German Handcyclist Stefan Voormans Interview about Cyclothon 2024 | Riding 510 Kms in Maharashtra

German Handcyclist Stefan Voormans has taken up the challenge to ride 510 Kms in Maharashtra to raise awareness about Orthopedic Disability in India.

Stefan is leading the Cyclothon 2024 organized by Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust. Stefan will be the lead cyclist in the Cyclothon 2024 and will ride from Wai to Mumbai. His journey will start from 23rd January and end on 27th January 2024.

We got a chance to get into an exclusive conversation with Stefan Voormans where we discussed about his cycling journey, his preparations for the Cyclothon and the special type of Handcycle he is using for this event.

You can send your best wishes and special messages to Stefan Voormans for his cyclothon in the comments sections and we will share them with Stefan. Thanks for watching!

Music credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=493Ja9aEg34

Video courtesy: Gr8 Photography by Rohit Mahadev

Hi friends Welcome to our Channel pedal and tring tring today in this video we’re going to talk to a German hand cyclist and showcase his unique hand bicycle and learn more about his cyclon in Maharashtra so stay tuned and watch the full video till the

End hi stepen tell us a little bit about yourself yeah uh I was bornn in 1970 and um in the age of 17 I had an accident with my scooter um yeah and uh since that time I’m paralyzed I woke up after the accident 3 months

Later um and since that time I’ve got uh yeah I stayed for 4 and a half years in hospitals and uh different ones and I have 71 surgery operations 71 surgeries uh that’s incredible and you are really a brave heart to you know come over this kind of a tragedy and

Still uh get on with cycling post your recovery uh how did you gets uh started with the hand cycling I started in 2002 so many years 15 years after my accident I just started this hand cying with SPS again and first I I rode some some small

Distances with a hand cycle and it was not the racing cycle like this now it was a a smaller one just to make small waste and uh then the distances became longer longer and U then I made a distance of about 40 kilom and I said

Wow I can participate at the maritan and then I started at the maritan got there the first place in this category of that slowly biked and I said okay now I have to do it um a little bit more professional and I bought my first race

Bike and yeah so it started and now I’ve done so many races and uh yeah I organized more races I’ve organized more than 40 races in Germany and uh now it’s a time to give back uh to the people what I got about from the races that’s uh amazing and uh really

Inspiring to know that you gained confidence and uh gradually you picked up you know from a beginner to a pro rider that’s a you know big transformation and you rightly mentioned that it’s now time to give back to the community coming to the next question uh Stephen what inspired you to lead the

Cyclon in India I had the first experience with hand cycling in India in 2013 and I took part uh at the uh tour to India I had to make a race against John Abraham everybody knows him okay I did not know who is okay uh but uh at that time I I

Made my first race in India and um then I was working uh with my um social organization um in India and we are um providing people with uh uh proteses and Prosthetics and uh wheel chairs and all these things and the founder and his son um they asked me Stefan how we can

Promote these seats and I said at cyclon uh at the to the India sorry there a lot of people uh they were looking at the hand cycle and uh even when we got from the air uh from the airport we took it to my hotel uh many accidents happened nearly happened

Because the people were all looking at the hand cycle on the rooftop on the carrier and uh yeah I said we can do something we said hand cycle uh this will get the people the public will be interested about this and so the idea came from the cycle yeah that’s awesome

I mean uh that’s a rarest of rare occasion where we have seen this kind of a bicycle being used on Indian roads and I guess you’re the first one to introduce a hand cycle to the Indian cycling community and ride for a such a noble cause

Yeah I think I was the first one riding here and um for one stage at the last time we did it 2020 we did it also uh there was uh one stage uh an Indian uh cyclist uh present he’s a very good Paras cyclist now taking part at UCI

Races so uh very good one he was going with me but uh um I was the first one with a hand cycle like this uh on Indian roads awesome uh stepen you mentioned that uh you’re working for the noble cause and oretic disability awareness so through this cyclon what do you aim to

