Accomplishments in tourism

Our accomplishments in tourism are mostly the rallies organized by the team.

During each event the participants cycle on the route from one destination to another. Time results are not relevant as the aim is to follow the route and to find out more about local landscape, monuments or other culture goods as well as physical effort.

At the beginning we organized two or three day rallies for two or three tandems and the routes were planned on the area of Lubelskie Region.

The initiator of these events was Piotr Ziółek, who in the late 90-ties organized rallies for one and two tandems on the routes along Baltic Seaside, around lakes in Mazury or on the area of Eastern Borderland.

The first event organized at the larger scale, in which the team participated, was an international Eurotour Rally. The Rally was held by German handicapped cyclists under the leadership of Diter Rogala (EU Parliament member) on the route Dresden, Berlin, Słubice, Poznań, Warszawa, Vilinius, Riga, Talin. The Rally took place from 20th July until 8th August of 2000. Positive experiences in cooperation with German cyclists led to further cooperation and organization of Eurotour Rally 2001. In the rally we had 7 tandem teams form Lublin. The event started in Lublin on 23rd June. On the route Kielce- Częstochowa – Wrocław – Jelenia Góra in Poland, Weißwasser – Berlin – Münster, Lilienthal in Germany, Strasburg – Colmar in France and later on Insbruk in Austria, Lubliana in Slovenia, Zagreb in Croatia, Nowy Sad in Serbia where the finishing line was in Belgrad. During the rally participants were hosted by representatives of local authorities in cities situated on the rally’s route. In Strasburg we visited the European Parliament guided by Nicole Fridman, EP deputy president at the time.

In 2002 a numerous group of Polish tandem cyclists participated in another Eurotour organized from 25th July to 15 th August. The rally started with a formal visit of handicapped cyclists in the European Commission in Brussels and it was planned on the route from Breda and Arthem in Holland, Münster, Hamburg, Schwerin, Berlin, Pasewalk, Polsak in Germany and Szczecin, Kołobrzeg, Słupsk, Gdynia, Iława, Pułtusk, Biała Podlaska to Lublin in Poland.

In 2003 a year before the Olympic Games the the Eurotour Rally was organized on the route from Leipzig in Germany through Prague, Kraków, Budapest, Bukarest and Warna to Athens, where the next year the 25th Olympic Games were held. The group of 60 participants took part in many interesting events and meetings visiting at the same time numerous locations of cultural and tourism importance.

In 2004 the Eurotour Rally was held only for group of Polish cyclists on the route from Bydgoszcz to Rome through Kalisz, Opole, Ołomuniec, Vienna, Venice and Ravenna. Punktem kulminacyjnym rajdu była prywatna audiencja u Papieża Jana Pawła II w Castel Gandolfo w dniu 6 sierpnia 2004r.

In 2005 because of financial difficulties the rally was organized in Poland for 6 tandems of HETMAN team. The route was planned from Lublin through Szczebrzeszyn, Zamość, Krasnystaw, Kodeń, Hajnówka to Łomża.

In 2006 the tourism section of Tandem Cycling Team HETMAN organized a rally in Ukraine. The route began in Lviv, Kamieniec Podolski, Odessa, Krim and Kiev to Lublin.

In 2007 one again the rally began in Lviv but that time it was led through Romanian Suczawa, Nowy Soloniec and local towns, Konrad in Moldavia, the Bay of Black Sea, Kamieniec Podolski and Lublin.

In 2008 the tandem team organized a rally to Africa on the route planned in Tunisia to Djerba Island. The event took place in December and was a memorable journey with many positive experiences and exciting moments, though it lasted only 2 weeks.

In 2009 the tourism section of Tandem Cycling Team HETMAN organized a trip to Asian Sharm El Sheik by the Red Sea. From the main base in the resort we traveled to Cairo, Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

In 2013 there was one tourist event organized between 29 July and 10 August – Tandem Rally in Poland. The route of the Rally began in Lublin, than we went through Zawichost, Kielce, Częstochowa, Piotrków, Kalisz, Rawicz, Przemków, Bielawa near Zgorzelec, Bolków to finish up in Radków close to the Czech Republic’s border. This time we had a great weather and participants of the Rally, who travelled the route of about 1000 km, visited many historic places, took part in cultural events and met with friendly reception.