Giant contrast to 2016

Last March, Ralf and I were in Thulosirubari when the first two of three planned parts of the new school building were inaugurated. The whole village was in a party mood. I looked into hundreds of smiling faces that communicated optimism. Not only at the school, everywhere in Thulosirubari construction work was on. What a contrast to my visit two years earlier! In 2016, one year after the earthquake, the village had still been a field of ruins, the inhabitants had seemed depressed, paralyzed.

Thank you for your big heart!

Third construction phase

“School up!” – as I had the chance to experience last March and the memory of it still warms my heart – is so much more than just an investment in a building that ensures that the students no longer have to be taught in corrugated iron sheds: The new school has become a symbol of hope and a new beginning. It is impossible to forget the natural disaster of 2015, but the people of Thulosirubari are now looking to the future – thanks to your generosity.

And it is this generosity that I would like to appeal to again shortly before Christmas: Please continue donating for “School up!” because we have not yet crossed the finishing line! The construction work on the third part of the building is in progress and must be financed. Here is the bank account again:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

The day draws to an end

Even the darkness cannot prevent construction from continuing in Thulosirubari. For 18 hours, concrete is mixed in the small mountain village 70 kilometers east of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, transported upwards and distributed, then finally the second floor slab is casted. “Only one machine for mixing concrete was used for the work, the rest was done by physical labor,” writes Shyam Pandit, liaison man of the German aid organisation Nepalhilfe Beilngries. “Special skilled laborers were brought from Kathmandu for the casting.” After the first two parts of the new school building have been used for teaching since last spring, the construction work for the third section is now on the home straight: If everything goes according to plan, the new building with eight more classrooms could be completed in spring 2019.

Great opportunity for the people of Thulosirubari

The third section, on the right one of the two already completed parts of the building

“I am so happy to see the constructioin of the school building”, says Ram Sharan BK, Chairman of the School Management Committee. “It is a great opportunity for us to rebuild the school so quickly after the 2015 earthquake.” On behalf of the students and their parents, Ram Sharan said, he thanked Nepalhilfe Beilngries and the donators of “School up!”. He hopes “that the support will continue until the construction work will have been completed and also afterwards to further improve the education”.

Highly motivated students

The more than 500 students are also delighted with the new premises. “Everyone will feel safe from disasters such as earthquake, fire, storm, etc.,” writes Resina Nepali from Class 10 and promises: “The students will be regularly in the classrooms and increase the hard work after completing reconstruction of the building.” For Sabita Shrestha from Class 12, the fact of being able to be taught in the same building reinforces the feeling of equality in everyone. “The buildings help to improve our education better than before.”

“Our God in Germany”

Working till late at night

Once again I would like to ask you not to let up in your support of our aid project “School up!”, which I launched after the devastating earthquake in Nepal in 2015 with the top climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits, in order to rebuild the destroyed school of Thulosirubari as quickly as possible. We still need money to finish the construction work as planned. “I would like to thank the donators,” writes student Resina. “They are our God from Germany.”

Here once again the bank account:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

If you indicate this intended purpose, the money will end up in Thulosirubari. A thousand thanks also from me! You are great!

Construction side in Thulosirubari (on the right the two already completed school buildings)

“The construction work is going smoothly,” writes Shyam Pandit, who coordinates the projects of the German aid organisation Nepalhilfe Beilngries in the Himalayan state. At the end of last week, Shyam once again visited the construction site of the new school in the mountain village of Thulosirubari, some 70 kilometers east of the capital Kathmandu. After teaching in the first two parts of the building started as well as using the corresponding toilet block, the third and last section of the building is being constructed right next door. Your donations made this possible for our aid project “School up!”, which I founded together with the two climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits after the devastating earthquake in 2015, in order to rebuild the destroyed school in Thulosirubari as quickly as possible.

Please do not let up!

Concreting of the floor slab

The first floor slab of the third section of the new school building has just been concreted. The next step is to build the walls for the second floor. Another toilet block will also be built next to this building. As you can see, we have already come a long way, but not yet reached our destination. Shyam Pandit quotes the contractor as saying that construction could be completed in spring 2019. Let’s wait and see! But of course we can only go on if we don’t run out of money. So, please continue to support “School up!” with your donations. They will be used exclusively for this project if you indicate “Gerlinde and Ralf School” as intended purpose. Here again the bank account details:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

Thanks a million for your support, also on behalf of Thulosirubari’s children, their parents and their teachers. You are great!

