Anna's Blog

Xterra Global Tour - Czech Rep.

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:58:00 +0200

2nd Race, 2nd Place.....

Xterra Global Tour in Wales

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:43:00 +0200

First Xterra Race for the season....

Time to Race.....

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 09:23:00 +0200

Now that our events are behind us we can concentrate on our other job....racing.

The Worldclass Marathon Challenge attracted 2000 competitors to Offenburg to take part in the 5th Edition of the Event. It´s hard to believe that we have been running the Event for 5 years. We had amazing luck again with the weather. It was a very busy weekend, obviously when you have 2000 mountain bikers to cater for. For the World Cup the most work is done in the months before and the week leading up to the Event is extremely busy. However on race day you can enjoy the racing and great atmosphere. The marathon is also very involved, a great deal of preparation work and a huge stress on pre and race day. Each year you have to deal with new situations that arise and quick decisions have to be made to make sure things run smoothly.

Event Manager gets amongst it
Jörg decided to race the marathon this year and finished in a respectable 4th place. With all the organisation stress in the lead up he managed to put in a great effort against a very strong international field. It was interesting for him to see the race from another perspective and he picked up on a lot of points that you would never see running the event.

Huge crowds
The spectators were amazing, cheering on each and every competitor. It was a great weekend for all with a live band on Saturday evening, a big screen showing results and mountain bike films and a city festival with live banks all weekend.

Dates set for 2009
This week we received the news that the NISSAN UCI Mountain Bike World Cup will return to Offenburg in 2009 for the 3rd year running. On the 25th and 26th of April 2009 the world´s best mountain bikers will make a stop over in Offenburg. We are one of 8 World Cups worldwide. It is an honor to receive the World Cup again, proving that the Event is one of the best in the world.

The Worldclass Marathon Challenge is set for the 16th and 17th of May 2009. This will be our 6th year in running mountain bike Events. We are planning more Events in 2009 with an Xterra (cross Triathlon) and a Triathlon on our agenda. As soon as we have more details you´ll hear about it!

Scheiderbauer Young Guns
Another project that we are currently developing is a team for young enthusiastic kids. It is amazing how many young children are starting to ride mountain bikes. We are planning training for young children, to give them a chance to learn skills and have fun in the Forest. After all they are the future top stars!

Ready to race....
Next week we fly to Wales for our first Xterra European Tour race for 2008. A week later is the next European Tour in Czech Republic. The tour then moves on to France before a 5 week break. We are both very excited after a long training period.

Stay tuned for the racing updates....

20.000 spectators in Offenburg

Thu, 01 May 2008 17:39:00 +0200

Where the world comes to ride mountain bike!
What a weekend! The weather really made the world cup event one to remember. Finally after 3 years of bad weather, the sun was shinning. A pleasant 25°C brought the crowds out in thousands. After months of hard work putting the event together we enjoyed the atmosphere and a great weekends racing. It is amazing how many helper we had, willing to help out where needed. In total we had 110 marshals on the course, 50 volunteers in the start/finish area and main a crew of 22 coordinating the various jobs. Our main jobs over the weekend are to make sure everything runs smoothly. 20 commissars are appointed to help run the races. They make sure the rules are followed, allowing a smooth run. It´s crazy how many people are involved in running such an event. We are very proud to organise such a huge sporting event. To think that visitors from all over the world come to a small wine town like Rammersweier with a population of 2000 people for the world cup, quite amazing really. Offenburg/Rammersweier has been put on the world map you could say.

The Juniors racing on Saturday was very interesting. They are the future of the sport and had an amazing crowd cheering them on.

On Sunday 17.000 spectators made there way into the Rammersweier forest to experience the best mountain bikers in the world live. It was an amazing atmosphere, with thousands of people lining the 5,1 km course. I managed to take a look myself during the men's race. Usually I need to stay in the start/finish area in case something pops up. My phone only rang once in 2 hrs which is very unusual. It was great to get out there amongst the crowd and see just how fast the pro men are.

2009?
Compared to last year the organisation ran extremely well. Being the first year in 2007 we had a lot of unexpected last minute organisation chores that we had to deal with. Our crew of 22 do such a great job and have now being running the cross country event for 5 years. I must say this year we were extremely professional and we improve over the years. We already have new ideas for 2009 how we can bring the sport of mountain biking on another level. We have a very good chance to host the world cup in 2009.

