Ad Verhoeven and his wife Diny met at a bike race
in the Netherlands back in 1969 as teenagers; pursuing their passion for
cycling together in the decades since.
That era came to an end earlier this week at Diny’s
funeral, when Ad cycled her remains to the crematorium using a trailer attached
to his bike.
The couple’s club mates turned out in force as did
all of their friends in the village of Mariahout in southern Holland.
It was a fitting tribute to Diny (69), who died of
pneumonia after a series of other conditions, as cycling was such a big part of
her life and especially her relationship with her husband of almost 50 years.
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“She has always supported me. And she started
cycling more and more herself,” Ad said of the woman he had met when he was
just 17-years and his future wife was 16-years-old.
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When the couple’s cycling club, BZET De Bosduvels,
suggested Diny’s remains be taken to the crematorium by bike, a trailer was
arranged and Ad brought his wife on one last cycle.
"It was very beautiful. I whimpered all the time,” he said. “We were still cycling past Bavaria, where Diny worked for almost fifty years. Her colleagues were standing at the roundabout.
“It was very tough to do, but she just deserved such a goodbye. And next year we will scatter the ashes on routes that we often cycled together."
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