The English explanation of our initiative to draw attention to the tick-bite disease TBE during our bike ride from Swifterbant to Stockholm.

According to estimates by the Dutch Tick Bite Disease Foundation, 1 million people in the Netherlands alone are bitten by a tick every year*. You can become ill from this. The most common tick-borne disease in the Netherlands is Lyme. About 2 to 3% of people bitten by a tick contract the disease. What is much less well known is TBE, also known as tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). This tick-borne virus can cause inflammation of the brain and/or its surrounding membranes. If you have contracted a TBE infection, there is currently no treatment for it. Our brother and fifth friend Jaap lost the battle against this virus in 2017. Because this should not happen to anyone else, we want to raise awareness of TBE and how to prevent it.

TBE is still rare, but is becoming more widespread in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe. This tick-bite disease is largely unknown to the general public. That has to change. We want to ensure that TBE receives sufficient attention. That is why we cycle from Swifterbant, the village where we grew up, to Stockholm, the city our brother and fifth friend loved so much. The city where he built a life, started a family and eventually lost his life as a result of a bite from a TBE-infected tick. Our journey starts on August 21, 2022. On September 6, 2022, the day Jaap would have turned 48, we will arrive in Stockholm and we will visit his grave. During our trip, as well as in the run-up to it, we, The Cycling Friends (In Dutch “De Fietsende Vrienden”), will draw as much attention as possible to TBE. We will do so by sharing knowledge about it. We do this in an objective, fact-based and honest manner.

We would like to welcome you as a supporter of The Cycling Friends. All you need to do is fill in our Contact Form. And if your Dutch isn’t that good, we are of course happy to help with the translation of the questions in the contact form:

• Ik word graag fan! Mijn naam is = I would like to become a fan! My name is:
• Je mag mij benaderen via dit e-mailadres = You can contact me at this email address:
• Hoe wil jij De Fietsende Vrienden als fan steunen? = How would you like to support The Cycling Friends as a fan?
• Heb je een vraag over tekenbeetziekten? = Do you have a question about tick-bite diseases?

* Source: Stichting Tekenbeetziekten