TV
It is possible that the coverage from the world cup will soon be on TV all around the world. Please check your programs to see if it is listed.

4 weeks until the marathon
Now we can concentrate on organising our marathon event. It is on the 1st of June. We expect over 2000 competitors.

Training
This year I could train up until the world cup which is great. I´m really looking forward to my first xterra in June. Jörg has taken a 2 week break from training and is slowly getting back into it. The Ironman did take it out of him, he is only noticing it now that the stress from the world cup is over. He is motivated to race a few xterra races and another Ironman.

Sunny greetings from Offenburg

You are an Ironman

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:33:00 +0200

What an amazing experience! I can now call Jörg an Ironman. His first ever Ironman was a great success. On Sunday the 13th of April Jörg lined up against 1600 other crazy triathletes on Nelson Mandela Bay in Port Elisabeth. The atmosphere was overwhelming with local African dancers and drummers making a real show. Thousands of spectators lined the beach to cheer on their family and friends. Many exchanged last good luck kisses and with the blast of a cannon the competitors set off on the 3,8 km swim. After 24 minutes the first athlete came out of the water, ran up the beach and further along the beach to enter the second 1,8 km lap. It was difficult to spot Jörg with all in wetsuits and swimming caps. I waited anxciously at the transition zone ready to take a few photos. After 56 minutes Jörg entered the transition zone and headed towards his bike. He found it very quickly amongst the other 1600 bikes. I yelled and screamed with excitement as Jörg had achieved his first goal, under 1hr swim. He came out of the water in position 53.

From position 53 to 12
Jörg made the most of his favourite and best discipline riding into 12th position overall. He was amongst all the pros and first in his age category. After 4 hrs 42 minutes riding time he entered his 2nd transition. This was to be the biggest test for the day - a 42,25 km marathon. Jörg had never run a marathon in his life let alone after a 3,8 km swim and 180 km bike ride, so we both didn´t really know what to expect.

It´s hard
Each time I saw Jörg on the marathon course he said "it´s hard". What did he expect? His first 14 km lap looked promising, if only he could hold that tempo. Unfortunately after the 2nd lap he had lost 10 minutes on the previous one. Here I though oh, it doesn´t look to good now. He was still in first position in his category and top 16 overall. Unfortunately the muscles needed a short break just 4 km before the finish line and Jörg was forced to walk a km or so. Here he lost the lead and slipped back into 3rd place. I cheered him on over the last km. It was an amazing feeling to see him stumble over the finish line. I was so proud, after all that hard training he had achieved his goal.

Early flight, no go for Hawaii
Due to an early flight on Monday Jörg missed the awards ceremony and therefore his ticket to Hawaii. With his 3rd place he had qualified for the World Championships in Hawaii in his age category. Unfortunately if you are not at the awards ceremony to claim your spot it is given to the next best placed athlete. A real shame as that is his ultimate goal. With our World Cup Event only a week away we booked the flights straight out of Sth Africa, not knowing that the awards ceremony was on the next day. So now Jörg will have to enter another Ironman to see if he can qualify.

Corporate race
Whilst in South Africa I entered a corporate race on Saturday. It was only 10% of the distance Jörg did, with 380 m swim, 18 km ride, and a 4,2 km run. I had great fun, especially on Jörg´s race machine. I finished 8th overall and first female. However after watching Jörg do the Ironman I´m keen to enter one too.

White Easter

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:31:00 +0100

Okay so I spoke too soon! We had a late winter spell over the Easter Weekend. The temp dropped below 0°C overnight and we had a few days where it snowed on and off. I got caught out training in a snow storm. I had 4 hours on the plan, the first two hours were in drizzly rain, then it snowed heavily for 30 minutes. My hands were absolutely frozen. The temp did not reach 3°C during my ride. I was happy to return home to a hot shower. It really took it out of me, not being used to such cold weather. My hands and wrists were swollen for a day or so.

Ironman South Africa
Jörgs preparations for the Ironman in Sth Africa are going to plan. He has been able to follow the training plan despite the workload we have with organising the World Cup which is in 4 weeks time. It´s going to be very exciting to be there live to watch and cheer Jörg on in his Ironman premiere. Only 2 weeks to go!

