Carolien Hoogland

Jan

Saturday 3rd May 2025

I'm proud and eager to ride along because kids need fathers: to learn from them, to taste their passions and trades (perhaps to toss them out) and carve their own path while someone has their back.

My dad lived to be 69. He was a very strong man - lived in New Zealand for a decade before I was born and traded wood that he had to fetch from the woods with a horse. Jack of all trades, he ran a cafe during my childhood, in a little 'kaff' close to the German border. The kind of place where the local choir rehearses, and the yearly carnaval takes place. The milkman - we're talking seventies here - would always be offered his shot of gin (jenever).

He took me skiing when I was nine. It was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Not just the joy of skiing, but him passing on his passion to me. Spending time together. I taught my son when he was four, and it felt like magic - generations connecting. I'm somehow proud my kids wear his - our - family name. He never lived to meet them.

The cancer started in his prostrate, then spread. It was 1998 and I was 23. He lost a lot of weight, of course, and his strength, finally. He thought he would live to be a hundred, which we could have celebrated, three years from now.

I'm Riding for Men's Health in The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride

Saturday 3rd May 2025 On Sunday the 18th of May 2025, I'm riding in The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride with fellow men and women across the globe to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer and men's mental health on behalf of Movember. Men die on average 6 years earlier than women and for largely preventable reasons. The number of men that are suffering is growing, and we need to do something about that. So, before I press my tweed and polish my boots, I'm asking you to join me in raising funds and awareness for these causes by donating what you can for this meaningful cause and to help the men we love, live happier and healthier lives.