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Hello people,
Near the end of the month of July, I was part of the lucky ones to be participating in the “BMW Joyride” campaign by BMW Nederland.

The concept of such a Joyride is quite simple:

1. Subscribe on the BMW website
2. Get chosen (difficult part)
3. Pick up the car at a location of your choice
4. Enjoy the car during 3-5 days! (just so you know: you are not allowed to cross the Dutch border)

PART1: Saturday & Sunday

Well, Saturday 24th of July was the day I went to collect the car. The car waiting for me was the following: BMW Series 318 TI! The car was ‘quite’ new (about 11,000kms on it) and got the business edition option package. It was the first time for me to drive a BMW for that long and I must say I was really looking forward for that weekend!

Big nose...somewhat cat-like no?

Angels Eyes...

...and yes, I was driving car #79!

The idea of that weekend (Sat-Sun) was to drive, drive drive and drive! Combining a couple of vouchers and tickets, we managed to get a B&B in Harlingen.

In order to reach our destination, we had to cross some interesting locations…

#79 resting at a parking...

Left: Netherlands | Right: England, USA, etc etc.

Enjoying the Sun...

BMW's ready for the road!

This is a small town in the North of the Netherlands. Here, we had some nice dinner (Mussels, and some ice cream!). While driving to the North, we passed some nice highways (some recommended by BMW) and really got to appreciate the car.

Some shots of Harlingen…

Harlingen, the fishermen town...

After a good rest...ready to hit the road again!

After having spent the night at Harlingen, we went to Leeuwarden. It was the first time for us to go there, and it felt totally different than any Dutch city where we have been in. Once we visited the centre of Leeuwarden, we headed back to the ‘South’ by visiting Den Helder. This city is very ‘maritime’, indeed, the main base of the Dutch Royal Navy is there! This visit was so interesting as it ‘kept’ the dream going!

Watching the sea (and more; read: the Navy) at Den Helder...

Here we saw an interesting seagull scavenging for healthy junk food. That bird was quite amazing as it tried to pick an entire paper bag of it from the trashcan. After this visit to Den Helder, we drove back south and landed in Katwijk aan Zee. Here we walked on the beach and had some seafood.

The beach at Katwijk aan Zee

Part 2: BMW Drive Experience

Tuesday was the day BMW invited us to participate in a morning driving on a closed track and learn (and discover) some safety manoeuvres. This was very interesting and allowed the drivers to gain confidence when the car is gliding and sliding on very slippery surfaces and gain back control. The company providing this training was ‘ProDriving’ and their instructors were very friendly. This all happened at Lelystad Airport.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures on the track. I therefore took some pictures from the outside of it.

Never seen so many BMW's...

We were about 50 cars that day, grouped in different exercice groups.

Exercices at hand:
- Regain control on a slippery roundabout.
- Eland Test at 60km/h
- Emergency Brake test and Evasion at 60 km/h
- ‘Fun’ Laps on the Oval

We finished the exercices by going at 130 km/h on a 45 degree sloping oval track. This was a first for me to do so.  All-in-all, it was a very good experience and many of us learnt a lot that morning. Thanks a lot Michael (Prodrive Training Instructor) for your tips & tricks!

After this event, I decided to head south to Geldrop (near to Eindhoven). This 150 kilometer drive was quite exciting as, together with some other Joyride BMW’s, we headed to a similar destination.

Here is a map of the itinerary that we drove during our JoyRide:

...about 1,000kms in a few days...

We decided to ride on some of the roads that BMW suggested to us from a little booklet that was given when collecting the car. This came to be quite handy, but was given a bit too late as I can imagine people would have planned a weekend road trip.

Part3: the Returning
Well, after having been able to enjoy this car for 4 days, we had to return it next morning. Surprisingly, tuesday evening, I received an sms from BMW reminding me to return the car. Otherwise they would call the police!  Once the car returned, I had to walk back and take a tram…that felt quite different. It is suprising how fast you can get used to owning a dream. For now, let’s keep that dream alive, but this time, with an M before that 3.

For higher resolution pictures, don’t hesitate to check out my studios’ site by clicking here.

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