Hope you all had a great Easter break!

Time flys

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 16:29:00 +0100

I just cannot believe how the time is flying by at the moment. The winter is behind us however you could not really call it winter. We had some very mild days, reaching 20 °C in February. Great for our training and for the World Cup course preparations. Our core group of helpers are currently preparing the World Cup course so that the first athletes can get a few practice rounds in. With only 6 weeks remaining we are happy with the situation. Our first full-time employee began in our business "scheiderbauer.com sports" last week. We also have a student gaining experience in our company over the next 3 months. It´s great having that extra man power. Last year Jörg and I sacrificed our training, however now we can train through this hard period leading up to our events.

Ironman Debut
That´s right, Jörg has made a quick transition with his goal being Ironman Triathlon. With all the Hawaiian Ironman qualifying races being sold out the only race with available start slots is in South Africa on the 13th of April. So we are off to Port Elisabeth on the 9th of April, where Jörg will race his first ever Ironman Triathlon. For those that are not familiar with Ironman racing, it involves swimming 3,8 km, a quick transition into the riding shoes, 180 km time trial, and then a stroll in the park - a marathon with 42,5 km. Jörg has been training very hard, with the help of Simon Knowles an Aussie x-elite Triathlete. Simon has been coaching us since Jan this year. Jörg´s goal is to finish under 9 hours.

Xterra racing
My first Xterra will have to wait until mid June. There is a world cup in Sth Africa a week after the Ironman. Unfortunately I will not be able to stay on as our mountain bike World Cup is just one week later. There will be plenty to do back here in Offenburg. My Xterra season will kick off in Wales on the 21st of June. I cannot wait to see how my swimming and running has improved.

Warm greetings

Plans for 2008!

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:43:00 +0100

Winter in Germany
Returning from the Australian Summer to Germany´s Winter was quite easy this time round. We were very lucky with the weather, returning to a mild January. The short days were pretty hard to get used to, it is light at 8 a.m. and dark again at 5 p.m. The last two weeks have been extremely busy, returning after 5 weeks out of the office.

Hard training
With our new training program from coach Simon we are exploring new territory. The training is quite intense and very challenging with all other commitments that we have at the moment. Luckily the weather has been very kind considering we are in the middle of winter!

Events
The Event planning and organisation is running smoothly. This year we will be celebrating the 5th anniversary of the Worldclass Marathon Challenge. We are expecting over 2500 competitors on the 1st of June. We will also be organising the NISSAN UCI World Cup for the 2nd year running. The cross country World Elite will battle it out on Germany´s most spectacular course on the 26th and 27th of April. The journey to the Olympics for many athletes will take a stop-over in Offenburg, this event being one of the qualifying races.

Team
We have two new athletes joining the Team GHOST International. Lisi Osl from Austria (2nd at the 2007 World Championships U23) and Rosara Joesph from New Zealand (5th at the 2007 World Championships). Anna Enocsson has retired and Sabine Spitz will start up her own Team in 2008. It´s going to be a good year, with Lisi and Rosara Olympic candidates. Jörg will pursue his goal of qualifying for the Hawaiian Ironman and I will continue racing Xterra.

Racing
Once we have our events behind us we will be able to concentrate on racing. Our first preparation race will be in May, with the first European Tour in June. Jörg´s qualifying Ironman race is in Nice (France) in June. We are both looking forward to seeing improvements in our swimming and running. Look out!

Happy training!

Returning to the cold

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 09:30:00 +0100

Another 2 days of 40 degrees
We had to tough out two more days of extreme heat with 40 degrees here in Melbourne. The weather has been fantastic, however when the temp rises over 35 degrees it makes it hard to train let alone do anything else. The training has been great.

Lorne Mountain to Surf and Pier to Pub
Last weekend Joerg and myself raced a cross country run along with an open water swim down the coast of Victoria. The mountain to surf run with 8 km had 2000 competitors. I wasn't planning on racing as I had been sick with a cold for a week, however upon arriving I just couldn't help myself. Joerg finished 2nd in his category and I finished 3rd. It was a hard run with 2 really long climbs. The following day was the Famous Pier to Pub, the biggest Open water swim in the world, with over 4000 competitors. The starts went off in waves with around 300 swimmers in each one. Joerg finished 12th in his category and I finished 23rd. All in all we had fun taking part in this huge event.