The bricks are already there

Your donations for our aid project “School up!” continue to work. The base plate for the third section of the new school in the small mountain village of Thulosirubari, 70 kilometers east of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, has now been concreted. In the next step, the bricks for the walls of the first floor will be laid. Ralf Dujmovits – the so far only German climber to have climbed all 14 eight-thousanders – and I had laid the foundation stone for the third construction phase with another eight classrooms in mid-March. At that time, the first two buildings had been festively inaugurated.

Not yet at the finish line

The old school of Thulosirubari had been damaged by the devastating earthquake in Nepal at the end of April 2015 so badly that it had had to be demolished. In June 2015, I had founded “School up!” with Ralf and the Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner – the first woman in the world to stand on the summits of all eight-thousanders without bottled oxygen – in order to rebuild the destroyed school as quickly as possible. We have already come a long way, but have not yet reached our goal and need further donations. Here once again the bank account of “School up!”:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

Thanks a million! You are great!

Shyam Pandit (l.) at the construction site at Thulosirubari

“The construction work is going smoothly,” writes Shyam Pandit, liaison man of the German aid organisation “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” in Nepal. In Thulosirubari, a small mountain village about 70 kilometers east of the capital Kathmandu, the third part of the new school with eight additional classrooms is being built. The foundations are laid, the base plate is soon to be concreted. If all goes well, this third building could be ready by 2019. The first two buildings with classrooms for twelve school classes were – as reported – ceremonially inaugurated in March. At that time Ralf Dujmovits, the only German climber so far who stood on all 14 eight-thousanders, and I laid the foundation stone for the next construction phase in Thulosirubari.

“A new beginning for our dreams”

The foundations are laid

All this has been made possible by your donations for “School up!”, the aid project I had launched after the devastating earthquake in April 2015 along with Ralf and the Austrian top climber Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner (she was the first woman in the world to climb all eight-thousanders without bottled oxygen). The money that Gerlinde, Ralf and I collect goes directly into this one construction project that the “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” has been organizing and carrying out for us. I repeat the words of thanks that the students of Thulosirubari sent us at the beginning of the year: “We still remember that day. It was Saturday, 25 April 2015, when we lost our houses – and our dreams too between the colapsed buildings. We heard that God comes in many shapes. Some came to our place to reshape our damaged confidence. With our open heart, we thank you for your big heart, for reviving our hopes again. And our dreams have now got a new start.”

Please continue to support us!

To complete the third school building too, we are still dependent on your support. Once again the bank account of “School up!”:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

A thousand thanks – also on behalf of the people of Thulosirubari!

Update 3 July: Now the iron girders are also mounted – despite the monsoon, which means that construction work has to be temporarily suspended due to rainfall.

The next construction phase begins

Three years ago, the earth shook in Nepal. Nearly 8,000 people were killed in the devastating earthquake on 25 April 2015 and the aftershocks in the following weeks. Even today, numerous traces of the earthquake can still be found in the capital Kathmandu, and the rural areas, which were particularly hard hit. But a lot has happened. For example in Thulosirubari. Thanks to your donations for our aid project “School up!”, last March – as reported – the first two buildings of the new school with a total of twelve classrooms could be inaugurated in the small mountain village, located about 70 kilometers east of the capital. On this occasion, German climber Ralf Dujmovits and I also laid the foundation for the next phase of construction. As you can see in the picture, sent to me by Dulal Tanka from Thulosirubari, the construction of the third building with eight more classrooms is now beginning.

Please continue to support us!

The toilet house

Also the toilet house behind the school is taking shape. You see, your money keeps working. However, we have not yet reached the finish line. Once again here is the bank account of “School up!”:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

Thank you so much! You are great!

Musicians accompany us to the school

This roadblock is not an ordinary one. Five hundred meters in front of the school grounds in Thulosirubari, 70 kilometers east of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, our journey in a jeep ends. Eight musicians stand in the middle of the dusty piste through the village. When Ralf Dujmovits – the first and so far only German mountaineer who scaled all 14 eight-thousanders – and I get out of the car, they begin to play for us on their traditional instruments. Behind the music playing village band  we ascend the last meters to the school.

