Instagram story viewer> @ibemmx> Posts

Michael Marckx

@ibemmx

5.8K

followers

4054

following

Do you know the way to Ataraxia?

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

“You can’t ride that bike in the dirt.”

I was 12 when an older kid yelled that at me, while I was busy riding that bike in the dirt. I’ve apparently spent much of my life prolonging the argument. Sixteen years into the Belgian Waffle Ride, we’re still seeing other roads, and FAUSTO has given me nine spreads to explain myself.

I loved writing this piece. It took me back through the Belgian roots and questionable routes, the friends who helped me dream it up and the people who showed up, shook their heads and rode it anyway. There are waffles, cobbles, bicycles and beer, of course, along with a broom-wielding woman and a few other things we wisely left out of the original event description.

What I couldn’t have imagined in 2012 was how many people would bring their own ideas, energy and wonderfully unreasonable enthusiasm to this thing. Phil and I could connect the roads, but the riders, volunteers, photographers, partners, friends and families gave us far more than a course to follow. Looking through these pages, I see so many people I’m grateful to know, and so many reasons we kept going.

Thank you to FAUSTO for making our dirty little story look so beautiful. And to everyone who has ridden with us, worked beside us, waited for someone or stayed for another beer, thank you. I hope you find a little of yourself in these pages.

By a lovely coincidence, registration for our 2027 season opened today. Our 16th anniversary, and I’m still finding people willing to oblige this pedaling perversity. Have a read and come ride with us. I’d love to see you out there.

Go to: belgianwaffleride.bike

#belgianwaffleride #youcantridethatbikeinthedirt #bwr #gravelcycling #thisisnotagravelrace taken in Encinitas, California by @ibemmx

243

11

3 days ago

THE CLOCK SAYS IT’S TIME TO ROLL NOW. REG IS OPEN. LET THE QUESTIONABLE DECISIONS BEGIN.

Sixteen years after someone said, “You can’t ride that bike in the dirt,” we’re still seeing other roads. Registration for the 2027 Belgian Waffle Ride season is officially open, and another year of rattling wheels, ragged breaths, waffles and well-earned beer awaits.

Pick your place, choose your helping and gather your people:

🧇 Arizona: March 5–6
🧇 California: May 1–2
🧇 Utah: May 14–15
🧇 Montana: September 17–18
🧇 Mexico: November 20–21

A possible Colorado event is in the works, too.

The Quad-Tripel Crown will count your best three results from three or four designated events, with the lineup and full series details coming soon.

Hit the link in our bio and join the party. Your legs can file their complaints later.

#BelgianWaffleRide #BWR2027 #Unroad #gravelcycling #thisisnotagravelrace by @ibemmx

197

4

3 days ago

BWR Montana is moving to its second summer. Mark your calendars for September 18, 2027.

We’ve also got some announcements coming soon for the Hell of the Bozone, so stay tuned.

This year’s men’s race made history as the fastest in BWR’s history, with the top five riders finishing within seconds of each other and averaging over 22 mph on the hilly course at altitude. A race that close deserves a second look.

Montana, we’ll see you next September.

#HellOfTheBozone #BelgianWaffleRide #BWR #Unroad #GravelCycling taken in Belgrade, Montana by @ibemmx

154

1

4 days ago

Over fifteen years, BWR CA has had fifteen different first unroad sectors of the race. This year’s came after a bit of a climb separated the elite waffle field into a few groups… led by @brennan.wertz and his buddy @matthew.mtb with @daxtonmock @lancy_pants @hayden.christian.599 @trumanglasgow12 @jgoettlmedia

This year we are planning on a new kick off to the series of unroad sectors for this classic event.

#unroad #bwr #belgianwaffleride #thisisnotagravelrace #gravelcycling taken in Lake Hodges by @ibemmx

413

11

9 days ago

FADA TRIP 2026

Back pocket pants check.

Projector couch.

Antwerpen-Centraal.

Upside down selfie.

Terrasse.

Creepy curtains.

Fada selfie 1.

