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 www.cyclingtoserve.org 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 .... www.cyclingtoserve.org 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 !! www.cyclingtoserve.org 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. www.cyclingtoserve.org 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 !!!! www.cyclingtoserve.org 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. www.cyclingtoserve.org www.cyclingtoserve.org 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. www.cyclingtoserve.org 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…. … www.cyclingtoserve.org 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. www.cyclingtoserve.org 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.