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Cyclists embark on a 1000km personal challenge to raise money for local children's charities
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Two dedicated cycling enthusiasts from Rüsselsheim, Germany will undertake what could be one of the world's toughest journeys to work - and they are doing it in their free time. At the end of June engineers François Roth and Manfred Gerken will attempt a 1000km bike-ride from their offices at Nexteer Automotive in Rüsselsheim to one of the company's electric power steering factory in Poland. They have set themselves the personal challenge of covering the enormous distance in just four days and hope to raise more than €3000 for local children's charities.
The engineers' work takes them regularly to Nexteer's factories in Poland where they make energy-efficient electric power steering systems that go into some of Europe's best handling cars. But instead of boarding a plane, on Saturday 26 June at 7am they will leave Rüsselsheim on bicycles, cycling 265km to Bayreuth (Germany). The following day they set out on the 217km journey to Pibram in the Czech Republic. On Monday morning they continue across the Czech Republic for Žamberk, a 220km ride. On Tuesday they reach Poland pedalling 200km, resting in Gliwice, where Nexteer has a factory. They will then be joined by colleagues on the morning of 30 June for the final 50km sprint to Tychy.
The challenge will be tougher than most Tour de France stages. A professional rider in this year's Tour will cover an average of 180km a day on a closed course with a support vehicle carrying spares, physiotherapists and mechanics. The Russelsheim riders will spend 10 hours a day in the saddle, carrying their own equipment and supplies.
"We'll carry only the bare essentials, navigating the route as we go and negotiating poor road conditions," said François Roth. "We haven't done any special training beyond our daily 40km ride to and from Nexteer's offices. It will be very hard and our family, friends and colleagues all think we're a little crazy, but if the money we raise can help improve the lives of terminally ill and disabled children then it will be a real achievement."
Manfred Gerken commented: "The Bärenherz children's hospice in Wiesbaden helps families with children and teenagers with incurable, life-shortening illnesses, providing advice, care and comfort from diagnosis to the child's death and beyond. In Tychy, the Ośrodek Świętego Dominika charity organisation tackles the difficult issue of child poverty, working with families from a variety of disadvantaged backgrounds."
"Everybody at Nexteer in Germany and Poland will be supporting François and Manfred," said Laurent Bresson, Nexteer Automotive's European executive. "As the world's only company focused on electric power steering systems, our engineers spend more time than anybody else working on ways to make people's journey to work more comfortable, so it's a little ironic that their trip to Tychy should be so arduous. Even so, we're all proud that two of our people are doing something so extraordinary to help raise money for local charities. We're looking forward to welcoming them at our factory."
Nexteer Automotive is just one of the local companies and individuals sponsoring the challenge. Others include local businesses: Bistorante Cultura, Schiff Martini & Cie, Weingut Gres Appenheim, and the Grevenstein Orthopedic Centre.
The Rüsselsheim engineers want to raise as much money as possible. Please help them by including a link to their webpage in any coverage: www.charity-ride.eu.tc
If you can make it, the cyclists invite interested journalists for a pasta buffet to load up on carbohydrates and find out more on Friday 25 June at 1.30pm at:
Bistorante Cultura,
Eisenstrasse 11,
65428 Rüsselsheim
To confirm your attendance or to find out more, contact:
François Roth
Tel.: +49 6142 914 184
Handy: +49 171 581 0382
E-mail: francois.roth@nexteer.com
For further information:
Tristan Honeywill
+44 1295 277050
+44 7870 211887
tristan.honeywill@m-eng.com
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