Arrival

There a big event has been organized for us. Several hundred students, parents, teachers, local notables and other residents of Thulosirubari are awaiting us for the ceremonial inauguration and handing over of the first two parts of the building to the local school committee – made possible by your donations to our aid project “School up!”. The old school had been so badly damaged by the devastating earthquake in Nepal on 25 April 2015 that it had had to be demolished. At the end of June 2015, I had launched together with Ralf Dujmovits and the Austrian climber Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner “School up!” to rebuild the Thulosirubari school as soon as possible.

Final move in April

The new school building

“What a sight!”, Ralf calls when we approach the yellow painted new building. We high five. In a way, for both of us, a circle closes on this day. At the beginning of May 2015, a week after the quake, the 56-year-old mountaineer had driven with a team of doctors to the worst-hit district of Sindhupalchowk, where also Thulosirubari is located. “Where once was hubbub, is now ghostly silence. The people are standing around staring at the ruins of their homes. They do not even know where to start to clean up,” Ralf had told me at that time, adding that the old school was “just a pile of junk”. When I visited Thulosirubari in March 2016, almost a year after the disaster, the building was already demolished. The more than 500 children and adolescents were taught in corrugated iron sheds. In October 2016, thanks to “School up!”, construction work began. Now the first two buildings with a total of twelve classrooms are practically finished. In some places, the interior painting is not yet completed and some electrical work is still to be done. In April, the classes are finally to move to the new rooms.

New courage found

On this day of celebration, speeches are held for hours under a large tent roof in the schoolyard, and many documents and presents are handed over. Some dances of female students give fresh impetus to the program. The great gratitude that we experience is touching. We look into hundreds of happy faces. “You not only helped us, but also gave us new courage,” says Devi Dulal, chairman of the school committee. Inspired by the construction work on the new school, many Thulosirubari residents have started rebuilding their destroyed houses in the village.

Young audience

“Meanwhile, in Sindhupalchowk, work is being carried out on about 75 percent of the buildings that were damaged or destroyed by the 2015 earthquake,” says Sanjay Sapkota, who accompanied the construction of the new school in Thulosirubari as a technical advisor of the German aid organization “Nepalhilfe Beilngries”: “The government has learned from the disaster and adopted stricter building rules. They only released the financial support for new buildings when people were able to prove that they followed the new rules.” However, the governmental subsidy of 300,000 rupees per building (converted about 2,400 euros) “is just enough for the foundation”, says Sanjay.

Foundation for eight more classrooms

First stone for the next building

Ralf and I also lay a foundation stone on this feast day in Thulosirubari: for the second construction phase of “School up!”. Another building with eight classrooms is to be built, and a second toilet section. “Education is the best and most important input we might get in our youth,” says Ralf Dujmovits in his short speech during the celebration. “For the future of this school, for Thulosirubari, for all the kids here I wish best of luck. You have learned to go through very difficult times – and deserve to have really good times in the future.” Like Ralf, I thank the people of Thulosirubari for the overwhelmingly warm welcome: “I carry you deep in my heart and promise you to continue to stand up for ‘School up!’” Later, when I walk for a few minutes through Thulosirubari before returning to Kathmandu, villagers from all sides greet me – not just like an old acquaintance, but like a friend.

Thanks and a request

Thanks for your support, say Ralf (l.) and I

Ralf and I have received the thanks of the people of Thulosirubari on behalf of all donors of “School up!” – and, of course, also of Gerlinde and the staff of the “Nepalhilfe Beilngries”, who have implemented the construction of the first buildings with all their experience and great commitment. In order for the second construction phase, which will take about one to one and a half years, to be completed successfully, we need further donations for “School up!”. Once again here is the bank account:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

If you write this intended purpose on the bank transfer, the money will go purposefully to Thulosirubari. I will continue to inform you in my blog about the progress of our project. A big thank you to all friends of “School up!”. You are great!

P.S. Thanks also to LOWA for the seven sacks of shoes, more than 200 pairs, which we have distributed to the children of Thulosirubari. And also to AB Sport in Cologne for the footballs, with which the school team will play from now on.

The first two buildings are finished

When I saw the pictures, I found myself almost in tears – for joy! The year 2018 could hardly begin any better. This week I received the news from Thulosirubari that the students have moved from provisional corrugated-iron classrooms, that had been built after the devastating earthquake in Nepal in April 2015, to the first two finished buildings of the new school. A big day for our aid project “School up!” which I had launched along with the climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits more than two and a half years ago!

