Background information
Elina asks Unicef: What do you do and how does "Cycling for children" work?
by Michael Restin
Greifensee instead of Super-G: Tina Weirather at "Cycling for children"
18.6.2019
Skiing ace Tina Weirather has her first assignment as a Unicef ambassador, nine-year-old Elina is taking part in "Cycling for children" for the first time. You can see what Elina asked and what moved Tina in the video above. The text takes you on a tour around Lake Greifensee that takes you halfway around the world - to which the "Digitec Galaxus Racing Team" has contributed a great deal.
"There's still a little way to go uphill," says Beatrice, as Elina imagines she's already at the end of the gentle incline. The nine-year-old takes a deep breath and reaches for a cup of orange juice, which is provided alongside apples, bananas and muesli bars for the participants of "Cycling for children" at the refreshment station.
Beatrice and her fellow campaigners in blue Unicef T-shirts wear the motto "Give it your all" on their chests and take it literally. They take care of everyone who needs fresh energy. They offer a smile and friendly words, with Lake Greifensee glistening in the background. The 20-kilometre route is idyllic and largely flat, making it the ideal location for an event like this. Cycle, collect donations and have a good time at the finish in Strandbad Uster. Completely informal.
The third world smiles
Everyone rides as much as they want and the misery of the world is not rubbed in the participants' faces. "More sweat. Less tears." is written on some of the Unicef blue boards lining the route. Or "You're kicking. Babies survive." When the third world shows its face, it is in the form of smiling children on posters. You can see the happiness that would be possible. The need that this campaign is intended to combat may be at the back of people's minds, but should not take centre stage.
A feel-good atmosphere prevails while people are collecting for the survival of children all over the world. Here the event, there the misery. Unicef has many facets. The United Nations Children's Fund is globally active to protect minors and enforce their rights. Elina found out exactly what this means during a visit to the Zurich office responsible for Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
A journey into the blue
"It's super cool so far," says Elina, who has emptied her cup and, freshly refreshed, has taken off her jumper with the race number. In the meantime, the sun has pushed through the clouds, it's just after 1 p.m. and the sweat is flowing. It took her a good five kilometres to realise that she wasn't cycling for children alone. Now whole groups regularly whizz past, the most ambitious have been out since eight o'clock in the morning, reeling off lap after lap.
Unicef has set the goal of cycling 40,000 kilometres together, symbolically around the world. Elina is not driven by sporting ambition, but by curiosity. She doesn't drive with tunnel vision, but is open to encounters along the way, where volunteers are always on hand to help. It's a ride into the blue, the Unicef colour is everywhere today.
Waving volunteers
Thanita is one of the volunteers. As a course marshal, she makes sure that everyone gets round the bend and heads towards the finish line at Strandbad Uster. Elina wants to know if it's not a bit monotonous. "Being a marshal is only part of the job," says Thanita. She had already helped the day before.
Setting up tables and benches, filling goodie bags. All the things needed to be prepared for several hundred participants. And she even cycled herself in the morning. She also helped with "Cycling for children" two years ago in Crans Montana. Why? "It's simply a good cause!" she says, waving the next group round the critical bend before wishing Elina lots of fun.
The last few kilometres are colourful, the route in the municipality of Greifensee is reminiscent of a mountain stage in the Tour de France. Not that it's steep. Four school classes have colourfully painted the cycle path. "Hopp, hopp, hopp!", "Happy Family" and a globe full of happy children merge into a colourful carpet that steals the show from the lakeshore for a few hundred metres. Soon after, the first announcements can be heard from the finish area, where bratwurst, bands and celebrities beckon. The good cause should feel good.
A "Sösläbä" for everyone
Elina takes off her helmet, puts her bike aside and strolls around the site. It could be fuller, many participants have already left. You can ride between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., the event is coming to an end. Instead, the wall is full of good wishes for children in Switzerland and the rest of the world, which have been collected throughout the day. "Friends", "lots and lots of love", "drink, eat" and "no war" - basically, the Swiss children wish the rest of the world a life like the one they are allowed to lead. A "Sösläbä" for everyone. Only with less homework.
Even half measures can make a big difference
Elina, whose T-shirt is adorned with a golden unicorn, particularly likes the wish "Unicorns for all children". She herself wrote "more medical help" on her note. This is more likely to happen than unicorns if "Cycling for children" raises a decent amount of money. As the track closes and musician Crimer contorts himself on stage, the tension mounts. What was the result, did they manage to cycle round the world? In the end, 84 children and 701 adults rode 20,767 kilometres together. The world was one size too big, but even half measures can achieve a lot. Around 312,000 francs ended up in the Unicef coffers thanks to sponsors and donations from participants.
And Elina? She enjoyed the event: "If it happens again next year, I'll be there!" At the end, she meets up with an old acquaintance: Jürg Keim, the head of the media office of Unicef Switzerland and Liechtenstein, who explained the Unicef world to her a few weeks ago. He is satisfied with the day, even if the round-the-world trip didn't materialise. The tension is released, everything went as planned and the impending thunderstorm spared the event. It doesn't move across the country until the evening and at the end of the day, with a thunderous roll, reminds us that life isn't all sunny sides.
"Was it everything you imagined?"
30 heads, 60 legs, one team
While Elina mainly collected impressions on her lap, the "Digitec Galaxus Racing Team" was well on its way and played a big part in turning the symbolic round-the-world trip into at least a virtual trip halfway around the world. Although it was pretty crowded at the photo wall before the start, nobody would have expected that there would even be an award for the most laps completed in the evening.
Source: Cycling for children/Thomas Enz
Michael Restin
Senior Editor
Michael.Restin@digitecgalaxus.chSimple writer and dad of two who likes to be on the move, wading through everyday family life. Juggling several balls, I'll occasionally drop one. It could be a ball, or a remark. Or both.
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