Just stand on it, or well, sit on a saddle in front of it. Cycling sixty kilometers every day for a year. Roland Beumer (60) from Norg did it. After today, his challenge is over after about 24,000 kilometers.
“Now I’m going on holiday. But without a bike,” the sports enthusiast laughs after his penultimate ride.
Beumer did not cycle around aimlessly. No, in the back of his mind he had happy children’s faces for a year. Because thanks to the cycling performance, around 70 families can go on holiday for a week. The resident of Norg raised money for the Vakantiebank.
“I raised a total of about 27,000 euros,” says Beumer. “That is certainly a nice amount. And that is also important, but the most important thing is the children.” The idea was around one euro per kilometer when he started a year ago. He ended up cycling just over sixty kilometers a day because of a number of competitions he participated in.
“Depending on the weather, it was beautiful,” the avid cyclist reflects. “In the summer I often had the feeling of: ‘I can cycle again.’ But in December, in the dark and with no rays of sunshine, it was just a matter of gritting our teeth and going.”
But it was not only a tough challenge for the master of the house. Beumer’s wife also had to be flexible to the challenge over the past year. “It takes a lot of free time. It was sometimes a puzzle, so my wife also had to give up. She is also happy that it is over.”
An example of such a puzzle was during the holidays. “Normally you drive straight to the next destination in the morning, for example, but now you had to cycle first,” Beumer looks back.
And speaking of vacation: now that it’s over after today, the Beumer family is taking it easy and going on vacation to relax. And the bicycle? That definitely won’t last.