Mission accomplished. 💪💪 Team Rynkeby Berlin has made it to Paris! 🇫🇷 What a journey. 1,200 km ridden in 8 days, no matter what circumstances we had to deal with. What a team work! And what a TEAM. 40+ amazing people went on a journey to support those who need help. Along with a lot of other teams across Europe, who all met at the Velodrome Jaques Anquetil, Paris.

So tremendous, I am getting goosebumps. Especially when we rode through Paris and passing other teams. What an incredible mood as (random) people around must have realised something big is going on right here right now. 😁 The day after Paris, already in Strasbourg (by train), someone asked me about it as he saw plenty of riders in yellow dresses in Paris. I happily explained.

Last couple of stages led us from Verdun to Château-Thierry and from there to Paris, the city of love. ❤️ On both days we met so many other teams. That was so incredibly great. Yes, it was an exhausting week but it was worth every minute and every mile! To reach such a goal.

Stage 7: Verdun – Château Thierry

The queen’s stage. Even though it was a bit wet again, but only at the beginning. The clouds cleared just in time for the first break, and it was supposed to stay that way. For the longest stage, for the most beautiful stage. 😍 The good weather has helped to keep everything a bit more relaxed. You could say the weather was a bit annoying. Perhaps. However, the great mood and positive energy remained at all times. That’s the way it works. That’s how you have to approach it. Believe in yourself.

The route also played its part: a beautiful, endless stretch along the canal. If I’m not mistaken, in the Marne region. And parts in the Champagne region. 😍 There was the opportunity for a short sprint along with Matthieu, to announce our group for a short break nearby. It was a planned stop for a “special refreshment” – a glass of champagne. Yes! Actually, that’s mandatory when you cross this region. If I heard correctly, there are seven-digit price tags for a hectare of land (for cultivation). Seriously. 😅

That was a definite highlight thanks to Matthieu, a well connected team member, he has organised this. It was a sip. We weren’t drunk, we could finish the rest of the stage. Just a few miles left for the day. 😉

Yet again arrived safely and in the early evening. We take out time. Despite of many things to do on arrival, we are not in a rush. This is not a race. Last but not least, we got a tattoo that evening as part of our decorations for entering Paris. Nice. The closer you get to Paris, the more other teams you meet. Most of the teams come from Denmark, where it all has started once. Could spot sometimes a team from Sweden.

Stage 8: Château Thierry – Paris

Dernière étape avec la Tour Eiffel et le Vélodrome. What a day full of ups and downs. And somehow, everything that could go wrong went wrong. I literally overslept the 6 a.m. start. 😴😬 Due to the scheduled arrival at the Paris Velodrome (around 60 teams) we had to start early in order to meet our arrival slot hence we needed to start earlier. Before the arrival we had to finish our decorations as well. All that I have missed. That’s so sad. 😢

Ironically, the team somehow didn’t notice right away, so I rode the entire route solo, with luggage. 🤷‍♂️ It’s not my first solo ride covering a long distance abroad. I know what to do and how to get it done. To catch up with the team. The team also had some delays due to defects and longer breaks, but making up three hours is a bit much. Luckily there was no rain. A few minutes of drizzle I do not consider as rain. 😉 And I got a few more pictures of the route than usual. 😉 For security reasons we don’t take pictures when cycling.

After 66 km, I met a Danish team from Øresund. Only due to this occasion I took a first break that day, and longer than planned. They even provided me with food and drinks. So nice. ❤️ I was allowed to join them for a few miles, just another beautiful stretch along the canal and the Seine.

However, this ride has its own anecdotes. After a few miles with the Danish group we passed a location where my team’s did have a break. This spot I wanted to observe. At this point I decided to ride solo again and to follow our team’s route again (the Danish team had their own route of course). My team certainly has left the location but for the first time I was sure I could make it (according to a team mate’s location, we shared our locations all the time). I came closer. Could have met them if I would have skipped the last stop. 🤷‍♂️

The ride into Paris after nearly 100 km was really beautiful and a pleasure, also solo. I just missed the team at the Eiffel Tower by a few minutes. What? Seriously? It was the time short before the Olympic Games. That also means a lot of closed roads which can result in chaos and back & forth, especially with a large group. Impossible to anticipate. That helped a lot to catch up but I also struggled to make it to the Eiffel Tower where we wanted to take a group picture. I was so close when the team continued towards the Velodrome. Dammit, I could not see them. Later I have identified a few things (apart of the major thing) that should not have happened in order to catch up.

My first impression was a cyclist-friendly city. I was amazed. Still, it’s a different ride in a city compared to the countryside. 😉

Alone in Paris. At least some selfies. No one of our team does have them. Small consolation, I am not present on the Eiffel Tower picture though.

Eventually, I have missed my team to enjoy the definite highlight: to enter the Velodrome, to celebrate this moment and to feel all the excitement. So many people celebrate each and every participant arriving. Teams arrive one after another, each team gets its well deserved attention and celebration on arrival.

I cannot say how it feels like, the celebrations. I was allowed to enter the velodrome solo because I wore our team jersey and was on my team bike. But there was not much of celebration when I arrived They look for teams to arrive. Instead I still had to find my team. It was a huge place and yet again I struggled to find our spot. Found our spot when everyone was walking around to meet other teams and riders, to celebrate, to have fun and so on. Almost no one was around. Needed some rest laying down on the green grass. Some tears. Of course the team was concerned when they realised, but they had no choice and could not wait for me. It was my fault. And this is the price tag. Mixed feelings: happy to arrive, sad to arrive solo, slightly exhausted from the ride. With almost no attention. Some team members really had to comfort me. At least the almost obligatory jersey swap with other teams worked out and I was ok again. 😁

The solo ride is actually my fault, too. We always check to see if a bike is left behind. Since my bike was in my room, it didn’t get noticed. Besides, it wouldn’t have done any good anyway. I slept like a log. 🙈 Nobody could wake me up. 🤪 And no one intentionally left me behind. It just didn’t get noticed. When it was noticed, the team was very worried, but we stayed in touch the whole time. We shared our locations and we knew at some point we would meet again. It was a lesson for all of us. Bikes won’t be allowed upon the room over the night.

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Nonetheless…
I am proud of each and every one of us, especially those in our team who did this for the very first time or have started road cycling by this season. You’re so incredibly strong. Wow. The longest stage we ever did was on day 7, for 180 (!) km, the last stage yet another 120 km. For many of us that’s super huge. But you see, it is possible. Even for a newbie. See you next season! 😉

And what an achievement. In total all teams have collected 8,6 millions of Euros to support children with critical illnesses. Wow. A cheerful moment to hear this.

Along with my mission with Better Me e.V. in Kenya this is my second meaningful charity project. I will continue both of them.

Thank you so much for any support, any donation, any help, to make this possible. I am so happy, not only that we have made it, but also about our (Team Berlin) contribution for the Deutsche Kinderkrebsstiftung. 💛

Christian Lierse Lea Borsody Ingela Maria Aliwell Norbert Kleyboldt Tobias Bolle Anne Unterforsthuber Daniel Schaller Philipp Halank Pierre Gresser Annika Kroning Justin Roth Luisa Ulbrich and many more have contributed.