Fada selfie 2.

Fada selfie 3. by @ibemmx

76

8

10 days ago

BWR CA will be May 1-2, 2027. Here’s the connector between The Mighty Mike and Raptor Ridge and our lead group from a couple years ago with @mattbeers55 @pstetina @gmeaster91 @adamroberge @petrvakoc @trekky91 @lachlanmorton @torbjornroed taken in Mule Hill Trail by @ibemmx

35

3

18 days ago

What goes up also goes down. And then there’s beer.

Hill Yeah Ride is our end-of-season excuse to get together and do all the things we love about riding bikes.

Choose your poison: road or gravel. There will be plenty of climbing, even better descending, and a few opportunities to find out who still has some matches left with KOM/QOM segments along the way.

Then we take over The Lost Abbey for the rest of it: a good old-fashioned bike swap meet, beer garden, food, music, bikes, friends and the increasingly unreliable retelling of what happened out there.

This isn’t a race. It isn’t quite a fondo. It’s definitely not a sensible way to spend a Sunday.

It’s Hill Yeah Ride.
Sunday, October 18 | 8AM
The Lost Abbey | Vista, CA

Road or gravel. You choose.

Get your HYR on.

#HillYeahRide #HYR #BelgianWaffleRide #BWR #Unroad GravelCycling RoadCycling CyclingCalifornia SoCalCycling SanDiegoCycling BikeSwap RideBikes LostAbbey by @ibemmx

38

0

a month ago

Quotes from Fausto Issue 009

“Long before I first saw Big Sur, I read Henry Miller’s “Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymous Bosch”–along with nearly everything else he wrote. The title alone felt like a portal. It sounded less like a travel memoir than a fever dream assembled by a mystic, a poet and a runaway monk sharing the same typewriter.”

Read the feature “The Small Self: Learning to Say Amen” by @ibemmx in Issue 009.

Image: Realy Easy Star/Alamy taken in Big Sur by @ibemmx

218

48

2 months ago

Three weeks after getting this new knee, I’m still not able to ride, which was expected, but it still hurts (the knee and not being able to ride). taken in Cedar City, Utah by @ibemmx

337

38

2 months ago

BWR Utah has had its share of weather. We’ve had snow in the past but this year it was 90 degrees. We think we’ve figured out the best date for perfect weather. May 15. We’ve got some great plans for the Hell of the South (West) in 2027.

#unroad #belgianwaffleride #gravelgrinding #bwrutah #cycling taken in Cedar City, Utah by @ibemmx

58

4

2 months ago

My new Substack is up.

WHAT COUNTS

It begins with five old marathon shirts, a streak that lasted 31 years, a knee that finally said enough, and a question I didn’t realize I’d been asking most of my life:
What are we really counting? Miles, finishes, years, wins, the things we refuse to let go of or something else entirely?

This one is about running, streaks, identity, ritual, aging, letting go, and the strange arithmetic we use to decide what makes a life count.

WHAT COUNTS is up now on Substack.

Link in bio.

#WhatCounts #Substack #Writing #Running #StillBecoming taken in Palos Verdes, California by @ibemmx

42

3

2 months ago

GOING UP? HILL YEAH. 🔴🔵⚪️

Join BWR, Coureur, and local cycling teams from across SoCal for a hill-climbing event cleverly disguised as a big bad bike party.

Road. Unroad. Climbs. Humps galore.

An expo. A bike swap meet. Beer. Friends. Teams. Shenanigans. And the kind of day where going uphill is somehow the easy part.

🚴 HILL YEAH RIDE
📅 Sunday, October 18
⏰ 8:00 AM
📍 The Lost Abbey | Vista, CA

Come race it. Ride it. Survive it. Cheer it. Volunteer. Swap some bike stuff. Drink a beer. Hang with the tribe.

Whatever you do, come get in touch with your HYR Self.

GOING UP!

#HillYeahRide #BWR #Coureur #SanDiegoCycling #GoingUp taken in The Lost Abbey by @ibemmx

37

2

2 months ago