The four amateur athletes Mike and Michael Stahl, Valentin Schmelzer and Christian Duys inherited a great legacy at the 24-hour mountain bike race in the landscape park on the first weekend in August.
Twelve years ago, Peter Bongartz founded the “Turbobiker”, a Siemens company sports group with up to 40 sporty participants who pedal for non-profit associations every year. For ten years the Colorful District of Duisburg and the VKM (Association for the Physically Disabled and Multiple Disabled) have benefited from the donations raised by bike. The committed fundraiser has now retired. The two clubs were very worried about this noticeable drop in donations, since numerous events that otherwise brought in money have been canceled since the beginning of the Corona epidemic. Mike Stahl boldly took the initiative and continued the tradition of the Turbobikers on a small scale. With three other courageous drivers, he started as a private initiative outside the Siemens company with the group “Four cyclists – please” on August 6th and 7th in the 24-hour race.
Unfortunately, one of the athletes had to give up after just a few laps. His knee could not withstand the hard strain. “Health comes first,” said Mike Stahl, “the rest of us tried to compensate for the loss of our fourth man, but unfortunately we didn’t manage the 500 kilometers that we had planned. But we can also be satisfied with 57 laps and 440 kilometers for the three of us.” The athletes were overwhelmed by the great atmosphere of the event and by the audience. “Many people visited us at the event and cheered us on along the route. That gave us extra strength to get through the long hours, especially towards the end of the race. It really inspired us to have so many great people behind us! Thank you all!”
Numerous donors also responded positively to the benefit campaign in monetary terms. 3,600 euros are currently in the account. However, it will remain open until the end of September to allow for further donations. The courageous cyclists and the two non-profit associations that take care of families with prematurely born, seriously ill and disabled children would be very happy about it.
The account at the Degussa Bank is in the name of Peter Bongartz and has only managed donations for twelve years IBAN: DE90 5001 0700 0001 7458 90; Further information from Mike Stahl: [email protected]