Achieve yeah two things first that uh we want to spread some message that with the disability a person is a uh able to do so many things uh he’s able to ride these 510 kilomet and um the second thing is uh maybe some people want to help others

And um give them yeah donate some money that they can uh get Prosthetics and uh all these things that’s uh really admirable and you’re doing a fantastic job so congratulations for that anyone so we must admit that there is lack of cycling infrastructure in our cities and people often feel unsafe so

In your case what kept you motivated to go ahead with the cyclon yeah um this cycle is not made for riding on Indian roads it’s uh really not safe enough on the cyclon I’ve got a team around me one cars in front one in back so this is will not be that

Problem but uh I go with my wheelchair uh on the bandra roads and um so I’m used to this traffic and um I say I like this traffic a little bit because in Germany I live close to the Dutch border and there everything is really safe for cyclist okay and um

We yeah it’s a paradise for cyclists where I stay and um it’s easy to run and this is a little bit an adventure for me absolutely yeah you can understand yeah yeah even from the the the general Consul from the German consulate he uh wrote a letter to

Me last time uh please don’t do this it’s much too dangerous and the people from uh German uh TV they are from the TV in Delhi they are not allowed to ride cycling on on the usual cycle okay even uh but I would like to go with this

Cycle also in Mumbai one time and um but it’s problem that I have always to carry it with me absolutely sure I think uh your faith and your trust in your team is what driving you ahead and you’re going ahead with this kind of a event

Yeah sure last time I had such good experiences with a team uh it starts from the mechanic uh to the one in the car in front who’s leading us uh and um yeah the the people standing around taking care that nobody’s coming um on the highway and uh that’s fantastic excellent

Yeah now coming to your bicycle very uh curious to know what kind of bike is this and how does it work uh this hand cycle um is now nearly an Oldtimer but um it’s full aluminium and uh very light it’s about 13 kges okay and um it’s um yeah there

Are many gears yeah three uh in seven uh in in uh nine years and um so um the brakes are here I’m shifting also here with that one so um I have not that cables around me okay otherwise uh if I would have it at my arms or my

Hands uh the cables should rotate and uh then they they break yeah okay they get Stu yeah okay and uh so this is um the easy way and um yeah it has um made that cyclon once so hopefully it will survive for a second time are these bikes made

In Germany this one is made in Germany yes uh there are also uh bikes made in us and uh now most of the people uh um go to carbon bikes yeah and carbon fiber and um course they are more light but um or less weight and

But I like this one and for me it’s enough I don’t do races anymore okay I go for having fun cycling long distances and uh the long distance the longest distance I did um was a 24 hours race okay and um um I uh did it together with one uh

Other friend of mine and um so we were in a team and um myself I did 352 kilm in a day in a day yes wow in uh 12 hours wow so we it’s incredible and if I may ask you what would be the uh typical price of

This kind of a bike how much would it cost this uh this one you can so still buy it’s 10 years old but you can still buy this it’s about €8,000 uh so that’s uh nearly uh 7.2 lakhs 7.2 lakhs yeah okay 7.2 in Indian rupees

Yeah yeah and how did you manage to transport the bike from Germany uh to India for the cycle um the back wheels are put off yeah they are in a special case um the front wheel is on but uh I cover this with uh this plastic with the air inside

Bubbles the bubbles yeah and um I have to fix uh the cranks so that it will not go back that the chain is going off and can be damaged yeah and then I pray and I hope that we yeah survive so it arrived uh yeah and uh you had to pay

Anything for this uh Transportation 400 400 400 for the for the flight shpp coming and going yeah and um so that’s um 400 is how many Rupees uh around 63,000 yeah yes just for the bike and I had to pay uh also 750 for the air ticket yeah okay fine