Refreshed and ready for what lies ahead
After 5 weeks here in Australia we have recharged the batteries and are ready to get back into it all when we return to Germany. We have managed to train a lot and have received tips from a top Aussie Triathlon coach, Simon Knowles who will guide us in 2008 towards our goals. Training gives us time to create new ideas, so be sure to visit our events to see it all come together!

CU in Germany, or back in Oz next time......

Down Under

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 22:46:00 +0100

Well we have been in Australia for 3 weeks now and it's been fantastic. Getting away from the European winter and being able to train here in Australia is a real bonus. It has been great catching up with my big family.

Perth stopover
We spent the first week in Perth which is on the other side of the country to where I grew up. We managed to kick off the jet-lag in no time and the weather was not too hot which also helped in adjusting. Finally we could train in some decent weather and without any other commitments. A great feeling. We swam a lot in the sea, and ran a lot on the beach.

Back in Melbourne
It was great seeing my family again after a year. All the kids from my sisters and brother have grown so much. We had a great Christmas and a very quiet New Years. Actually I didn't make it to greet the new year having a bit of a summer cold that I'm trying to fight off. Back on track now after a few rest days.

41 degrees
To end the year here in Melbourne it was a record 41 degrees. The low for the night was 28 degrees, although I would not call it low, and the mecury climbed up to again on the 1st of Jan to 41! Just crazy. Joerg is loving the heat however finding it tough to train in such conditions. If he wants to do the Ironman in Hawaii then he'll have to get used to this.

Enjoying the last week
We have really had a great break from it all and have recharged the batteries and will be ready to get back into all our projects once we return to Germany. We have had some great training sessions in the pool, the goal being to improve our swim for 2008. It's going to be a climate shock when we return, usually taking a week to adjust to the cold. The next few days are going to be hot again so we are off to the beach. Joerg will race the famous pier to pub in Lorne. Wish him luck!

Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year celebrations.

All the best in 2008!

Home Trip

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 14:26:00 +0100

Its time for a break
Now that we have had a break from training it´s time for a work break. This last month has been very busy with getting things organised for next year. It´s time for a change in scenery, some warm weather and some quality training.

We have kept active over the last month, exercising once a day for one hour. Our days were extremely full with sponsorship appointments and general everyday office work along with managing our bike shop. We even took part in a swimming technique training course in Switzerland called Total Immersion. It helped us a great deal and we are both noticing the difference.

Stopover in Perth
We will spend the first week in Perth before flying to my family in Melbourne. We will start our training plan once in Perth. Our focus for next year will be Xterra. The first European Tour race is in June so we have a lot of time. Actually it works well for us as we have our events, the UCI World Cup on the 26th and 27th of April and the Marathon on the 1st of June. Once these are behind us we can fully concentrate on the racing.

Ironman
Along with racing Xterra Jörg will try his luck in Ironman Triathlon. Goal is a start in Hawaii in 2009. I think this could suit him as he is a very extreme athlete.

Time to pack now, I´ll report from Down Under.......

Back in Germany

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 09:44:00 +0100

Now we have another long trip behind us. Actually settling in here is much easier than in Hawaii. Probably due to the fact that we are sleeping in our own beds, we can put the shutters completly down for total darkness and it´s very quiet here.

Training break
We will now take a break from training, however will keep active with various other sports like squash, hiking, tennis, soccer and climbing. Looking forward to the challenge, that is, lining up against Jörg in each sport. Lots of fun!

Home visit
We will start back with training in December with our first training camp in Australia. Here we will work on our swimming and running. It´s going to be fun. Of course I am looking forward to seeing my family again.

Volcano Ride

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 17:21:00 +0100

Today we rode to the top of the famous Haleakala Volcano here on Maui. We started at 1000 m and rode up to the summit at 3055 m. It was the longest climb we have ever done with 35 km of climbing. A breath-taking view! Oh yeah it was the longest downhill too!

Mixed Emotions

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 07:53:00 +0100

Well the race is over. I finished 11th, just 30 seconds from 10th place. Actually pretty disappointed. I would have liked to finish top 10. I guess expecting more is a little unrealistic , seeing we have only been in the sport for 4 months. And a World Championship is a World Championship! There were many top American Xterra athletes on the start that never race in Europe.