Yellow colour required

First lessons in the new classrooms

Our goal was to rebuild as quickly as possible the school in the village of Thulosirubari, located about 70 kilometers east of the capital Kathmandu, which had been destroyed in the quake. Several hundred children and adolescents from the mountain region were and are being taught there. In September 2016, the foundation stone was laid for the new school. At the end of December, the pale yellow paint, prescribed by the government of Nepal, was applied, and the construction company handed over the first two parts of the building.

Together we will make the difference

Thulosirubari

“The students and the school family are so happy to get new classrooms in safe buildings,” Shyam Pandit, liaison man of the “Nepalhilfe Beilngries”, writes to me. The German aid organization has coordinated the construction of the school, which has become possible through your donations for “School up!”. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your generosity. As you can see, your money has worked successfully. “Together we can and we will make a difference,” Sunil Krishna Shrestha, the coordinator of the “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” in Nepal for 25 years, writes to me.

Let’s go on!

A third building is to follow

The joy accompanying the success on this first, very, very important stage should give us new impetus. Finally, a third building is to be built on the site, as well as toilets for girls and boys are needed. So we have not yet arrived at the destination but continue to rely on your donations. We are happy about every euro. Once again the bank account of “School up!”:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V..
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

If you indicate this intended purpose, the money will flow directly into the construction work of the school in Thulosirubari. I will continue to keep you informed about the progress of the project in my blog.

Update 6 January: The students of Thulosirubari have sent this message to the “Nepalhilfe Beilngries”: “We still remember that day. It was Saturday, 25 April 2015, when we lost our houses – and our dreams too between the colapsed buildings. We heard that God comes in many shapes. Some came to our place to reshape our damaged confidence. With our open heart, we thank you for your big heart, for reviving our hopes again. And our dreams have now got a new start.”

New school buildings in Thulosirubari (picture from today)

The finishing line of the first stage of our aid project “School up!” is in sight: The first two buildings of the new school in the Nepalese mountain village of Thulosirubari will most probably be ready for occupation before the beginning of winter. The doors are fitted these days,  Shyam Pandit, liaison man of the German aid organization “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” in the Himalayan state, writes to me. The windows are already installed. Subsequently, only the painting is missing. By the end of the month, says Shyam, the contractor wants to hand over the two first building units. Then the construction work will go on.

Carry on!

Doors and painting still missing

A third building is to be built, as well as toilets for girls and boys. So we have not yet arrived at the final destination. Along with the climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits, I had launched “School up!” two and half years ago to rebuild purposefully the school of Thulosirubari, a mountain village about 70 km east of Kathmandu. The school had been destroyed by the devastating earthquake in Nepal in April 2015. Since then, several hundred children and adolescents have been taught in corrugated-iron huts, which were used as provisional class rooms. In September 2016, the foundation stone was laid for the new school.

Your money works

Schoolchildren in Thulosirubari

At this point I would like to thank all of you who made with your donations possible what we have achieved so far. Alone through my donation bike tour “School up! River down!” in September, when I drove with my folding bike almost 1,500 kilometers from the source to the mouth of the Rhine in twelve days, we collected approximately 2,800 euros. You can see in the pictures that your money really works. I ask you to continue supporting “School up!”. Do you want to do a good deed in the Advent season? We are happy about every euro. Once again the bank account of “School up!”:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V..
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

If you indicate this intended purpose, the money will flow directly into the construction work of the school in Thulosirubari. I will continue to keep you informed about the progress of the project in my blog. Promised!

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

Having reached the destination, the mouth of the Rhine

My summit was the end of the pier. Where a red tower with beacon signals to the ships on the North Sea that they have reached the mouth of the Rhine and that the port of Rotterdam is near. I reached this point with my folding bike today at 3.30 p.m., the twelfth day after my departure at the Oberalp Pass in Switzerland, near the source of the Rhine. 1,494 kilometers lie behind me, on average I cycled about 125 kilometers per day. The last meters on the pier felt great. All hardships were forgotten. I simply enjoyed to move slowly towards the goal of my donation bike tour “School up! River down!”.

Small expedition

The evidence: 1,494 kilometers

For me it was a real adventure, almost a small expedition. The result was quite uncertain. Would my folding bike – this model is actually intended for commuters on short distances – survive the permanent burden? Would my body stand the exertions, even though I had not specifically prepared it to sit on the saddle nine hours a day and to pedal continously? Would my commitment be sufficient, would I, if necessary, be able to torment myself through difficult situations? Would the weather cooperate? Was it realistic under all these conditions to tackle a route of about 1,500 kilometers in twelve days?

