HARLINGEN — Like Willie, he just can’t wait to get back on the road again.
When you’re 24,000 miles into your bicycle trip, why slow down?
Meet Rick Creemers of the Netherlands, a lanky young man who stands 6-foot-3 and just turned 24 — and he’s living the dream of rounding the planet on two wheels.
Creemers rode into Harlingen on Tuesday en route from Dallas on his way through Mexico and points south.
He spent his two days in Harlingen at the home of John and Ann Phillips, using a roundabout family and friend connection that dates back to World War II.
“My sister has a very good friend in Dallas, who I haven’t seen in quite some time, but I got a call one night and she said her father had met this man in the Netherlands during World War II and the family stayed in contact,” Ann said.
“And there was this grandson who had decided when he was 6 he was going to bicycle around the world,” she added.
Since Creemers was heading for the border, Ann said her friend told her that her home was a logical place for him to stay while he awaited a package to help him on the next leg of the trip.
“And he really didn’t know that we had a Hide-A-Bed … he thought he was going to have a piece of grass to pitch a tent,” Ann said.
“That’s what I’m used to,” Creemers breaks in.
From the saddle bags on his bike he pulls out item after item — tent, sleeping bag, solar panels for charging his phone and other electronics. It looks like he camps out.
When asked how long he’s been riding, he looks at his watch.
“Today? Precisely 13 months and five days.”
From Harlingen he’s heading south through Mexico and then to Belize.
“From there I’m going to fly to Ecuador and continue my trip,” he said.
All the way south to Patagonia?
“Even further!” he says. “I’m planning to go all the way to Antarctica! Yes, sir!”
From there it’s a flight to South Africa, and then the ride will take him north back toward the Netherlands, although he concedes his route for the African leg of the journey is up in the air, and is being altered weekly.
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