In my youth I have played Badminton as a competitive sport. Early on, my knees were so much affected that I would have had to undergo surgery. To the suffering of my parents, that was the moment when I decided to give up Badminton. I quickly discovered the computer as my new hobby, the result was a rapid weight gain. At the beginning of my studies of computer science, I lost a lot of weight by playing basketball. As I progressed studying, I started with free climbing.
The first sport I have been practicing regularly since Badminton is Mountain-Biking.
MTB
The father of my wife showed me Mountain-Biking. When he bought himself a Fully, I was able to try out his Hard-tail. At the beginning, I really took every opportunity to be part of a tour. The destinations were almost always in the Harz mountains, in exceptional cases also in the Elm or directly in front of our front door. It did not take long until I bought a 140 mm-Fully at an outlet of Canyon. Shortly afterwards, I received a voucher for a driving technique course from Trailtech (I can only recommend that for every beginner) and since then I am a mountain biker.
Just before a tour in Bad Harzburg
For me Mountain-Biking has always been the best way to escape everyday life. Although my highlights on the bike have certainly taken place in the Alps, the shortest tours and a simple single trail are enough to get my head free. Once the heart beat has climbed beyond the cardio zone, full concentration is directed to the nearest few meters in front of the bike.
Start of the Lupo/Fontana trail between Naturno and Laces
One of the most beautiful feelings is for me to have achieved the climb after endless pedaling. If I still have enough strength to master the downhill with full concentration, the emotions know no limits. A lesson I had to learn: Also for the departure the body needs a lot of strength endurance. This experience can be comprehended most impressively in a bike park. The mostly short journeys with the cable car are hardly sufficient to have enough air for the descent again. The main problem is that downhills can be really dangerous if the concentration decreases. Until now, however, I was spared except for small bruises and abrasions.
View to the Vinschgau
Roadbike
My next bike I bought at the beginning of the year 2016. After my wife bought a road bike, it took not so long and I also wanted to have one. The biggest advantage of the road bike is for me that right in front of my home a great road network can be found, which is perfect for road cycling. While I always have to go to the Harz with the MTB so that it is getting really interesting, I can start with the road bike directly from the basement. Already an hour at the cardio-vascular limit is enough to get rid of everyday life.
From Goslar via the Tetzelstein to Braunschweig
Two highlights can already be shown by my short racing career. The first highlight is certainly our holiday in Mallorca. We had borrowed bicycles and spent a week exploring the island. That Mallorca was a paradise for road cyclists, we already knew before. In fact, the feeling is indescribable to glide along the coast with the road bike. For me it was the first trip to Mallorca, but certainly it will not be my last.
On one of our Mallorca routes
The second highlight was definitely the Tour d’Energie in Göttingen. The adrenaline level is a different one, if you do not drive for yourself, but around you are many other athletes on the road. The organization of such events is now so professional that the whole race day is a really nice experience. I can only recommend everyone to take part in such a race.
Running
The last new sport is now running. What ultimately gave the impetus to go again jogging, I do not know any more. At the end of the year, however, it was clear that I wanted to run a half marathon in 2017. During the training I even had the relatively crazy plan to try a pace of less than 5:00 min/km. However, since I was not able to follow my training schedule as intensively as I would have liked, I finally needed 1 hour, 50 minutes and 12 seconds at the 24th hella half marathon hamburg. Honestly, I must confess, however, that my feel-good distance is definitely no more than about 12 kilometers. Now I’m waiting for the next sporting goal.