For the final training, after a total of 770 kilometers of training spread over nine dates, all tour participants met in Oerlenbach for the last preparatory tour. It should be cycled to Bamberg and back again to see if you are well prepared for the stage length of around 150 kilometers each.
The group will set off on their big tour on July 30 at 9 a.m. at the Oerlenbach town hall. The Euro-Bikers are planning a total of five daily stages to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Along the Main
The flat stage to Bamberg led away from the heavily frequented main road on the cycle path along the Main to Hassfurt. Stringed together like a string of pearls, a woman and eight men were pushed by the west wind via Zeil am Main and Maria Limbach to Bamberg. In the morning sun the deer were still grazing in the meadows in the Loiselbach valley and we went at a brisk pace past blooming sunflower fields through the waking summer landscape.
Arriving in Bamberg around noon, the group landed on the sandy road flooded with tourists. It went uphill past the cathedral. In “Café Villa Remeis” in the idyllic beer garden shaded by tall trees with a wonderful view high over Bamberg, we took a break to relax.
After the bumpy cobblestone descent past the Michaelsberg monastery, everyone was shaken awake and in good spirits to roll down the Main towards home. In the end, the permanent westerly wind gave the group a longer practice session in slipstreaming. During a short stop at the Maria Limbach pilgrimage church, all the guardian angels were bribed with a sacrificial candle and a group photo was taken with a bridal couple. There was refreshment in Schweinfurt before the 164-kilometer tour ended in Oerlenbach. After this successful Tour de Franken, everyone is optimistic that they will reach Paris safely.
The planned stages to Paris are from Oerlenbach to Darmstadt (137 kilometers), the second to Neunkirchen (136 kilometers) and stage three to Verdun (157 kilometers). On the fourth day, the Franconians will meet the French cycling friends from Douvre in Epernay (126 kilometers) and the last stage will be completed together as a team to Paris (165 kilometers) to the Eiffel Tower. The conclusion is a joint city tour and a visit to the French Parliament. The cyclists return on the train. Andreas Kuckuck takes the racing bikes with him in the support vehicle.
Start in Oerlenbach
All cycling fans are cordially invited to the start of the Paris Tour in Oerlenbach. If you want, you are welcome to ride a few kilometers, whereby the type of bike does not matter, but a helmet should be worn.
The Euro-Biker, formerly France-Biker, has been around since 2006. In the first year, they rode with ten athletes and four companions to Douvre (1100 kilometers), Oerlenbach’s twin town. In the following years, the destinations Berlin, Lake Garda, Lake Constance and Brussels, Kulmbach, Prague, Strasbourg, Munich, Luxembourg, Nuremberg and Hamburg were cycled, a total of around 6700 kilometers.
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