It must have been somewhere in 2007: the first time my dad took me to ‘Radio Kootwijk’. I remember that ride like it was yesterday. My dad woke me up early that morning. Together we ate breakfast and packed our gear. At 7 am we said goodbye to my mom and it was time to go. The moment I got out the door it was dry, but I noticed the rain drops on the car. The road in front of our house was soaking wet. I shivered. I thought to myself, “What if it would rain the whole ride?”. But I didn’t get much time to think about that. After only 7 kilometre the rain started to pour down. We put on our raingear and continued our ride. No time to whine, we had a goal to accomplish.
By the time we got close to Radio Kootwijk it was still raining. But it didn’t matter because of the wonderful scenery. Beautiful gravel paths winding through a desolate landscape. The rain and mud from the gravel paths made our chain squeak. And then out of nothing, there it was: Building A, also known as the Sphinx. All the time it was covered by the many trees, but now it was in plain sight. When my dad told me about it, he never could find the right words to describe it. At that moment I knew exactly what he meant. Radio Kootwijk had something magical.
—
Unfortunately through the years most of the beautiful gravel paths have been replaced for concrete. But as long as the Sphinx exist, I will ride to Radio Kootwijk. And when I do, I enjoy it as much as the first time.
Leave a Reply