A small and cozy company….
we’d love to show you around

On the internet every mom-and-pop enterprise can pretend to be, and often is made to do so, a multi-billion international corporation.

Well, I’ll give it to you straight: The ‘About Us’ in EuropeRides is about François and Nina Dumas, where Nina mentally supports me in my endeavors …. and makes me my sandwiches! So basically EuropeRides is (for now) a one-man company, pure and simple !

The advantage: you deal with ME personally, always. And you, as a customer, always get my full attention. There is nobody else to delegate you to !

The disadvantage: if I am not there for any reason, the business sorta stops!

I started this venture back in February of 2006, after getting multiple inquiries from folks over in the US about helping them set up a European riding tour. Either by just providing information, or by actually riding with them.
Although there are a lot of possibilities for getting on a (semi)organized tour in Europe, most if not all of them are with larger groups of riders and with pretty ‘fixed’ routes.

EuropeRides is doing things different there…. but you can read all about it in ‘What we do’.

But who is this man !?

I am François A. ‘Navman’ Dumas, born in 1952 in Hoorn, The Netherlands, and married to Nina (Elena) Cinca after visiting Romania on an adventurous holiday, driving a rambling old minivan! I battled the Communists for 18 months to get her out ! We have one daughter, Vivian, who left the nest already and travels as much as her father used to do.

I speak 5 languages more or less fluently, with English being my primary language for the past 20 years, Dutch, German, French and Romanian added to it. And I get along in Italy, Spain and Scandinavia. All that really helps in getting local contacts and help solve any problems !

My father worked internationally, and my parents took me along on business trips when I was 3 years old. I have been traveling ever since, and that makes more than 50 years of travel now !

We currently have our main residence in The Netherlands, a small apartment in the French Alps, plans of emigrating to (probably) France, most relatives in Romania and friends all over the world !

I worked in Information Technology for over 30 years, the last 16 or so in international executive positions, and was ‘made redundant’ after 20 years of loyal service. I decided that I would NOT work FOR anyone anymore. Ever.

So Silver Cloud Publishing was born and I went back to my roots; flight simulation! Silver Cloud Publishing now covers all of my very different activities, including the EuropeRides services!

We already have Touring Guides standing by

Almost as soon as I started my plans for this company, I ran into other enthusiastic riders who were willing to do freelance Guiding.
You can find them under the ‘Partners’ (see the Page in the side column!).

What else do I do (mostly in non-riding season)

- I run The simFlight Network as Managing Editor and Forum Admin. This is a global network for flightsim enthusiasts, with now already more than 13 web sites, making it the largest such organization in the world. It is sponsored by the owner of simMarket.com, the world largest on-line shop for Flight Simulator add-on products.

- I run (and co-own) FSAddon.com Publishing, a company that produces Flight Simulator add-on products of high quality, with freelance authors spread all over the world.

- I am a regular contributor to various magazines, most frequent writing in Computer Pilot Magazine, but also in PC Pilot and others.

- I design, host and maintain web sites for small companies and individuals, basically using my writing skills to make attractive sites that tell a story about the company they represent.

- Last but not least I combine all of the above with photography, displaying my photos on my special web site, selling them there too, and using them for my web sites and web design activities.

With all that going on, do I still have time to ride my BMW motorcycle!?

YOU BET I have… I just MAKE the time for that !!