Year in Review 2016

A year is over, there were many goals achieved and a lot of exciting things. Races, marathons and material battles. Have fun with my personal annual review and please don't take me too seriously 😉

I had planned so much for 2016 and how many kilometers did it add up to? 1.076km! I had planned much more. It should actually be 3.000 km, so three times as much. But I enjoyed all the 1076 km that I drove, believe me. That's why I don't want to be miserable, but take the successes I've had with me as positive energy into the new year. There were quite a few highlights along this route. In the Strava year in review I see 94 new PR, so 94 new personal records. 2016 was only my second year of racing. I drove two great races in 2016. There will definitely be a few more events next year. I can't say yet whether I'll be able to do more races, because many dates fall during the summer holidays, but one or the other RTF should be added.

I had planned the Hamburg Cyclassics as my first race. I had already registered at the beginning of the year in order to set the point of no return as early as possible. Registering for a race is always a good measure to nail yourself down. The Hamburg Cyclassics took place on August 21, 2016 and I signed up for a 100km route, I didn't want to overdo it right away.

Doubts about whether you can manage the distance and whether you will show a good average speed were just a few of my thoughts. But the anticipation was much greater than these fears. The good thing was that I found a new training partner. An old colleague of mine - Simon - also turned out to be a racing bike lover and had signed up for the short distance. I was now able to go on tours with him at least from time to time. As with working people, it's more irregular than regular, but at least I've found an ally and I hope that we'll take to the streets together next year.

The evening before, a friend of mine, an experienced Iron Man (triathlete), who had spontaneously registered later, contacted me. His level of training was significantly worse than mine, but as he said: 100 km is always possible! So we went out on the track together and I was able to benefit a lot from his experience. He was a great help when it came to finding the right pace and the right group. Thank you Mathias! We finished the Cyclassics 36 with an average speed of 100 km/h and I was very happy with myself. You can find the race report for the Cyclassics here: Race Report Cyclassics 100 – 2016

My second race in 2016 was the Schwerin Lakes Everyman Cycle Race. I had already driven the race in 2015, but at that time the 50 km lap. This year it should be the 100 km. Like the year before, I went to Schwerin alone again, somehow I like this one Lonely wolf Number.

I lined up in the second starting block and realized after the race that next time I would try the first starting block. I approached the race very strategically. Ride in a group, economize on your energy and always remember: 100 km is quite a lot. My strategy went up and down on the Crash just before the finish, the race went like clockwork for me. I'll be going again next year! Article: Schwerin Lakes Everyone's Cycle Race

In April 2016 I started street training again, before that I spent my time in the gym. My training really picked up speed in May with tours of between 50 and 100 km, mostly in an easterly direction because the routes in Vierlande appealed to me more this year. My longest training lap also went east, up the Elbe, on the south side of the Elbe to Geesthacht and from there on the north side of the Elbe back to the city. At the end of this round you have 92 km on the clock and I will definitely ride this lap more often in 2017. In 2017 I would like – alone to focus on the 300 km at the Vättern rounding to prepare - even several 200km laps with build, let's see where it drives me there.

In total I spent 94 hours on the bike, but next year at least 4 times that! Then with my new bike, the SpeedX Leopard Pro with even more speed!