Several times on the limit

Somewhere between Dordrecht and Rotterdam

I can now answer all these questions – with a broad grin on my face – with yes. The euphoria of having actually achieved my desired goal, replaces the fact that my body and mind were several times on the limit and now urgently need a recovery phase. Like after an expedition in the mountains, it will certainly take a while before I have processed all the impressions. My relationship to the Rhine, where I spent my whole life, will be a new one, after I have ridden and experienced it from the source to the mouth.

Taken the wrong ferry

The mills of Kinderdijk

The final stage, about 75 kilometers from Dordrecht via Rotterdam to Hoek van Holland, went by wihout incidents. I admired the famous 19 mills of Kinderdijk, which stand like tin soldiers in a row on the canal. That I had to drive slalom through several groups of hectically photographing Japanese, I answered with a smile. Arriving in the village, I reached the ferry as the last passenger. However, I had to realize on the water that it did not cross over to Ridderkerk, as I had thought, but to Krimpen aan de Lek. I had to put together an alternative route to finally get back to the main Rhine route in the center of Rotterdam. The lively city with its huge harbor made me nervous. I was happy when, 20 km before Hoek van Holland, it became calmer and lonely again.

For the children of Thulosirubari

In Rotterdam

I have thought of the children of Thulosirubari not only today, but also during these twelve days on the Rhine. For them, I actually made the trip. I hope I have entertained you well and I would be delighted if I had encouraged as many of you as possible to support with your donation the further construction of the school in the small Nepalese mountain village, some 70 kilometers east of Kathmandu. If you have decided to sponsor me with e.g. a cent per kilometer that I drove, it would make a total of 14.94 euros for the project “School up!”, two cents make 29.88 euros, five cents 74.70 euros, ten cents 149.40 euros … You can also transfer any other amount, I am happy about every euro.

Please send your donations directly to the account of “School up!” of the Nepalhilfe Beilngries. Here is once again the bank account:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

With the folding bike to the North Sea

Thank you for your support, also for the many encouraging comments during my tour. I would also like to thank the bikers who accompanied me on the route for the nice talks. In addition, all those who kindly showed me the way when I was once again unconcentrated and missed a sign. And last but not least I want to thank my dear and faithful folding bike, which has carried me so far without any breakdown. Both of us, by the way, were much quicker than the water which has started its trip from the source to the mouth of the Rhine on Monday last week. It takes the water about 31 days, the journey through Lake Constance alone takes three weeks.

Near Wijk the river is still called “Nederrijn”

I’m just driving down the Rhine. No way! The closer you get to the mouth of the river into the North Sea, the more complicated it becomes. Everywhere are river arms and somehow they all have to do with the Rhine, but they are no longer called so. But Waal, Maas, Merwede or Linge. With additions such as “Oude” (Old), “Nieuwe” (New), “Beneden” (Lower) or “Boven” (Upper). And then there are also canals, such as the Amsterdam-Rijn-Kanaal, which I crossed today at Rijswijk. So you can easily lose orientation. The time has passed when I was cycling along the Rhine and only had to decide which side of the river I used.

Overland, with plenty of water

Chicken uprising

Without the excellent cards, which were fixed to my handlebar bag, and the signs of the bike paths, I had hopelessly lost my way. So, however, I passed through the water labyrinth, and in fact managed to reach my destination of today, Dordrecht, without any considerable detours. In this part, the Rhine bike route hardly deserves its name because it leads through many rural areas, often along canals or small lakes.

With the ferry

Water taxi to Sleeuswijk

But suddenly you reach again one of the Rhine arms and have to cross the river with a ferry or a water taxi. The system works really perfectly. There are no long waiting times. The crossing costs for a cyclist between 80 cents and 1,50 euros. And such a ferry transfer can be quite communicative. On the way to Kop van’t Land near Dordrecht I got into conversation with another “Fietser”.

Pat on the shoulder

Ferry to Kop van’t Land

The 60-year-old asked me how many kilometers I had traveled today, where I came from and where I wanted to go. “Years ago, I cycled some passages of the tour that you have done by myself,” the man recalled. “I liked particularly the area around Rüdesheim.” Means the Rhine Gorge between Bingen and Koblenz. He gave me a tip for an alternative route to Dordrecht. “But yours is also very beautiful,” he said, gave me for farewell a pat on the shoulder and cycled away in breakneck speed.

