women only" Susan Johnson and others will lead a panel and discussion.
• Sam Davidson will do his popular, "Basic Guide to changing and maintaining tyres."
• Grant Johnson, "Photo Composition for Travellers - the one everyone SHOULD take, but no one does..."
• Sam Davidson, UK, "Basic Bike Preparation tech session."
• Tori Lang, "Yoga for bikers" - this is a must do for all riders, premiered in the UK this year to rave reviews! See photos below.

Rideouts!

Rideouts - were a selection of hard to find small paved roads in the Tongeren area, suitable for all abilities and bikes

Saturday 10.00am Off road (gravel, no real dirt) with a 15 min option to play on a motocross track.
Saturday 10.30am Paved roads. - The roads you'd NEVER find on your own.

We had rave reviews for both rides! :) So for next year, be sure to sign up early as numbers are limited.

Charity

Our favourite charity is Riders for Health, and we support them at all our Travellers Meetings through the sale of raffle tickets and the generous donation of prizes from all the vendors on site and from afar.

Craig Hutson was the winner this year, and very generously donated his 75 euro winnings to Riders for Health, making a total of 150 Euros! (He was also the ticket seller - we don't THINK there was a fix in! )

Food!

There was LOTS of it! And I heard nothing but good comments on the food, beautifully prepared and served by a local company.

Camping

The main camping area was huge - see the pictures below

2006 Souvenir Poster in pdf format (886kb).

The 2007 poster will be available soon - please post it everywhere.

The Meeting Location for 2006

Near Tongeren, Belgium

Getting There - GPS, Maps

The meeting was at the home / castle of Norbert de Schaetzen, in the village of Widooie, about 20km NW of Liege, Belgium and about 23 km SW of Maastricht, Netherlands, 48 km East of Aachen, Germany, and 300 km NE of Paris - a great location for a northern European Meeting!