10TH SUPERLIST FINISHER - WIM VAN ELS
19-04-2023On 18.April 2023 BIG member no. 122 Wim van Els climbed his 1000th BIG of the Superlist, the Pozo de las Nieves on the island of Gran Canaria.
He became the 8th Superlist finisher and the first Dutch national in the Netherlands to climb 1000 BIGs.
Wim is among the first members of the BIG club and has been a permanently active member and climber, declaring new BIGs every year. 2009 was a year especially rich in new conquests for Wim, in that year he climbed 172 BIGs, ex æquo with Luigi Spina. Luigi and Wim did it in different ways and decided in the end to finish the year with the same number of climbs, surely one of the most memorable events in the long Challenge BIG history! At these times it was exceptional to see members climbing so many BIGs in one year. That yearly record stood for a long time.
Wim’s camping car and bikes brought him to almost all regions and corners of Europe, even to Iceland!
Only for some trips to overseas continents he had to leave the camping car behind. Wim often made individual long and short travels but also is one of the most active participants in the annual BIG meetings and crossroads. Also he is actively involved in his local cycling club and participates in road classics. Not forgetting his hiking activities
His wife Tineke often joins him and also climbs BIGs herself.
Some memorable examples:
The BIG meeting in Georgia in July 2018, in sometimes very hot weather (42C) and difficult situations (bad roads, aggressive dogs, closed borders, bad quality rental bikes) more than 10 BIGs were climbed all over the country. Especially, the Caucasus mountains were highly impressive. Interesting fact: out of the four participants, Wim is the third to reach the 1000th, after Ard and Luigi.
A 4 week roadtrip in August 2017 with Ard Oostra in Eastern Europe, especially Roumania and Bulgaria and the Balkans. A trip with many hours of cycling and driving, every day a new environment, cultural, social and culinary experience, with obviously it’s amount of unexpected events…..
Also special was the travel in Chile in January 2019 with Anja and Heiko. After Luigi’s travels there some years before, several other BIG members discovered that this a beautiful, varied, exceptional country for climbing BIGs (for the zone South America). The Andes mountains and volcanic landscapes make it an eldorado for cyclists. Just to mention, the tunnel and Christo Redentor pass up to 3800 m altitude or the climbs in the Atacama desert up to 5000m altitude.
What is exceptional about Wim is that he has almost non stop energy and motivation to travel, bike and hike. Wim took early retirement because he wanted to concentrate his life on the cycling. He was very relieved when he got rid of a knee injury right at that period of time. During the two years of the pandemic it was not possible to make many trips abroad and finish his list but still Wim managed to cycle 15.000kms per year! In the last year 2022 Wim went to the Balkans and Greece to climb his last BIGs, all done but one! Most of previous BIG laureates would have immediately climbed their last BIG to reach 1000. Not Wim, in the summer he made first an impressive nostalgic trip over the French Alps highest cols and passes before organizing his trip to Gran Canaria.
Of all laureates so far Wim is among the strongest, fittest, most perseverant and active members.
Bravo Wim !
Text written by Heiko, Luigi & Ard, other finishers
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19-04-2023 - 10TH SUPERLIST FINISHER - WIM VAN ELS
16-04-2023 - ZONES in BIGCYCLING word
15-04-2023 - DECISIONS FOR 2023
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23-01-2023 - RIVISTA 2023: ATTENZIONE!
21-01-2023 - Triste notizia: Luigi Capellani è deceduto dopo un incidente in bicicletta travolto da un camion.
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