Mike
Nationality : Dutch
Surname : Slop
First name : Michael Henri Alexander
Date of birth : 8-9-1971
Place of birth : Amsterdam
Sex : M
Height : 1.85 m.
My name is Mike Slop. I’m a 35 year old senior police officer with the KLPD (No! Not the traffic cops!)
I live with my naughty little girl Sandra (34) in Amersfoort, along with our three little tigers.
I would briefly describe myself as: passionate about sport and adventure. Here I see great similarities between the acceptance and pushing of your boundaries and unforgettable moments. I’ve already completed several challenges, but there are still other on my list, such as the Marathon des Sables, climbing Mont Blanc, and completing a triathlon.
One of the biggest challenges is of course the Amsterdam Dakar Challenge. I’m going to do it with Glenn Verwey. Glenn is a good friend who I got to know in 1996. We soon realised that we shared the same interests; such as beautiful women and a longing for being pushed to our limits since birth.
After completing a few different challenges I tried to get Glenn involved and convince him to do the Amsterdam marathon, but he was more of a mountain biker. When I asked Glenn to join me at the invitation of the Telegraph newspaper competing in the Tour de Suisse he got off his bike and put his name down. I was also meant to do it but it came about that I was abroad for a trail-run and had missed the deadline. So Glenn went on his own, and came back triumphantly with his award. I thought to myself, “next time it’ll be better.”
The next time happened when I was sitting with a drink on the ‘boulevard’ of Gambia. Suddenly a Jeep drove by with a Dutch number plate. My police-sense was immediately awakened and I though: “That car’s been stolen! And they haven’t even bother to change the number plate.” Without even knowing what I could do, I walked up to the car and saw a sticker promoting the Amsterdam Dakar Challenge on it. Within seconds I had Glenn on the phone and we’d got a new challenge!
The Amsterdam Dakar Challenge seems to us to be a great Challenge with maximum teamwork, travels and adventure, a hardship if it goes well and a big test in driving, navigating, patience and much, much more. And even more important for us is the fact that we’re doing it for a good cause. For people who endure hardship, but not by choice.
We want to depart tomorrow, but the preparations are taking up our time. I really hope it’s going to be a great adventure and perhaps even lead to even bigger things.
I say it like it is: “Fill your life with adventure and impressions, then your life will be rich.”
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