Tatsächlich: Die Yuma Sun berichtet über meinen Besuch in Yuma.
Foto in Yuma vor der Zeitung Yuma Sun
Es stimmt auch nicht alles. So haben wir unserem Sohn den Namen Yuma gegeben, weil es ein schöner Name ist und nicht weil Yuma eine Partnerstadt von Frankfurt (Oder) ist. Aber egal. Trotzdem cool.
Link zum Artikel:
German cyclist traveling the world stops in Yuma – Yuma Sun: News
Text:
German cyclist traveling the world stops in Yuma
Posted: Sunday, January 17, 2016 5:09 pm | Updated: 9:52 am, Mon Jan 18, 2016.
By Rachel Twoguns, @RTwoguns
Cyclist follows his dreams
German cyclist Kjell Siebke stopped in Yuma on his world tour for his son, who is named Yuma. Siebke said his son’s name came from the fact that his hometown is close to Frankfurt (Oden), which is in partnership with the City of Yuma. Siebke is also raising money for a children’s hospital in Vietnam with his tour. Riding around the world is Kjell’s biggest dream and he hopes to teach his son that it is important to „follow your dreams.“
When German cyclist Kjell Siebke decided to embark on a journey across the world on his bike, he made sure to make plans to stop in Yuma for his son.
According to Siebke, his son is named Yuma because his hometown is close to Frankfurt (Oder) which is in partnership with the City of Yuma.
“At the moment I have been on the road for 11 months,” Siebke said after arriving in Yuma last week. Though Siebke’s son is only three years old, Siebke said he plans to tell Yuma of his travels here and throughout the world when he is older and can understand his story.
“It’s my biggest dream,” Siebke said. “Now is my chance to do this, while my son is young. If I don’t do it now I will never do it. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. ”
So far, Siebke said he had only done short tours, about six to eight weeks, and that this is his first long ride expected to stretch for 25,000 kilometers, or over 15,000 miles.
Not only is Siebke fulfilling his dream to ride around the world on his bike, he is also raising money for a children’s hospital in Vietnam. “With my tour, the people in Germany spend one cent for every kilometer I ride, at the moment I have ridden 16,500 kilometers, which is around 11,000 miles.”
More information on the fundraiser for the children’s hospital can be found online at http://kinderhilfe-vietnam.de/. Siebke’s travels can be tracked at www.kjellsiebke.de/dietour/. Both sites are in German but can be translated using tools on a web browser.
Siebke stayed in Yuma for about four days where he said he met friendly people and even had his bike repaired for free at Mr. B’s bicycle repair shop. “I had a problem with my bike, so I went to Mr. B’s and they said, ‘We will do the repairs for free for you.’”
“I believe in paying things forward,” said Angela Hatton, Marketing and Sales Consultant with Mr. B’s. “I totally believe in karma. I mean, this guy’s story is incredible. He rode up to Mr.B’s the other day and he was getting a quote from the mechanic and the price kept going up because he needed some serious work done on his bike.”
“I just wanted to help the guy,” Hatton added. Hatton offered to pay for Siebke’s bike to be repaired by their mechanic, Dan Hopkins, at the 4th Avenue location.
On top of that, Hatton and another mechanic, Mike Lucero, spent time with Siebke that evening, and treated him to food at a local restaurant. “Myself and Mike took him to Lutes Casino, and he loved it. Then we took him over to Red’s Bird Cage and we had some beers and shot some pool.”
Hatton said she had studied abroad in Germany and swapped stories with Siebke. “He has been riding across the world since this past March. He’s a very sweet man, and he said he had everything he wanted in life. He was a business owner and he has his son but he just needed some self-fulfillment to truly find happiness.”
Hatton also said that she found Siebke’s story to be moving. “I guess he’s always ridden bikes so it just made sense for him to do this, and I was just inspired by that and I wanted to help him out. We exchanged some information, and we are going to stay in touch.”
Siebke said that he enjoyed the hospitality from the employees with Mr. B’s. “I had a very good evening with the people from Mr. B’s. It was great.”
Along his journey, Kjell said that one of the biggest lessons he has learned is that the world is a very amiable place. “Before I started, I thought the world was friendly, but I didn’t know it, and now after I visited a lot of countries, I know the world is friendly.”
“There is a difference from what we see in the media and what the media tells us about different countries,” Siebke added. “When you visit a country, it’s sometimes very different.”
Not only did Siebke encounter generous hospitality in Yuma, he said that he was also helped in different parts of the world, such as getting his brakes fixed for free in Thailand. “Like Angela from Mr. B’s said, ‘Don’t pay, be our guest.’ You see that everywhere in the world.”
Siebke also said that he has received warm welcomes in different areas, such as in Cambodia. “It’s unbelievable. The children say hello to guests or foreigners. When you ride on the streets when the school day is over, you have 100 or 200 children on the street saying hello to you.”
It was also noted by Siebke that travelling to other places is important to see that friendliness. “In neighboring countries, maybe Bangladesh and India, normally they say ‘Oh no, our neighbors are not so good,’ but they are not so far from each other.”
After having traveled, Siebke said he found that many neighboring countries do have quite a bit in common. “But, you don’t see it because you don’t visit your neighbors.”
Though Siebke has encountered many pleasant people in his travels, his travels have not always been without incident. “In India, six men tried to rob me while I was camping. Other people saw that and came to help me and the police came. It’s a strange story; six men tried to rob me, and in half an hour everything was OK.”
Siebke said that he was saved by the kind people who helped in that situation, but that he is more careful to find safe places to stay on his journey, asking locals where it would be best to camp. On his way, Siebke has also stayed in temples and in peoples’ homes.
In Yuma, he stayed at a hotel for a couple of nights and he also camped along the Colorado River. ”It’s absolutely great and it’s a nice place to stay.” Siebke’s next goal is the east coast.
“I think one important thing in your life is to follow your dream,” Siebke said.“And how can I teach that to my son if I don’t do it?”
