Everyone: A good 1.000 cyclists showed in Frankfurt that they will not let terrorists stop them from pursuing their hobby. The joint tour instead of the canceled public race became a demonstration - free beer included. Velomotion took part.
Eschborn, May 1, 2015, 8.50:1.000 a.m. A good XNUMX hobby cyclists have gathered at the place where their SKODA Velotour Eschborn-Frankfurt amateur race was supposed to start. The Hessian State Criminal Police Office held the event and also the professional race the evening before canceled due to the threat of terrorism. The organizers asked the Jedermann via e-mail not to travel. They came anyway.
The police are on site, but the officials are more engrossed in lively conversations with the cyclists than nervously having to secure the scene. The mood is cheerful. Of course, cancellation is the number one issue. With all the disappointment of having to forego the race, the athletes express understanding for the decision of those responsible. Giving up cycling because of this is out of the question. If not a race, then a joint training tour. Also as a sign not to be defeated.
With a police escort through Frankfurt and into the Taunus
Florian Jöckel has this ride in common with his Guilty 76 Racing Team co-initiated. In the Frankfurt cycling scene, the man with the bushy beard is known like a sore thumb. When Jöckel called into a microphone shortly before 9.00 a.m. "We'll drive anyway", applause erupted. And indeed, shortly thereafter, a starting shot is fired. Race organizer Bernd Moos-Achenbach can also send cyclists on their way in 2015 - differently than expected, neutralized, without starting numbers and with a police escort, but still. ARD presenter and hobby cyclist Thorsten Schröder says he drives with a portion of anger in his stomach.
"Terrorists don't stop us from pursuing our hobby!"
The peloton rolls through Frankfurt in the morning as a closed formation. The tip stops at red traffic lights. So that everyone can always keep up, the police, escort vehicles and motorcycles secure the intersections and receive many thanks for this. The route leads through the banking district, past the Alte Oper and back out of Frankfurt. It is chattered, laughed and talked shop. The entire peloton stops in Oberursel of all places – the place where the arrested terror suspects live. Jöckel has im Old Oberursel brewery organized free beer. After a merry stay, the cyclists continue into the Taunus and finally up the steep Mammolshainer Berg. At the top of the slopes we wait until everyone is together again.
After a three and a half hour drive, Jedermann arrives back at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, broadcast live on TV on HR. While race organizer Bernd Moos-Achenbach praised the action of the amateur athletes as a strong statement in an interview and promised "Eschborn-Frankfurt" wanting to organize again in 2016, the racing cyclists roll through the picture behind him. They end their round here and have demonstrated: "Terrorists do not prevent us from pursuing our hobby!"