International Rotary Fellowship CYCLING TO SERVE **** FCS **** www.cyclingtoserve.org
Newsletter July 2019
Dear cycling rotarians, dear friends
We are all looking forward to meeting you again at the end of August in the Netherlands, for a new confrontation on the occasion of our Rotary World Championships (see below). It will be another opportunity to shine sportively, but especially to show the community the range of our social projects , simple, inventive and very often extraordinary that each of us is able to develop to make our world better ... we have experienced some wonderful moments during this first part of the year ... but the best is yet to come, of course…
Cycling to Serve World Championships
We are obviously very happy to announce the international championships that will take place from August 30 to September 1, 2019 in Lochem. Claudia Kranen -recordwoman of world titles, 12 times titled- and the whole Rotary club of Berkel will organize this major event in our sporting and Rotary year. It is therefore an experienced team that will welcome us in this region in the Netherlands.
The organizers will propose various races, according to sex and age, on a closed and thus very safe circuit, usually used by go-karts or cyclists, in a green space of nature https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkPcxqZZuVY
We invite you to register for this beautiful Rotary festival, where friendship takes precedence over the rivalry ... even if it is no matter to vsit Holland not to fight in ! In addition to the friendly dinners on
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offer, the Saturday gala dinner ceremony, with authorities and partners, remains a great moment of sharing and Rotarian friendship!
We will be so pleased to have Hennie Kuiper as a partner : the former great cyclist, world champion !
Have a look at the complete program (races, visits for accompanying persons, etc ...), various informations on the accommodation, and of course the link to register online, visit the website of the event https://www.cyclingtoserve2019.nl/
Cycling to Serve on the Siena Strade Bianche
In March 2019, the Tuscany club of Montaperti Castelnuovo Berardenga headed by its president Daniela Belucci and our very active member Manuel Giuggioli embarked on an ambitious operation, to tackle the invasion of plastics in the Mediterranean Sea. The club seized the opportunity of the professional monument Strade Bianche and its amateur race, proposing a program “visits and sport” to all the members wishing to support this beautiful social project. Cycling to Serve members from all over Europe supported this project which was also supported by the Sky team. Nearly 20,000 euros have been raised to support a PhD student at the University of Siena, specialist in research on plastic pollution at sea.
An even more ambitious project is underway for the year 2020. We'll talk about it ....
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The 4-Days in the Belgian Flanders
It’s no taking credit away from the FCS Belgium organizer and his national representative Danny Hellinckx…the 4-day 2019 could only be a great success. The setting was prestigious, namely the Mecca of cycling, the heart of Flanders, Oudenaarde, emblematic city of the Tour of Flanders. For athletes, some fun on the real course of the Tour of Flanders, with its famous mountains (more than 20%) with cobblestones (Grammont, Kopenberg, etc ...). The opportunity for many to ride for the first time on real cobblestones. Other tours gave the opportunity to discover the green region of Haut Hainaut, a marvel for cyclists. Accompanying partners had a tailor-made touristic program !!
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The evenings -rich in interaction- shared by all of the participants allowed to discover local specialties - with also local beer of course -. The 4-days that attract over the years more and more participants can mix the rotarian spirit of sharing and self-giving and the passion that leads each of the present cyclists pr. 9 nationalities were represented in Oudenaarde. Various social projects, local and national, were born thanks to this event.
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Team Rotary RAAMs Polio
Our 4 heroes are blessed to finish the Race Across America by beating their last year's pace by 3 hours and 58 minutes; setting another worlds's record. Also, they raised over $1 mm to eradicate polio (final amount being determined). Here are a few race highlights:
Raised over $ 1 mm to eradicate polio 4th year to participate in RAAM, totaling over $3 mm raised to eradicate polio Set a second world's record, 6 days 14 hours 6 minutes. (i,e., 2 time world record holders) 2nd year to have same 4 racers, Bob, Kurt, Ruth and Marcus! Over 65% of crew were returning! 1st in our race category 5th overall of all of 4 person teams (19 teams) 4 flat tires Marcus's bike wheel needed a spoke replaced Kurt's bike need a derailleur repaired Ruth's bike need a new seat and replace gearing cabling Media car accident, car flip on roof when returning Ruth's repaired bike to race course. Media teammates; Irene and Andi were not injured. We are all so thankful for being blessed by God.
We are speechless !!!!
