Meet Philippe, Vintage Rides’ new General Manager

A life of travels and bikes

Everything began in 1989. After a few motorcycle trips between biker friends on the French Riviera, Spain or Italy, a friend of Philippe's suggested to go for a ride ... in East Germany and Czechoslovakia! A priori, these are not the most exotic destinations, but at that time countries from the Eastern Bloc were barely known. So why not! « And off we went to explore these places which could be though of as being sad, dark and gray », he tells us. « But it was only in appearance. The Slavic soul, even if it is sometimes nostalgic, offers a warm welcome, sharing moments of happiness, enriching encounters and memorable parties. » Yes, we were far away from our earlier clichés. After this trip, journeys in Hungary, Poland, Russia and Ukraine will follow. With the simple desire of wanting to spend different kind of holidays Philippe developed a true passion for motorcycle trips.

From Moscow to Vladivostok

A first solo motorcycle trip brought Philippe to Africa. He planned and directed himself a motorcycle raid linking Johannesburg to Cape Town. The itinerary was of 2600 km including 2000 of « dirt road ». For some of us, normal life and daily routine is not enough, you have to look for something else. Philippe is one of these guys. After South Africa he decided to go back on his BMW for an extraordinary motorcycle journey leading him from Moscow to Vladivostok through the republics of Central Asia. His journey in numbers Visited countries: Russia, Mongolia, Ouzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kirghizistan Number of days: 53 Crossed borders: 9 Kilometers: 18500 Average kilometers per day: 400 Time zones: 7 Gas liters: 1700 Temperature: down to -44°C

A passion for enduro

Philippe is above all a passionate biker in search of new challenges and new horizons! He has taken part in several motorcycle competitions including “Redbull Romaniacs”. This enduro fan doesn’t hesitate to push his own limits. His first bike was an Aprilia RX50 "Corsa Corta" (which will ring a bell to our most specialized readers). He run at several races in Belgian championship, being part of the junior category. « At 32 years old, it makes a lot of people smile, » he laughs.

Besides a strong technical background, competition taught taught me to "endure" and never give up.

17 years of professional experience

Graduated from the Catholic University of Louvain (IAG), Philippe heads for a first internship at Alcatel in Moscow in 1993. This first experience abroad naturally pushes him to the international side of business. With 13 years of experience in business development / management in industry (Bosal, Cornelius) and in services (Fontaine, Accor), he creates in 2010 a company of management and strategy for organizations to serve interests between the CEO and the Executive Committee. His role at Vintage Rides will be to manage the daily and strengthen our internal processes to always ensure quality and memorable trips.

As you understood, Philippe has a Vintage Rider profile! He embarks with us in a great adventure to open new roads and share together the fun of a motorcycle experience in Asia!