Servas by Bike, an annual event that brings together Servas members from various countries, is a summer tradition for enthusiastic  bikers of all ages loving biking as well as being keen to meet  Servas friends. 

From July 24 to 27 , Servas Germany was hosting us in the beautiful region of the Eifel National Park, offering a stunning landscape of volcanic craters, serene lakes, and green hills and valleys, near Cologne and the German-Belgian border. The Gemünd Vogelsang Youth Hostel, a nice and ideally located hostel, was our home for the coming days. 

Ambitious participants biked from nearby and not so nearby railway stations to Gemünd, a good preparations for the bike days to come.  

The first night, some icebreaker games were ideal to get to know all Servas members, coming from Germany, Italy, France, Austria & Belgium. 

Arne & Kassia, with the help of other Servas Germany members, put together cycle tours based on different biking distances. 

We opted for the 60 – 80 km per day bike tours, ambitious in the hilly Eifel area indeed, but our E-bikes helped to make it. Bernd was the guide taking us along the ‘Fahrradknotenpunkte’ to beautiful towns like Nettersheim, Hellenthal, Morsbach, … 
 
All tours on the first day included a visit to Ordensburg Vogelsang. Formerly an educational center for the NSDAP (the Nazi-party), it is now a site of reflection, a reminder of what war can bring and how much peace is needed in our world. The surrounding views around the Urfttalsperre added to this feeling of peace. 

The second night brought all groups together again to exchange bike-experiences of the day, some games led by Claudia and a musical moment with Thomas from France on harmonica and Martin from Germany on ukulele leading into the traditional singing session of Servas get-togethers. 

Our second day of biking brought us to ‘Greifvogelstation’ in Hellenthal after a hefty climb from the village. Our E-bikes came in handy, and the non-Ebikers in the group suffered quite a bit. The afternoon tour led us to Belgium and the Elsenborn area, again with some hard climbing in the forests, bringing us back into Germany to a well-deserved beer served at a camping site. 

The Servas by Bike event ended with a nice dinner at a Gemünd restaurant, offered by Servas Germany, and a nice Hefeweizen. 

In three days, we once again profoundly experienced what Servas is all about : meeting new people, learning about other cultures & habits, get opportunities to be near to nature, creating friendships, … . We are looking forward to participate in new events.