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Cycling to Serve at the Hamburg International Convention ! The Fellowship Cycling to Serve was very proud to take part to the International Rotary Convention in June in Hamburg. Rotary International has provided the Fellowship with a booth, so that we can present our actions and who we are, and above all to allow us to meet all our members - and possibly future members! ! - from all over the world! From 9 am to 6 pm, visitors hurried to the booth. Little words of encouragement, questions about Fellowship running. Many of them shared their experiences of event organizations around bikes, here and there around the world. We were pleased to be visited by the Rotary authorities, by anonymous Rotarians who came to the Convention by bike (Mumbai in tandem !!!), London (Epic Journey see further), Thionville (see further), Salzburg ( to see further).
It is so heartening to see that cycling is becoming more and more part of life for world's citizens both for traveling to India, Russia and Nepal and develop environmental protection policies in Europe and the Asian continent. The number of interactions on the booth made it possible to share experiences to benefit everyone and to set up new projects.
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Side events in Hamburg
Next Generation Ride Challenge
They made it : riding 800 kms from France to Hamburg with 14 fellows Rotarian Rotaractors and Alumnis, promoting their NEXT GENERATION RIDE CHALLENGE project : to give a boost to African schoolgirls. Riding from Thionville to Hamburg for the international convention to raise money for bicycles adapted to the conditions of rural Africa: this was the generous project of Rotaract. They completed their fundraising project (more than 20 000€) for World Bicycle Relief !
www.worldbicyclerelief.org
Enthusiastic reception for polio cycling team in Hamburg
In Hamburg, the cycling team around Kurt Matzler from the RC Innsbruck-Goldenes Dachl was warmly greeted : 16 participants, including one lady, from ten different Rotary clubs from Austria and Germany had pedaled from Salzburg to Hamburg in less than 31 hours !!! they were accompanied by 11 supporters who provided mobile homes and escorts for recreation between stages. After all, they had more than 800 kilometers and 7300 vertical meters in their legs. A very good practice for some of them some days before the big RAAM start in California.
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Epic Challenge de Londres à Hambourg
As he did in the previous years, our Californian Rotary fellow Edwin Valerde took advantage of the International Convention in Hamburg to once again alert populations and the different rotarians he met on the dangers of Diabets type-1 through his Epic Challenge. Edwin has ridden from London to Hamburg, sometimes accompanied by local cyclists and sometimes by Cycling to Serve members in several stages. He had a warm welcome in the places he stayed from departure to arrival
We invite you to read his report on
2019 EPiC Journey Against Diabetes – London to Dover, UK
Ride to end Polio in Sochi
a wonderful initiative of our friends from the Rotary Club Sochi (Russia) with the organization of a Ride to End Polio bike ride on the occasion of the District 2223 Conference. On May 16th…. …
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RIDE TO END POLIO 2018
Congratulations to 2018 Cyclists, Indoor Riders, Friends, Family and Volunteers
It took a while to sort out but our 2018 Ride to End Polio fund raising results are in. All told, including cyclists who came to Tucson to ride and Indoor Cyclists (including our newest Indoor team in Mongolia) raised $5,732,550 including the match from the Gates Foundation.
This year’s achievements bring our cumulative, 10-year total to $53,302,550. Whether you cycled indoors or out, volunteered, or just cheered on our Rotary cyclists, we should all take a moment to recognize what we have achieved, and to realize the pain and suffering that so many millions of children will never have to experience because of what you have accomplished.
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Other events
In Zambia
As a member of Macclesfield Castle Rotary Club, Clive Howlett have organised support for LendwithCare. This charity supports small business through partnerships with micro finance organisations. By offering small scale loans to entrepreneurs through LwC, they are able to support others to take themselves out of poverty and in many cases educate their children. In over 4 years our Rotary Club has supported over 400 entrepreneurs to create 300 jobs. Clive is self-funding his travel to Zambia so all donations will go direct to Care International UK. A mere 500kms on a bike at 70 seems a great way to raise funds to support this amazing charity!
In Malaysia
They are organising their Cycle 4 Life program this year again with the Rotary Club of Perlis since their successful launch last year.
This time it will be a one day event at coming August 18 at Perlis, Malaysia. For full event details it is listed below: Cycle 4 Life: Perlis Discovery Ride
Kindly spread the word that this is a wonderful opportunity to visit Malaysia and enjoy the scenic routes, warm hospitality and great food!
