Sven Gade

born October 23rd 1957, lives in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

A former high-performance swimmer, Sven has developed enormous lung capacity, and keeps fit by running, swimming and bike-riding. He has competed in the Hamburg Triathlons several times very successfully, and continues to participate in triathlons in Florida. And because of the summer-like climate in Florida, he can train year-round. It is this dedication to training that allows Sven to still use his heavy, (>15 kg) 15 year old bike for our trips.

Thanks to his degree in Mathematics he provides us very detailed Excel-sheets containing important numbers and statistics about each section of our trip, such as kilometers ridden, altitudes climbed and average speed achieved (see history). And, thanks to his long standing, successful career with DHL and thus his great experience in logistics, Sven is highly skilled to handle our travel arrangements. This is not always an easy undertaking, because of our desire to start our next bicycle trip exactly where we ended the year before.

Frank Scharlau

born July 15th 1957, lives in Hamburg.

A former professional Ping-Pong player, Frank has very muscular legs. Due to his daily work-out in his home-gym he hardly can be beaten in the mountain stages.

His annual participation in the Hamburg Cyclassics (traditional bicycle race for everyone) demonstrates his affinity for self castigating by bicycle.

From a business perspective, Frank deals with printing and paper, so naturally it is his responsibility to provide the required maps and plan the routes accordingly. Frank also has the more legible hand-writing (Sven is left handed) and thus is responsible for the written reports.