TiU-student rides a mountain bike through Argentina

TiU-student Job Hendrickx writes an e-mail from Puerto Natales, Chili. It is one of the stops on his bicycle tour from San Carlos de Bariloche to Ushuaia, both in Argentina, to raise money for the Zevenhoek foundation. Until recently, he studied in Buenos Aires as an exchange student from Tilburg University.

Hendrickx is an avid cyclist and loves to ride his mountain bike. In Buenos Aires however, there was barely any possibility to practice the sport. “Buenos Aires is much bigger than I expected. I couldn’t just cycle away from the city and start training.”

After his study, Hendrickx decided he needed to get out of the urban environment and into the country. He decided to use this opportunity to raise money for a charity that is close to his heart, the Zevenhoek foundation. “In 2010 a group of parents from seven children with a mental handicap founded the Zevenhoek, an organization that wants to develop a plan to build a home for these children. One of those children is my sister Sanne.”

The trip is going quite smoothly. Of course there are ups and downs, Hendricks says: “My Achilles heel is giving me some trouble and the long time I spend alone is quite heavy as well. Sometimes I am awfully frustrated and on other days I decide to ride a few extra kilometers because it is going so well.” The thing that impresses Hendrickx the most is the Patagonian landscape and the extreme hospitality that people show him. “A lot of people, including myself, can learn from that”.

If you want to support Job or the foundation, check out the website.