Cycle4Life 2019 Perlis Discovery is a volunteerism fundraising cyclothon organized by Rotary Club of Perlis & Rotary Club of Bukit Angkasa to raise funds for kidney patients. Come and ride with them to support this good cause while enjoying the natural beauty of Perlis
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Second Annual Dayton Rotary Tour de Gem on Sunday, September 1st, 2019 in Dayton, Ohio. This event has been created by the Dayton Rotary “to foster a sense of community, history, pride and healthy living through cycling, while establishing an ongoing fundraising vehicle for local charities.” At this event, there is something for everyone. The routes range from Fun Rides to Century+ rides which are designed to take riders through many local communities spotlighting a wide variety of local area Gems.”
To learn more and register for the race, please visit their website at www.TourdeGem.org
El Tour de Tucson
We want you all to come out for the El Tour de Tucson in Tucson AZ. Here is a link to our page and also District 5500 wants to be Title Sponsors this year. We have a GoFundMe page and are hoping to have enough donations. https://www.gofundme.com/Rotary-District-5500-sponsorship-of-el- tour https://rotaryd5500.org/page/ride-to-end-polio
This is a very challenging yet fun race. We have visitors from Rotary International who ride in this race every year. To date, we have raised $53M for the eradication of Polio. www.RideToEndPolio.org
El Tour de Tucson is held annually the Saturday before Thanksgiving. El Tour is a fund- raising ride attracting over 9,000 cyclists of all ages and abilities from throughout the United States and worldwide.
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Cyclists of every age and ability enjoy cycling El Tour. Cyclists use El Tour as a goal for their fitness, to make a healthy lifestyle change, or to help recover from an illness or other life challenge. Many people are attracted to El Tour’s fundraising programs and its many charitable agencies. All El Tour riders share a desire to ride, meet great people, raise contributions and have a fun time doing it.
Through the years over $95 million has been raised through El Tour for over 100 different local & national nonprofit organizations. Check out the current list of charities which is always growing!
A message from Jos Kuijper, a great Fellowship Cycling to Serve gentleman -2009-2012 Cycling to Serve president-
After almost 33 years of service, I retired from Rotary on July 1, 2019.
My first participation in an FCS event brings us back to 1989. It was the 2 days of cycling organized at RC Dinant. In 1990, I joined the FCS Executive Board as secretary. After almost 24 years of Board, I retired in 2013.
One of the highlights was the organization of the 10th World Championships in the Netherlands and of course my term as President of the FCS.
I have many fond memories of FCS events and warm contacts with Rotarian friends around the world. I will try to come see you at the world championships in Lochem to say "good bye" to the many friends.
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News from the Fellowship Board
At the Annual General Meeting of Cycling to Serve in Oudenaarde (Belgium), the Board was renewed (3 years terms).
Jean-Luc Berger (RC Aix en Provence Le Tholonet) has been reappointed as President for the next 3 years
James Morrison (RC Albuquerque Del Sol) is Vice President, in charge of the USA and Canada.
Uwe Simon (RC Korbach - Bad Arolsen) becomes secretary of the Fellowship. All present members warmly congratulated and thanked Wolfgang Schulz who held this position until today.
Jaap Nagtegaal (RC Salernes in High Var) continues his work of treasurer, since ... 25 years.
Meinhard Hüber (RC Enns) Member of the Board
Hans-Peter Bär accepted the position of National Representative for Switzerland.
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We are always looking for new enthusiastic people to join our Fellowship and make a difference in the local community and around the world! Do not hesitate to contact our national representatives for more information.
Cycling to Serve
President Jean-Luc Berger [email protected] VcePdt Usa/Canada James Morrison [email protected] Secretary Wolfgang Schulz [email protected] Treasurer Jaap Nagtegaal [email protected]
Australia Andrew Best [email protected] Austria Meinhardt Huber [email protected] Belgium Danny Hellynckx [email protected] Croatia Predrag Knezevic [email protected] Czech Republic Helena Kovarikova [email protected] France Jean-Luc Berger [email protected] Germany Uwe Simon [email protected] India Srinivas Kumar [email protected] Italia Franco Piola [email protected] Luxemburg Eugene Biver [email protected] The Netherlands Bart Boerema [email protected] Russia Ildus Yanishev [email protected] Spain in progress [email protected] Sri Lanka Warren Solomonsz [email protected] Switzerland Hans-Per Bär [email protected] United Kingdom in progress
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