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Exercising during pregnancy

“Giving birth is like running a marathon, and no marathon runner would show up at the start line without having trained beforehand.” That is how the midwife who gave our prenatal classes put it. She advised all of us participants to be as active as possible for the remainder of our pregnancies. I have been wanting to write this blog post since I was pregnant, and now that our son is almost nine months old, I finally got round to doing it. I would like to tell you how I kept fit during my pregnancy, Read more
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Much sweat and an amazing community – the 2018 Zwift Academy

Just like in 2016 and 2017, Zwift and CANYON//SRAM organized the women’s Zwift Academy together this year. The Zwift Academy is a virtual training camp for cyclists from all over the world, and all athletes who have a Zwift account can register for free. This year, it consisted of ten workouts, four social group rides and two races, which had to be completed over eight weeks. Participants could do the workouts whenever they wanted, and several group rides and races were offered at different times Read more
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2018 Rad am Ring – 75-Kilometre Race

Oven, shower, sauna. This is how I could sum up the three laps of the Nürburgring I rode on 28 July. When I was standing at the start line, my Garmin said it was 34 °C. Although I’m not exactly a fan of high temperatures, I can handle heat fairly well during exercise if I hydrate enough, and in the months leading up to Rad am Ring, us Central Europeans had enough time to get used to the heat. At the start line, I was completely relaxed and really looking forward to the race. Having completed Read more
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BIKE Festival Willingen 2018 – Rocky Mountain BIKE Marathon and Warsteiner Sauerland-Giro

Although it’s already been six weeks since BIKE Festival Willingen took place, I really wanted to write about it. I had such a great time there – above all because I participated in the Rocky Mountain BIKE Marathon, something completely new to me that I’d wanted to do for a while. It also scared me a bit, though, because I didn’t really know what to expect. In winter and spring, I’d spent a lot more time riding off-road than riding on roads, and at some point I really felt like doing Read more
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Off-road debut – MTB/cross race in Hürth-Kendenich

When someone asked me a couple of months ago if I ever planned on taking part in a mountain bike race, my answer was a definite no. A couple of weeks ago, I thought it would actually be cool to enter a race next year, just to have a goal to prepare for. And not much later I thought, why wait so long? So I signed up for my first off-road race – Raiba Rad Cross, which took place in Hürth-Kendenich on 12 November. Primarily, it is a typical cyclo-cross event, but they also offer a race for mountain Read more
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2017 Münsterland Giro – my first flat race

Since I’ve never been fitter and keener to ride my bike than I am at the moment, I really wanted to take part in another race before the classic season ends. The Münsterland Giro, the third largest road race in Germany, naturally suggested itself. The Münsterland region is very flat and the race therefore faster than the ones I’d participated in so far. I decided to enter the 95-km race so that the long drive to Münster would be worth it. In contrast to other competitions, I was pretty Read more
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Black Forest – many vertical metres and a little bit of adventure

(Part 2 of 3: “Germany, Austria and Italy by camper van, mountain bike and road bike”) When we arrived in Münstertal in the Black Forest, our legs only wanted one thing: road cycle! And the area is particularly great for road cycling – we already knew that much from last year when we’d also spent a few days here. Thanks to Garmin, our equipment was a bit more professional than last year when we had to use Google Maps to compensate for our lack of local knowledge. For our first ride, Read more
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Germany, Austria and Italy by camper van, mountain bike and road bike

(part 1 of probably 3 😉 ) Just like last year, Niels and I rented a camper van and went to the Alps again this summer. Lesson no. 1 after two weeks and eight different stopovers (one of those in the Black Forest and one in the Sauerland, a hilly region close to where I live) : Mountains are awesome. Lesson no. 2: Unfortunately, heaps of people think so. It’s definitely not the smartest idea to go on holiday when all of Europe is on summer holiday, too. On the upside, though, the weather was Read more
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The 2017 edition of Rad am Ring

Yay, I finished Rad am Ring! It was awesome again, although I felt pretty awful most of the time while I was riding. Having rested for a few minutes after the race, euphoria took over, though, and I still feel fairly euphoric. But I should start at the beginning: Until about two weeks before the race, I wasn’t even sure if racing was such a good idea. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but my crash at the end of May had made me feel quite insecure. Although I'd started riding my bikes Read more
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The Tour de France in Germany

The Tour de France doesn’t start practically on my doorstep every year, so I didn’t want to miss out on seeing some live action this year. I especially enjoyed being able to go to Düsseldorf by bike. On Friday, the day before the Grand Départ, my boyfriend Niels and I decided to cycle from Leverkusen to Düsseldorf along the Rhine River to soak up the Tour de France atmosphere. The day before, we had already been at the team presentation, but that hadn’t been enough for us. The route isn’t Read more