Understood and uh what would be the top speed of this bike the top speed uh this one I did on um an um island in the Atlantic and it was hilly and I did uh 92 kilm awesome 92 K yeah but it was downhill down and U uh on flat Terran

You can go 40 kilomet I can go 40 kilm uh the paralympic Champion it will go 5050 yeah but uh I can go 40 and uh that’s the top speed uh this I can do for a few minutes and uh the average speed is when I go on long distance rides it’s about

20 22es yeah but I think uh 40 uh is a very good speed and I think you need a small very strong muscles when you’re riding this kind of of a bike you know you’re using your hands your shoulders so and your arms so it puts a kind of a

Pressure on that yeah so you need to have a strong person yeah um yeah but um see I I do it since 20 years more than 20 years and uh the muscles uh change totally uh normally this muscles are not made for uh uh longer

Um cycling or whatever you do um and um so they are not uh that big the muscles uh but they have the endurance to do it for a long time and um so this is yeah uh the thing and most is done by your body here the from the breast muscles

From the back these muscles they they do this cycling and um yeah your body change changes totally if you do hand cycling for a long time okay understood yeah okay stens uh next we want to know uh are there any special training camps that you attended uh for this cyclon

Being conducted in India and uh do you do any kind of special exercises and how many hours do you train typically um for the last Pon I was on a training camp on uh an island in the Atlantic Ocean um where it was warm so um now in

Germany there’s winter time and um yeah I can’t go outside so I um uh have got a Tex training role and uh with this one um I can simulate like driving outside you know uh I’ve got an iPad uh in front of mine and uh I can choose any route uh

Where to go and um with this one I uh yeah say okay let’s do now 50 kilometers and um with uh some slopes and uh yeah uh and and very hard training today tomorrow might make less and uh this is my training in Winter times uh in summer

Times I just take my bike my clothes helmet and go on the road okay so you’re using uh technology to your advantage and plan your uh training schedule yes um normally uh you make uh special tests at the doctor uh and uh they take your blood because of lat and uh then they

See okay uh you uh they make a plan for you how to write and uh I’m out of this I’m uh I have so many experiences I know when I can uh do cycling um or I am too tired so that it’s uh un productive uh and you see I’ve got that

Garmin watch uh it tests my um my heartbeat and uh if the heartbeat is even in the night I’m not recovering uh then uh I know I have to start to stop for a day or two and then I can start again and um so I’ve got an heartbeat in

The night about 43 45 usually and it’s if it’s over 50 I know okay now it’s time to to stop training have some rest take it easy take it easy and then tomorrow or the day after tomorrow I can start training again and it’s so nice to

Understand that uh you know you using technology to plan your itenary your schedule and your training that that’s interesting yeah I’m I’m using the Garment uh things but you get it also from Yahoo hoop all these things um you know from the cycling hand cycling is

Just cycling and uh all the things the people can uh your your followers you use from cycling um there is also for the hand cyclists absolutely this Material so one last question Stephen before we leave uh how excited are you for this cycl I’m very excited uh even like last time I hope hope to survive on the indan roads and uh but I have no no fear because the team is working for me and

Uh I hope a lot of people will take part a lot of people will stand at the road and uh like last time clicking pictures yeah clapping their hands for us and um yeah and they should see that handicapp people are able to do a lot and uh they

Are not uh there to sit home absolutely they they can can be a part of the society they just need um the things they can work with absolutely good wheelchair Prosthetics hand cycle or tricycles and then they are a real part of the society sure so beef feel that uh your

Initiative and the cause that you’re working for will Empower many many people and they will also feel confident to you know come out of their uh homes and take get into some kind of a physical activity and become independent through the support of ratn nidi charitable trust suedi net and uh the

Cyclon that you’re going to take part in so we thank you stepen uh for your time and sharing your experience with us and we wish you all the best for your future ERS thank you so much I thank you that you give us a chance to uh tell a little

Bit about hand cycling and U yeah always always a thank You