Learning experience

We have learnt a lot from this Maui experience. Arriving only 5 days before the race was a little too short. After two nights of great sleep we just could not get into a rhythm, waking up very early and not really feeling 100% there. Actually today is the first day that I feel ready to go. Now we have also seen the course and can train accordingly for a better preparation in 2008.

Mountain biking on Maui

Actually the course did not suit us that well. The mountain bike course was not really my kind of mountain biking, not much fun to ride put it that way. Lots of open fire-roads and not enough technical climbing or descending (not one single track!). The downhills were full of rocks, no one line, just hang on and hope for the best.

Battle in the water

With over 350 starters the swim start was pretty crazy. The water was not nice and flat as we had hoped, instead very unsettled with a small swell. My swim was not that special, 6 minutes down on the first pro women. However in Triathlon the race is not over after the swim. For some reason it was not possible to go faster. Actually that was the story of my day. I cannot explain it myself. Jörg swam surprisingly well, considering he has not been in the water for over one month now after injuring his shoulder.

2nd Leg

I know I suck on the bike when I cannot hold a wheel in the downhill. I just could not get going after the swim and did not ride to my potential. The legs were feeling okay however the racing feeling was lacking.

Jörg started out strong on the bike, however after loosing all the places he had gained in the downhill his moral was broken.

Run to the finish

The run was also tough, at this stage it was also very hot. We had to run along the beach for a few kms in soft sand which was hard after 3 hours of racing in the legs. I was relieved to finally reach the finish line, after such an extreme race. I passed Jörg early on in the race, he had problems with his hip and had to walk a lot. He was very stubborn and wanted to make it to the finish. Hopefully he didn´t do too much damage by pushing on.

Overall it was an interesting experience competing in an Xterra World Championships. We have seen a few good things and have some new ideas that we can take home with us in terms of organising our events. And as athletes we are keen to give Xterra a real go in 2008!

Race feeling

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 20:57:00 +0200

We are starting to get that race feeling after picking up our start numbers and riding a section of the course. The registration is in a 5 star beach front hotel, just 5 minutes drive from our apartment. An amazing setup, palm trees and tropical gardens with a crystal clear beach, this race location tops them all! We checked out the swim course and transition area today.

Delayed Jetlag

After two great nights of catching up on sleep, the last two we have felt the jetlag kick in. Waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to get back to sleep. It´s often like that, when you sleep really well the first few nights and just when you think you have the sleeping rhythm, it hits you. Not to worry we have still managed to get enough zzzz´s.

One more day.....

We are both pretty relaxed at the moment, I think the nerves will kick in tomorrow on the start line. Very much looking forward to this extreme race. We have now heard and seen a lot about the course. Apparently if you come through without a flat or a crash your lucky. Very excited!

Tune in live

You can watch the race live under the following link.

http://www.xterraplanet.com/worldchampionship/live.html

The race is at 9 am Hawaiian time, that is 8 pm on Sunday evening in Germany and 6 am Monday morning in Melbourne, Australia. Have fun, I´m sure we will.

Maui, Hawaii

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 07:57:00 +0200

Aloha Friends,

Greetings from Maui Hawaii. What a huge trip. And I thought flying to Australia was an epic. We made a stopover in San Francisco to break up the trip. Frankfurt – San Fran was 11 hours and the time just did not pass. I could not sleep, there was no TV screen in front of us to kill time and the food was very minimal. On arrival we had to pick up all our luggage before catching a shuttle bus to the airport Hotel. At this stage we had been awake for 22 hours. We ate dinner, actually for us a midnight snack and then fell onto our bed like a sack of potatoes. I awoke 7 hours later, at 3 am San Fran time and Jörg 2 hours later. It was a long night not being able to sleep. Our next flight to Maui was at 9 am. With travel stress I find it hard to eat enough and when I have the chance to eat something like at the hotel for breakfast I just cannot get much in. And then I get that starving feeling just when there is no food, like on the next flight to Maui. Had to tough it out until we arrived, after picking up the rental car and shopping we finally enjoyed a home cooked meal. I think we hit a shopping record, over 300 US. Did I mention that we were bloody hungry!

