With his right hand, Frank Noe shifts up a gear, gets out of the saddle for a moment and now pedals harder – although beads of sweat have long been glistening on his forehead. The bike alone doesn’t get any faster, but continues to move at a constant pace. To be precise: at 0.5 kilometers per hour.
This speed – hardly faster than a sloth, which reaches 0.3 km/h – is achieved by the world’s largest mobile Ferris wheel in Munich’s Werksviertel, the “Umadum”. This morning, Frank Noe is sitting in one of his 27 gondolas, pedaling on a fitness bike that is mounted in the cabin. And the 45-year-old from Sauerlach is not alone: According to him, more than 800 people will climb the Ferris wheel today and pedal on fitness bikes during their half-hour ride. The occasion is the “Riesenradln” campaign, which organizer Frank Noe has registered as a world record with the “Rekord Institute Austria”, which has the motto: “Munich gets on the bike, on the bike, for the bike”. The Sauerlacher came up with this slogan, which is emblazoned on posters and T-shirts everywhere, for the campaign, which is not his first “crazy idea,” as he calls it. But more on that later.
First in the very first gondola that is making its rounds today. Frank Noe sits on one of two fitness bikes, while Dominik Krause (Greens) sits on the other. Munich’s second mayor is the patron of the campaign and takes off his shirt after just a few minutes. “I already have 1.7 kilometers. And you?” the 33-year-old asks Noe, who replies in amazement: “I only have 1.3. You’re pulling away from me!”
Now the kilometers driven in the gondola are irrelevant to the speed of the Ferris wheel. And yet Noe, Krause and the other participants strive to get as big a return as possible. Because: For every kilometer driven, a sponsor donates one euro to “World Bicycle Relief”. This international aid organization produces particularly robust cargo bikes, the so-called Buffalo Bikes, for people in developing regions, especially in Africa. In this way, the local population is intended to be helped to achieve greater mobility and thereby reduce poverty.
Frank Noe, a self-described “bicycle enthusiast,” has collected money for World Bicycle Relief in previous campaigns. For example, the “Bicycle to the Home Office” campaign, which he launched during the pandemic. Or in February 2023, when he rode in a hot air balloon from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Italy and pedaled on a fitness bike in the basket. Back then, too, Noe spoke of a world record, for which he came up with the slogan: “the highest, fastest and coldest crossing of the Alps by bicycle.”
Just a few weeks after the balloon ride, he came up with the idea of cycling on the Ferris wheel, says Noe in the gondola, slightly out of breath because he was trying to catch up with Dominik Krause – currently it’s 8.6 versus 9.3 kilometers. He was sitting on the S-Bahn with an acquaintance, arriving at Ostbahnhof, and she asked: “What action are you planning next after your balloon ride?” At that moment, says the father of the family, his eyes fell on the “Umadum” – and the idea for “Riesenradln” was born.
The aim is to produce 300 cargo bikes for Africa
The question remains as to why, which Frank Noe – still kicking, still panting – answers in three parts. Firstly, he is concerned with donations for “World Bicycle Relief”. For today’s campaign he has set a goal of 45,000 euros, enough for 300 “Buffalo Bikes”. Secondly, says Noe, he wants to encourage other people and “show that you can implement crazy ideas if you stick with it.” And last but not least, thirdly: “If you see that it is possible to cycle in such an extraordinary place, then hopefully it will encourage you to cycle more often in everyday life and to do something good for the environment and your own health .”
For most of the 800 or so people pedaling on the Ferris wheel today, it’s about something else. “For the fun!” says Markus Sygulla from Garching, “and I’ve never ridden the Ferris wheel before. That’s where it made sense.” The 55-year-old was one of the first participants to complete the journey and is now back in front of the “Umadum” – sweaty but happy. “The view was great,” he says. “It was really fun.” At the end, twelve kilometers were shown on the display of his fitness bike – the same result that Mayor Dominik Krause had achieved shortly before.
Meanwhile, Frank Noe has to make do with two kilometers less, but that can’t dampen his mood. “I’m extremely happy that everything is working so well,” says the 45-year-old. What crazy action is he planning now? “Nothing is concrete yet, but I have a lot of ideas,” says Frank Noe. And after a short pause he adds with a grin: “For example, there are even people who cycle underwater.”