Good-bye 2021

Writing this post suddenly fills me with shock, that I have not posted anything on this blog for a whole year! Was 2021 such an uneventful year in cycling for me?  No, quite a lot was going on, just not much in competitive road cycling though. 

A 5th place at the Championships of the Federal State of Bavaria was dissatisfactory, as I missed the winning break in the first lap! The race was held together with Masters2, Masters3 and U19, which always leads to hectic racing from the start. 

On another occasion, at the Grosser Allgaeuer Strassenpreis, I didn't even survive the first lap, as we went into the first of the 8 x 1.3km climbs, my heart rate already exceeding my FTP HR and reaching max. HR, not even halfway up the climb. Game-over.

The biggest goal of the season though, was the Oetztaler Radmarathon, a 250km alpine race with more than 5500m total elevation. I prepared for it all year, rode long distances of 220-270km every second weekend, about 15x times in total, but then realized close to the event day that I was not going to be able to sustain 9-10 hours of riding, with agonizing seating pain and pain from the two broken vertebrae from my accident in 2014. Both issues had built up over the season to the point of realization on my ultimate recce ride, a dress rehearsal 2 weeks before the race. I had to withdraw from participation the day before the race, on medical grounds.

That leads me to the positive note about 2021, riding with the Ammersee Cycling Team. A great bunch of people of different ages, cycling histories, ambitions, different professional and family backgrounds. The regular Saturday and Wednesday rides with the "bumble-bees"  had been a great balance to the mentally challenging solitary long-distance rides, especially during covid induced home-office weeks, I found it increasingly difficult to also ride my bike in solitary confinement. I am very grateful that this cycling club emerged just before the covid madness started, in early 2020. If cycling saved my life, then AS Cycling team saved my cycling!

Good-bye 2020

 Due to the ongoing Covid restrictions we were not able to travel for our usual X-Mas family visit, this year. As a consequence and for the very first time (I think) I was able to take the Rapha 500 challenge. I did find it challenging, due to wintery weather conditions but also due to my growing problems with shoulder and spine, now knowing that I will have to take these problems into the new year.

https://www.strava.com/challenges/rapha-festive-500-2020

(un)Season 2020 comes to a premature end but nonetheless it brought some awesome rides

 With weather and health declining, it is fair to assume that a break from regular cycling is coming closer. There are still a few nice rides to come, I am sure, but definetely the racing season that never happened, is now over.

At last a race this year: Bavarian Road Race Championships 2020

Wasn't sure if this was an attempt to combine the roadrace with the mountain climbing Champs...5x laps with a fair bit up hill and rather steep in some sections. Beautiful course, though and on fully closed roads!!! Huge compliment to the organizers. No compliment to myself though, racing with an accident bashed bike wasn't the brightest of ideas and in fact dropping the chain 4 times wasn't great. Once, it was so bad I could see the chain fell to the outside and wrapped around the derailleur. I had to dismount and it took ages to sort the mess out. Chasing on only limited the damage to 12.Place but realistically there was no win in for me today, the front 6 got away before my chain drop and they had 6mins by the end!!! Very happy though that I was able to race today and enjoyed all about it. Getting a race licence was a bit cumbersome, as our lovely club has not been affiliated with the German Cycling Association, yet. So, after I discovered the race was advertised I needed to become member of an affiliated club, apply for a license and still register in time before registration closure. All of this happened within a space of 2 weeks. My licence finally arrived in the mail 2 days before the race.

https://www.strava.com/activities/4119479711

Prerace preparations, usually just cleaning but this time discovering the bottom bracket was sqeaking. 

Nice to see  Elite rider  and ASC founder Alex Steffens decided to start, too. Two ASC riders participating on the day, but none of us in ASC kit. Next year will be better. 

Club of my choice for the licence is the German Alpen Verein, due to their MTB section they are affiliated with BDR. They dont have a Club jersey, so I had to ride in neutral kit. Damn, the only neutral kit I own is a black timetrialsuit, super skinny but somewhat ok on that day. It was a very cold and clear  morning.

In case you wonder, no its not the Elite, its the Masters-3 race, nonetheless some really tough cookies and all time racers amongst them. Me being eyed as the new kid on the block, as the still reigning Berlin Champion 2019.

The race didnt go to plan. Chaindrop on lap 2, having to dismount, take rear wheel out, put chain on, lost 2mins, chased on and on and on and ended up in group2.

It was  annoying but still I enjoyed the race, still pushing on in the hope to get further to the top end.

A short race  with 56k but more than 1000m elevation

All of this on a accident riddled, unsafe feeling bike with my chain dropping 4 times over the entirety of the race

12.August 2020 Alpenride 2/2: Huettenzauber - Although returning with more teeth in the bag, it wouldn’t help. For the record, this day was the first time ever that a mountain broke my legs.

 Now completing the ride I wanted to do on 1.June, or the second half, so to say. 120km, 3200hm

A bit mad maybe to do a lot of climbing in this heat, but the first day of my holidays had to be used in style. Starting at Hammer again but heading north via Schliersee to hit Grindelalm first, followed by a really nice route to Tegernsee, Wallberg East ascent up two branches, Valepp, Schönfeldhütte, Sudelfeld and finally Soinhütte, the ascent of my terrible fate as a cyclist…. All of that on 39x30, a nightmare at times.

Climb up to Grindelalm

Climb up Wallberg East side

Climbing up to Soin Alm

Extremely challenging sections up Soin Alm

The heat, the gradient, the lack of gears,
39/32 again was not enough 

Eventually, I went pop, partially due to heat exhaustion,
partially running literally out of power on the
the steepest slope of the day, after already more than 4 hours
 on the bike and 3100 meters of climbing in my legs
had to stop, sit down for 15mins, before I was able to continue the climb.
It was just another 500m to the end.

As if they were there to protect me
 from descending at silly speed.

Really touching.

Radlstammtisch every Wednesday 16.00 Schoenfeldhuette

who says there are no hairpins in Germany?

not sure I love climbing, anymore...

Deserved

 

 

https://www.strava.com/activities/3903028752

ASC 3 days summer Trainingscamp in Engelwarz, Allgäu

A couple of month into this Covid malarky our brillant Club organised a three-day camp.

This was a fantastic weekend of riding, socializing, getting to know a bunch of ace people and btw getting to experience some of the most outstanding landscapes. Allgaeu is such an amazing area for cycling and Vorarlberg really rocks! More than 500km and 6000m of climbing.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3816650355

Riding out to the basecamp without having been awarded our kit, yet.

Riding Allgaeuer Mountains for once, had been a long time in waiting

I keep forgetting the name of the main climb of the day, Tannhaeuser I think was a piece of classical music....

Tanntaler maybe? But who cares, when you just imagine riding up here.

Hi Alpine road at the top, not dissimilar to the upper parts of Timmelsjoch or also Kuehtai. 

Social around the log fire, everyone summarizing their life stories and why they are cycling.
 

Ammersee Cycling Team

Since having left Berlin for Herrsching a year ago, I have been riding on my own. With no further prospect of racing this year, it had become almost pointless, to train for anything, just going out and ride for mental stress relive and some degree of fitness becomes kind of dull. Pressing the pedals hard for 5 hours plus, on my own became increasingly wearing. Joining a club based in Munich I found too inconvenient. So, this newly formed team just crossed my path in the right moment. A fast growing community of riders of varying abilities, ages and genders and later also multiple nationalities. 

Next time around we won't fit into one single picture any more

Head down, cam's up

Club meeting during corona, AHA

A steady ride together, averaging 32km/h which means
 sometimes 55km/h hour and then wait
so that everyone catches up again.