Calves damage

Today, there were many fair weather cyclists en route. Since the morning, the sun was shining, the wind was not worth mentioning, ideal cycling weather. If there would not have been this pulling in my calves. They are crying for recovery. They still have to persist one day. Then we – my calves and I as well as my dear faithful folding bike – will hopefully stand in Hoek van Holland on the beach and look together to the mouth of the Rhine.

Still 70 are left

Signs in a garden near Leerdam

This eleventh day of my donation bike tour “School up! River down!” for the reconstruction of the school in the Nepalese village of Thulosirubari lasted nine and a half hours. I rode 124 kilometers from Wageningen to Dordrecht. In earlier times the Rhine trade ended there, what brought the city wealth. Today, Rotterdam has outdone Dordrecht as trade metropolis. I will ride to Rotterdam tomorrow and then continue to the sea. Still some 70 kilometers are missing.

P.S.: When I will have arrived at the beach, I will – if I’ll have an internet connecition – inform you via Twitter and Facebook. The detailed summary of the last day will be available after my return to Cologne.

P.P.S.: Do not be surprised if some pictures are blurry at the edges. The setting dial of the camera had accidentally slipped into the “creative mode”.

Bikers in Arnheim

It was like someone had flipped a switch. As soon as I had crossed the German-Dutch border behind Emmerich on the right side of the Rhine, I felt like I was in a different bicycle world. It all started with the fact that many more people were cycling. Seniors with e-bikes, housewives, with their market purchases on the luggage carrier, opposing the wind, large groups of bycyle racers, parents and their children, all with bikes. After my departure in the morning in Rheinberg-Ossenberg north of Duisburg, I had hardly met any cyclists on the bike paths on the dykes. This time the weather was not an excuse. It was misty until noon, but dry. And the wind blew only moderately.

Climbing wall instead of cooling tower

Leasure park in Kalkar

In Xanten I had to change the brake pads at the back wheel of my folding bike. The pads were completely down. After half an hour enforced break I was able to continue the journey. I passed the “fast breeder” of Kalkar, who never brooded. After strong protests the nuclear power station, which had been completed in 1985, was never connected to the grid and is considered one of the most expensive industrial ruins in Germany. Today, the facility is used as a leisure park, the cooling tower became a climbing wall.

Cyclists are taken seriously

On the border

I crossed the Rhine bridge from Emmerich to the right side of river. So I avoided an overpass with the ferry in the Dutch town of Millingen, which drove only every hour. I only realized that I crossed the border on the dyke because the name of the road on the signs changed. And the quality of the bike paths increased enormously. In the Netherlands you really feel like being taken seriously as a cyclist.

Car only a guest

Cyclists first

No matter where you want to go, whether the road is wide or small, there is always a bike path. Almost always without the road holes or other damage to the covering which you find on many cycle paths in Germany. Also the signposting of the routes is first class. And the car drivers are reminded that they should take care of the cyclists. “Auto te Gast”, the car is the guest, is written on a sign, which marks a „Fietsstraat“, a bike road. The priorities are simply shifted.

Still around 200 kilometers

On the ferry to Huissen

It was a giant fun to enqueue with my little folding bike in the convoy of Dutch “fietsen”. I was rolling quite comfortably. After ten days of my donation ride “School up! River down!” my body is no more able to ride faster. But even so I come forward. Today I stopped after more than nine hours and a distance of 120 kilometers in Wageningen, 25 kilometers behind Arnhem. So I far I have managed to ride 1,292 kilometers since the start at the Oberalp Pass in Switzerland on Monday last week. The mouth of the Rhine near Hoek van Holland is only about 200 kilometers away. Slowly I start to believe that I could reach my goal in the given time window until Friday. Keep your fingers crossed!

Still relatively fit behind Leverkusen

I had to think of Marcel Wüst today. “Do you really believe that after a difficult mountain stage of the Tour de France, we could be back on the next day as if nothing had happened?”, asked me the former German road bicycle racer at the end of the 1990s. “Actually, we urgently need a rest day. But we do not get that. So we have to help ourselves, according to the motto: Permitted is what is not on the doping list.” Today I felt like after a mountain stage. Yesterday’s ride with 186 kilometers was still working hard in me. My legs were heavy, I tortured myself with my folding bike further down the Rhine.