Jet lag

Day one and we had to fight the jet lag. We managed to hold out until 8 pm and then we crashed. Again we had been awake for 20 hours! We went for a light ride to get the legs moving again. Very warm here, a bit of a climate change compared to cold Germany. It reminds us a lot of Australia. The condo is great, has all we need and a great view!

Catching up on sleep and settling in

Managed to sleep 10 hours last night. Not a bad effort seeing the time difference is 12 hours. That is a complete change around. So far so good. This morning we went for a swim. The water is amazingly warm and extremly clear. I have never experienced anything like it. We even saw a few colourful fish and a turtle. A beautiful feeling swimming in such water. After lunch I felt the jet lag set in. Actually we have come from being extremly busy in Germany to having not much else to do but train, sleep and eat. Quite a nice feeling, however we have to be careful we don´t fall in a hole. We went for a jog this afternoon. Starting to feel good. Tomorrow we have have a bike ride and another run on the training plan. Not long to go now.......

Cross Duathlon

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:32:00 +0200

Race practice

After a week of reduced training we raced a Cross-Duathlon yesterday to test the form. I had a fantastic race, the legs were well recovered and fresh after taking it easy this week. It was a pretty low-key race, however great to use as a test to see how we are responding to the training. Unfortunately Jörgs bad luck continued and he pulled a muscle in the first 100 meters and ran with pain for the first 5 km before stopping. His shoulder is on the improve, however he is still not able to swim. We now have two weeks until Hawaii so we are still hoping he can race.

My brother Luke is here for a visit and raced as well. He is very talented and finished 3^rd in his age group. The organisers could not believe that a competitor from Down Under was at their race! Seeing Luke has not trained at all it was a great effort. He is keen for the next race.

We now have one week of intense training before flying to Hawaii. Bring it on!

Training for Hawaii

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 09:48:00 +0200

Training break
After the last race I took a weeks break from training. We organised a mountain bike technique training weekend and had 14 participants. It was great to see the improvement after a few balance skills and tips. Our weekends are very popular and cater for beginners and also advanced mountain bikers.

Back into it
We are currently in the last week of a 3 week training block. It´s all going to plan, feeling very strong and fit for the Worlds. Unfortunately Jörg has had a bit of a set-back, crashing on the weekend and has injured his shoulder. He is getting special treatment from a very good physio so we are hoping he will be good for Hawaii. He cannot swim for the next 2 weeks so he will keep up his fitness through riding and running. He is actually out now for his first ride since the crash, so I´m hoping all goes well.

Plans
Next week I have a reduced training week with a cross-duathlon on the weekend. Then we have one week of intense training before flying to Hawaii. Very excited about the race and also about visiting Hawaii. Unfortunately we will arrive after the Ironman, would have liked to have seen that. I´ll keep you posted once we get there!

Exhibition
We also have many other work committments at the moment. The Autumn Exhibition is on at the moment in Offenburg. Here we have a stand, displaying GHOST bikes and all products that we sell in our shop. Jörg has been there everyday and we have a great group of friends that help out when they can. There is also plenty to do for the events, the World Cup is on the 26-27th of April 2008 and the Marathon on the 1st of June 2008. Once we are back from Hawaii it will be non-stop with sponsoring appointments and organisation committments. A trip to Oz is also on the agenda!

Welcome to our new website scheiderbauer.com!

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:05:00 +0200

We decided to add a Blog in English for my family and friends that have had to put up with lots of german newsletters over the years. So now you can all not only look at the pictures, however read about our races and all other projects that we are currently working on. And of course all other readers are welcome, whether you are german, austrian or french. Actually it´s a good chance for me to touch up on my english!

Just a quick update on the year 2007 so far.

January
– returned from holiday in Australia. A climate schock, leaving a hot Melbourne with 34°C, arriving to a cold Germany with 5°C.
Started training, goal Cross Country circuit
Organisation stress began with the World Cup and Marathon Events 4 months away!

Febuary and March
Same old same old, training and every other spare minute organisation committments for the World Cup and Marathon, along with the Team GHOST Interational.
Opened up a World Cup Fan Shop and Team GHOST International Centre. Bascially a shop where we sell all products used by the Team and World Cup Merchandising.

