Setting great things in motion: 600 km bike tour in 60 hours

After a long preparation, four enthusiastic cyclists (among them two colleagues from Eschborn) went on a long tour on August 12, 2021. 600 km and nearly 10,000 meters of altitude had to be covered in the course of a so-called Super-Randonnée within only 60 hours. More information can be found on the websites of Audax Randonneurs Allemagne (ARA) and ARA Mittelhessen.

The riders were left to their own devices. Neither support vehicles nor outside help were allowed. Any punctures such as burst tires, broken chains or exhausted muscles had to be fixed and treated independently. Overnight stays were booked in advance and were the only fixed points of the tour besides the finish time. Accordingly, the route lengths had to be precisely planned and thought out.

On the first day, the tour began in Wuppertal and headed east across the Ennepe-Ruhr district and the Märkischer Kreis district into the Hochsauerland region, before reaching the northern Hessian ski areas around Willingen in the evening for the first overnight stay in Korbach. 231 km and about 3,450 meters of altitude were covered. Not only the legs were tired when the riders set off at 8:30 the next morning to cycle around the Edersee. The highest point of the tour was then climbed, the Kahler Asten, before heading through the mountains and valleys of the Westerwald to the second overnight stop. 220 km and around 3,100 meters of altitude difference were covered on this day. The start on the third day at 8:20 a.m. was tightly calculated, as another 160 km and 2,650 meters of altitude were on the agenda. The highlight of the day was the Nordhelle radio tower in the Märkischer Kreis. The finishing point in Wuppertal had to be reached by 8:00 p.m. in order to arrive within the 60 hours.

Thanks to the possibility of obtaining high-quality bicycles through Rödl & Partner and its leasing partner bikeleasing.de, Harald Schneider and Ingo Wassermann from the Global Digital Service team were able to embark on this tour at all.

Originally, the set route of the "Rheingold Super-Randonnée" was planned, but due to the flood disaster, it could not be covered. Instead, the four racing cyclists rescheduled and at the same time launched a fundraising campaign to support those affected in the flooded areas.