Tim Schroeder is back on Dutch soil after cycling 5,000 km in America

The 2024 Tour de Trans will be over 3,000 kilometers, slightly shorter than 2023. Tim Schroeder, a sporting youth but not a cyclist, recently cycled no less than 5,000 kilometers in America. He started in San Diego on the west coast and the final destination was Jacksonville in the east of the United States. (See diagram above).

Text and film interview by Charles Duijff

It was cycling with friend Richard alone and ‘split’ (attacking) so there was no big peloton and no spectators on the course. Tim Schroeder didn’t use a real racing bike to cover those 5,000 km. Attacking is never the intention. Friend Richard cycled with Tim in solidarity. And so it stayed ‘The brigade of two’! In solidarity with friend Tim, father of Elena, a 7-year-old girl with Usher syndrome. You have already been able to read a lot about it on the Nieuws.nl sites, because we followed Tim and Richard in America and reported several times about their special tour in the meantime.

target

Through their journey across the US, the men hoped to raise at least €50,000 for the Usher Syndrome Foundation, certainly aimed at research towards a cure for this terrible condition. This disease leads to hearing loss and later blindness. Usually at a young age. Unfortunately, the goal turned out to be financial (Still) did not reach The counter is still stuck at almost €30,000, but the check won’t be delivered to the charity until June, so we still have some time! You can still help! Below is a link to a website where you can donate! Every Euro counts… You can donate via the link Fight against deafness.

Travel to America

The departure date is March 6, 2024. As I already wrote, Tim is not a cyclist, but before you start such a cycling marathon, you obviously train for months beforehand. On April 9, 2022, Tim and his friend Richard cycled to Alicante, Spain, raising around €25,000 for the same cause. Richard then showed solidarity with Tim. The trip to Alicante (2,200 km) was short, but certainly not difficult! Tim told me that the flight from the Netherlands to Boston USA was relaxing. The plane wasn’t full, there was plenty of legroom and there was food on board. From Boston (see map opening photo) it was another 5 hour flight west to San Diego. That local flight was less convenient. A whole old and small basket without food on board…

No bicycle

Bikes didn’t arrive on time on the plane from Boston, so we couldn’t ride the first day. That day’s loss was used to garner some attention from local media in the San Diego region. This resulted in an article in a local newspaper. A donation of 500 euros was made by the San Diego Whale Watch. Contact was also made with a TV station in the region, and the next day, once the bicycles arrived, it became clear that the TV decision to focus on the Usher Syndrome Foundation would take some time. That would mean missing another day of cycling, so Tim and Richard decided not to wait for that televised result and quickly set off on their 5,000km tour. The bike ride was made possible by unpaid leave for both men, so the men couldn’t make use of the lost days. There was supposed to be a connection with a doctor from New Orleans about Usher syndrome, but that too turned out differently. Tim got in touch via Facebook. There will also be an encounter with a young woman in her 30s from Jacksonville who has Usher syndrome. That meeting was also fruitless. A bit of a disappointment at the start of the cycling adventure.

Half way through the bike ride….Richard had to leave.

From Houston, on day 21 of the bike trip, Richard left. Tim cycled from the west to the east of the US for a total of 37 days, so that was about halfway through the trip. Richard’s personal situation was a lot of bicycle problems, a lot of flat tires. Tim: ‘It was really hard on both of us mentally.’ Long stretches of road through desert-like dry plains, truck traffic and emergency lanes cause debris (and even more) tires in sparsely populated areas. Not the perfect environment for a long bike ride. Very depressing indeed. That probably convinced Richard to leave. Both of them cycled from 9 am to 4 pm every day. As possible with a pre-set (tight) route schedule. Sometimes the schedule needs to be creative due to unforeseen circumstances such as strong winds and/or lack of nearby sleeping facilities. Later cycling days sometimes became longer or shorter.

So Tim cycled alone from Houston. Simon, Elena’s mother’s brother, came to Houston and followed Tim in the car, able to help him if needed.

Body condition

According to Tim, it went better than the cycling trip to Alicante in 2022. The first day in America was very difficult as there was a lot of climbing. After that first day Tim was ‘absolutely devastated’. The track was mostly flat, except for a few tough climbs, so conditions went pretty well. Richard was in good shape anyway. Upon arriving in New Orleans, Tim was more than happy to rest for a few days. He told me that he visited New Orleans…a vibrant city.

Back to the Netherlands

Despite some setbacks and the fact that he hasn’t (yet) reached his goal for the Usher Syndrome Foundation, Tim is content with this American cycling adventure. He dreams of another cycling adventure on a distant continent.

One more time… You can still help achieve that goal. Browsing Fight against deafness.

Tim Schroeder’s interview is below