Little headwind

Port entrance in Duisburg

During the first ten kilometers – according to my experience, they are the most difficult of the day, because the body has to come to life – my wife accompanied me. This distracted me and I was not listening to my body talk. Behind Leverkusen, however, I cycled alone, on the left side of the Rhine. It was cool, but dry. I felt very quickly that I would never and ever on this ninth day of my donation bike ride “School up! River down!” get into the same “flow”, which had carried me the day before from Bingen to Cologne. The low point came somewhere between the towns of Neuss and Duisburg. The wind was rather a breeze compared to what I had experienced last week in the south-west of Germany, but it came just from the front and slowed me down. I had little reserves to keep it.

Coffee and grain

Power station behind Duisburg

So I was almost happy to reach the industrial plants of Krefeld and later Duisburg, which blocked the wind. In Alt-Homberg, a suburb of Duisburg, I decided to strengthen myself in a bakery with a cup of coffee. Caffeine is no longer on the doping list. While the machine was brewing the coffee, the saleswoman told me about a bicycle tour she had made with her Dutch bike from Frankfurt to Duisburg many years ago. “In the Taunus I ruined my knee,” she said. “It took almost half a year before I was free of pain again. I would have better taken the route along the Rhine.” I didn’t tell her that after nine days of cycling along the Rhine my legs felt like a soft currant bun. Instead, I bought two grain bars.

Not finished room

Sheep herd shortly ahead of Ossenberg

Was it the coffee or were it the bars or the combination of both? Howsoever, the last section of this bike day was a little easier. However, this time I had some difficulties finding a bed for the night. “The next trade fair in Düsseldorf is just around the corner, we are fully booked with business people” explained a hotel employee in Rheinberg, some 20 kilometers behind Duisburg. On the next call I got a refusal too, on the same grounds. However, only first. A few minutes later the hotelier from Rheinberg-Ossenberg called me back. He had a room which was just being renovated but not yet finished, he said: “A bed is there, a sofa and the bathroom is functional. Do you want this room at a special price?” What a question! Of course, after 117 hard kilometers from Cologne to Ossenberg. Afterwards, I allowed myself what is also not on the doping list: a „Robber Spit“ with 300 grams of meat, a huge portion of fried potatoes and a beer.

Between Bingen and Koblenz

Is there a better flow than one that you experience at a river? After this day I can hardly imagine it. Everything fitted together. The weather remained dry until the late afternoon, the cycle paths from Bingen via Koblenz into the direction of Cologne were in good condition, and my little folding bike almost wheeled by itself. On top of that I had an ideal travel companion with Kai from Cologne, who I first met shortly after Bingen.

Short distance

The Lorelei

We drove about the same speed and had a lot of conversation topics. Like that hours were flying and almost as if by itself we made kilometers. I can warmly put to your heart especially the Rhine Gorge between Bingen and Koblenz if you ever want to do a cycling trip. There is a reason that this section with all its castles and the Lorelei belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage.

Length of a stage of the Tour de France

Thunderstorm behind Bonn

In Remagen Kai’s and my way separated. From there on I cycled all by myself. And still I felt quite fresh. At 5 p.m., after 135 kilometers, I reached Bonn. Now the ambition grabbed me. The prospect of meeting my family and sleeping in my own bed freed the last powers. In this last section, however, I had to deal with a lot of water coming from above. Almost in the dark I passed the cathedral of Cologne, 20 minutes later I stood in front of my own door. Out of breath, but happy. The day’s summary: almost twelve hours on the road, 186 kilometers. Some of the stages of the Tour de France aren’t longer than that.

Everything for the children of Thulosirubari

Cologne at nightfall

And I definitely feel that now. After the calorie stores are replenished, I only want to go to bed. On the eighth day of “School up! River down!” I also cracked the 1000-kilometer-mark. As a reminder, every kilometer I drive brings money to the “School up!” fund, with which we finance the reconstruction of the school destroyed by the earthquake in 2015 in the small Nepalese mountain village of Thulosirubari. More than 500 children from the mountain region are already looking forward to finally being able to get out of their provisional corrugated-sheet classrooms. If the flow leaves me, I simply think of these children. And keep rolling.

P.S. If you want to support my donation trip and don’t know exactly how it works, just click here.