Swiss Bike Tour 2006

It has only been a few days since my return from the Rotary Camp in Switzerland. New Memories, Impressions and Friends are stil! fresh. The past two weeks have been so full of new experiences that it is partially after the camp when I start to realise how great this bike tour reatly was.

The preparations of the camp were really great and we often got emails with information about the summer camp like a program, a list of accommodations, insurance sheets, health sheets and a list of participants. Once there, we were being picked up individually from the airport and train station. Since my own flight was quite early I arrived as one of the first participants at the starting point of our bike tour. I checked in at the agricultural school and the camp. After the check in they showed me rny rented bike and I was able to test it. We were allowed to go for a swim in a swimming pool near the school since the whole group would arrive gradually during the day. The first day really was a warm welcorne and we were able to taste a typical Swiss cheese dish at the end of the day.

The next day we had an early rise for our first bike ride of the camp. This day would be a test for your biking skill. We were divided amongst three groups depending on how everyone was managing to keep up. I did quite well and was therefore grouped with Jiri Bucek (Czech Republic), Jurij Kren (Slovenia), Barbora Supinova (Slovakia) and Peter Drachmann (Denmark). A few days later Daniel Zeelenberg (The Netherlands) joined group A as well. Being in the first group made the cycling harder since we took more distance, cycled more ^vup hills' and made us reach our destination at the same time the other groups would arrive. In my opinion this was more then worth it. The team spirit was very good and we also took the most beautiful roads and mountain tracks. Not to mention the very nice and fast down hills! With this group we took all optional possibilities we got for cycling. I think I can speak on behalf of the first group when I say that the mountain biking along the Rhein with Gary from Schaffhausen was our favourite part. At the end of the camp Durij's speedometer registered over 500 km!

After the first day on our bike we would at least cycle every two days to reach our next destination for one and a half week. At each place there was a different Rotary club which organised the program there. This program took place in between cycling days and after cycling and we did a lot of nice things like crossbow shooting, visiting the Rhein waterfali's, hiking, dinner at a Rotarian's home, more biking and a lot of other cultural activities. I got to know most of the other participants of the other two groups on the first day as well: Can Akannac (Turkey), Katherine Dodd (Australia), Konstantinos Fronimos (Greece), Mircea Mogan (Romania), Igor Osipov (Russia), Dainius Sablinskas (Lithuania), Akash Singla (India), Tamar Stern (Israël), Victor Teodorescu (Romania), Harshvardhan Tiwari (India), Giedrius Tradisauskas (Romania) and Kyriakos Tzafestas (Greece). After two weeks of intense cycling and other sports activities I can truly say that they all became good friends.

We started our tour near Zürich in a little village called Lindau. From Lindau we respectively travelled to Schaffhausen, Flawil, Schaan (Liechtenstein) and Richterswil. Every morning we would wake up at seven o clock. Breakfast was often taken care of by the school or youth hostel where we would stay at that moment. There also always were energy bars, fruit, water and other extra supplies ready for the cycling.

The lunch was also very well organised and the moment we would arrive at the break point for a rest there would be a picnic ready with delicious food. Joanne Maleska (Poland) who was not able to cycle along also did a great part in the preparing and shopping for these breaks. The dinner's at the end of the day varied a lot since they were mostly prepared by the accommodations as well. It always tasted very good after a day of sports though!

By the time we arrived in Richterswil we already had becorne a group of friends. Even though the cycling had reached its end there still were some nice activities ahead of us.

One thing everyone probably has been looking forward to was the river rafting! We went down wild river streams with inflatable rafts and professional guides. The two hour trip down the river really was a lot of fun! On the last night in Richterswil there also was a really nice surprise. We were taken to a dinner across one of the lakes near Zürich on several speedboats! Some of the boats had 300 horsepower motors on board and you can probably imagine it was a real rush to race across the lake in these boats.

The next morning we went to Zürich by boat. After dinner we were allowed to go out in town and everyone went out in Zürich in small groups. This wasn't especially organised, but there was more then enough initiative from within the group. The next day we had a really nice (and competitive) tourist tour. New small groups were given a list with questions about important buildings and places across the centre of Zürich. Walking through the pretty centre at your own pace made it really comfortable and there was more then enough time to eat lunch and do some shopping. We concluded the camp with an official rotary dinner in a restaurant with a beautiful view over Zürich where one of the cycling leaders received the Paul Marris Fellow reward.

This camp has really given me a good view of eastern Switzerland and its culture. I got to experience new sports like crossbow shooting and river rafting. And most important of all: I have learned of new cultures from the new friends I met. I would therefore like to give my special thanks to Esther Akers and Stephen Akers for organising and leading this nice camp, The Swiss Bike Tour 2006.

Jurrian Hartveldt (The Netherlands)