Sponsors

Before I started my trip it was not easy for my to find any sponsors.

My local sportswear dealer in Ekerö Toni, a really nice guy, told me that he certainly would like to sponsor me more but he has had a tough winter. Nowadays everybody buys things at bigger shops. Anyway he sponsored me with ten spokes and I promised him to mention it on my blog and even show his Logo here, so maybe he gets more customers:

When I asked in bigger shops the answer always was: "This is not our policy". (Read: No chance!). So soon I gave up.
Still I found one more sponsor before I started:
One of my friends recently opened a little restaurant called Svartsjö matsal. When I ate there he gave me a t-shirt and promised me a meal of free food when I come back!
I promised to mention that in my blog too...

The situation changed as soon as I came on the road. 
From my sister Veronika I got 30 EUR to pay my first night at a hotel in Russia. She meant that more people could follow her example. And actually I got paid for two more nights, one from my brother Johannes (who also paid a train ticket for me from Raleigh, NC to Miami FL) and one from a restaurant owner in Poland.
Actually I did not sleep in hotels so often because I thought I slept perfectly well in my tent (except when it was extremely cold or extremely wet....
But once or twice a week, especially when I rode through the USA, I contacted members of www.warmshowers.org to get a warm shower. Very often these kind people even offered a lot of wonderful food and I always was allowed to sleep inside their houses. I would like to thank them all!
I also would like to thank my three sisters I visited in Europe. You have also been very generous to me, in different ways.

Actually all over the world many, many people spontaneously sponsored me with food, bicycle parts and help in any kind of ways. Sometimes I even got some money. I estimate I have become invited for food more than 100 times!
To get all this support from people always made me very happy, much happier than if I had achieved equipment from a big company who has a lot of money.
To meet all these kind people was the best part of my trip. THANK YOU!

Finally I want to thank my main sponsors (see above) I really could need the spokes and the lunch I ate at Svartsjö Matsal today was delicious! My friend Staffan (the owner of the restaurant) told me that actually several bicyclers who used to eat there mentioned that they had read this blog and noticed that he was sponsoring me!

On June 2nd 1013 I took my bike and my t-shirt to Svartsjö Matsal
Even my local bicycle dealer Toni (SportXtra in Ekerö) rewarded me after I returned home. When I told him that I actually had gone around the world with his spokes, he even gave me quite expensive brake pads for free!

1 comment:

  1. We would like to be a sponsor! Our first idea is, to pay one night for you in a nice hotel in a city of your trip. Please tell us, when and where you want to accept this offer! V+W (Important: Our mail will next work on June, 10th, in the evening)

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