Swiss cyclist promotes biking adventure in RP, vows to be back in July

CEBU, Philippines - Swiss cyclist Cristoph Schnelli promotes biking adventure in the Philippines through “Bike Adventure Tours”, which culminated the other day here in Cebu .

In partnership with the Department of Tourism, Schnelli had inspected the different areas of the country since September last year during the Philippine Travel Exchange and finally brought the first group of bikers for the two-week adventure, which started last April 4.

The tour has attracted European biking enthusiasts who are professionals. They didn’t only had fun in navigating through Bohol, Dumaguete, Siquijor and Cebu, but also extended charity to the less fortunate people in the remote areas that they have visited.

“We were not just ordinary tourists here but we would like to enter into your culture because for us, all the people are equal. In our tours, we had discovered a lot of people who needs help,” said Schnelli.

The 20 bikers had traveled a total of 520 kilometers for the entire tour, averaging 50 kilometers a day.

Schnelli’s interest in biking started when he was three years old through the three-wheeled bike. By the age of 11, he started traveling all over Switzerland through biking and then France and Greece when he was 14 and 15 years old, respectively.

Armed with a vast experience, he decided to establish the “Bike Adventure Tours”, which started in 1991 when he was just 25 years old.

The tour already took place in the different parts of Africa and Asia but Schnelli was mesmerized by the beauty that the Philippines possess. He even had a dream of making the country as his retirement haven.

“The Filipinos has this unique mentality. They are friendly and even little kids could speak English compared to other countries that we’ve visited. I could say that the Filipinos have the Western way of thinking, an Asian soul but have a Latin heart, that’s why I wanted to stay here on my retirement,” he said.

The next batch of bikers are due here in July as Schnelli wants the Bike Adventure Tours to take place once every two months. — Marigold. P. Lebumfacil