April
First cross country race since 2004! Very hard going, I´d forgotten how hard cross country racing was. It paid its toll, ended up in bed for 2 weeks with a nasty flu.

May
Worldclass Marathon Challenge was a huge success with 2000 competitors.
A week later the World Cup, megga stress, however also extremely successful. A great experence to run a World Cup. Running two events in two weeks was not such a great idea, extremely tired, time for a break.

June
Started training again. A new goal – Xterra or cross triathlon as it is also known. Funny feeling training again for Triathlons again. A new motivation.

July
First Xterra race. First Place! Great fun, hungry for more success. Jörg placed 4th which was also great, seeing it was his first ever triathlon.

August
Second Xterra race, the German National Championships. Again a win! Cool, loving the success. A week later my first European Xterra Tour race against the top women in the sport. Made the tripple! 3 races, 3 wins, could not believe it! Qualified for the World Champs in Hawaii at the end of October. Jörg had a bit of bad luck at the german championships and was disqualified after releasing the helmet strap too early in the transition zone. Very frustrating as he had a lead of 4 minutes going into the last leg. In Austria he finised 7th which was a great result as the competition was very strong.

September
European Tour race in Titisee (Black Forest). Unfortunately my winning streak ended here with a 4th place. Came in to the second transition in 2nd place, however unfortunately could not hold the pace. Time for a short break and then training for Hawaii!

Stay turned for more updates!

European Tour - Austria

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 13:26:00 +0200

The big test
And now the first big test, a race against the top cracks in Europe. Went into the race without great expectations and my usual attitude before a race "anything is possible". Travelled to the race on Thursday, a long trip, approx. 10 hours in the car. On Friday we took a look at the Bike course. Apparently it´s a course for real mountain bikers, so look out! The weather was perfect for a triathlon. Start was at 1 p.m, another thing I like about this sport! Women and men start together, a bit crazy until the first bouy with elbows flying around and people swimming over eachother. Trying not to panic I found a group to swim with that suited my pace. Came out of the water with one of the top favourites. Not knowing the strenghts of my compeititors I keep to my race plan.

Happy to be on the bike
I´m always glad when the swim is over and I can rip it up on the mountain bike. Jörg´s dad, Arno, gave me my position on the first climb. 5th place and 4,5 minutes down on the leader. What did he say? 4,5 minutes, oh did I swim that bad or is the first women a really good swimmer? I kept riding my pace, managed to pass 2 women on the first climb. So now I was in 3rd place. I knew the 2 women in front were top in the sport of Xterra. Going into the 2nd lap on the mtb course (2 x 14 km), I thought to myself 3rd place is also okay. This thought did not last long, as I saw the 1st and 2nd placed women infront of me. Wow, what a feeling. They looked tired, so I took the opportunity to pass, a very good tactical move I must say. Being first in a single trail gives you control and a boost mentally.

Keep the motor running
I continued on riding my pace, not looking back once to see where the girls were. As I came into the 2nd transition the moderators could not believe it, I had made up the 4,5 minutes and put an extra 2,5 minutes into 2nd place. I quickly changed my shoes and ran like a hunted down rabbit. I knew I had to give everything to hold my lead. These girls can run, so I needed to give my best performance. Jörg overtook me going onto this 2nd lap (2 x 5 km) and I said to him "Shit, I am winning!". I could not believe it myself. Now that´s a new feeling for me, being in the lead and having to hold it. I wanted to win so bad and being in the position to do so, I was not ready to give up. I even feel over, loosing my ground in my delirious state. 2 km before the finish line Jörg appeared on the sidelines and yelled like crazy. I thought oh no, someone is coming up behind me. Going into the last 500 m I could see that I was not in any threat and I could start to enjoy the winning feeling.

European Tour Win
I really could not believe it myself. After years of mountain biking I have not celebrated such a top result as this one today. Jörg and I have won the transalp 3 times, however to have success as an individual is an amazing feeling. I love that winning feeling! Jörg finished in 7th place which was also a great achievement. He came into the 2nd tranition in 2nd place. Unfortunately he could not hold off the very fast runners! Next time....

Next goal - Titisee
No time for a break, straight back into traniing for the next European Tour race in Titisee in two weeks time. Very motivated for this one as it´s only 1,5 hrs from here.