"To Give Anything Less than Your Best Is Sacrificing the Gift."
- Steve Prefontaine
My Story: Globetrotting from Running into Cycling...

Page 1 2 3 4     Lilli The (Ex-)Runner    Lilli The Traveler

Why Cycling?

As you have been able to read prior, my odyssey into cycling is a long story of coincidence, or maybe even destiny. I always like to say "everything happens for a reason!". Sometimes the reason may be invisible for a while, sometimes it is visible immediately; but its visibility will come to the surface eventually and always.

Why Cycling? Good question. Well, on the one hand I did not really choose cycling consciously. At least I did not choose those crazy chain of coincidences to happen which in the end led me into this sport. On the other hand, I did choose cycling. I did choose to give it a try, give it a go and go for it all the way.

I think cycling is a very fascinating sport - not only competitive cycling but also just pedalling along as a cyclotourist. On the bike you can cover so much distance with ease... or without ease, for that matter, if you choose to ride up the Alps, Andes, Himalayas or ride in Holland in the crosswind. ;-) On the bike you can dive into the world without filter. You are right in it, deep to the bone. You experience the nature, the weather, the culture first hand. You get to see so many places because you can cover so much distance (as compared to running, for example). You can live out your freedom, the most precious privilege of humankind, to the fullest. Cycling is a sport of pure adventure, discovery, freedom, and independence.

Cycling pursued as competition adds a completely new and other sphere to the sport. I have been quite impressed, sometimes overwhelmed, by how many different skills and capacities one needs as a competitive cyclist. You need to be absolutely fearless, courageous on the bike. You need to be able to handle the machine like it was part of your body. You need to have feeling for the bike and your pedal stroke. If you know how to ride a bike and handle it, it is like poetry. It is all about feeling, fine feeling. You need to have a seventh sense, too....for so many different things: for your bike, for yourself and your physical capacities, for the peloton, you need to foresee what's happening on the road both in terms of traffic & the other riders, you need to read competitors, you need a sense for speed, space, and bike behavior in dangerous moments. You also need to be able to keep calm in dangerous situation. Cycling is dangerous, many have died in races or training. You need to be able to move inside a narrow field of far over 100 aggressive cyclists. You need to fight for your position. And the list of skills to have as a successful cyclist is by far not complete...

One of the most important skills to have as a (road) cyclist - which may be the most important and also hardest of all to obtain for many - is to be selfless. Cycling is a team sport. You cannot achieve anything as a lone fighter. You are dependent on your teammates and they are dependent on your support. One for all and all for one. If that equation is out of alignment, you may as well stay off the bike. I have seen some incredibly selfless riders in the sport of women's cycling. I respect those the most. True champions are the ones that are selfless.

The events I enjoy the most in cycling are time trials and the pursuit (both team and individual). The equipment, the speed, the merged unit of rider and machine... it so is poetry if you watch a real time trialer or pursuiter. Just watch Judith Arndt or Sarah Ulmer ride a TT bike and you will know what I am talking about... it is just you and your machine against the watch. It is pure. No room to hide. Pure revelation. It is pure elegance. It is pure power. And the sound of the disc wheels speeding along... WOW!

The Journey is The Goal

What my goal is in cycling? Well... I learned a lot during my years as a runner. One thing I learned is not to be too focused on one goal but rather enjoy the journey, make this as a goal. The most important thing is to love what you do, enjoy, be filled with passion and fulfilled. Once you meet all those characteristics, things will fall into place automatically and you will meet your goals...whatever they may be, spoken or unspoken, realized or unrealized, conscious or subconsious.

Quo Vadis?

Where will I go? To be seen... the journey is the goal as I already stated. I do not know where destiny will take me. Time will tell, time will tell the truth. Always. So we will just have to wait and see what is coming out of this cycling adventure! :-) I will just have to try and stay as relaxed in my mind as possible.

Tour du Monde

I know where I will be going after this cycling adventure is over, whenever that will be. Before this unbelievable chain of coincidences started to fall into place, my original plans for 2005 looked very different: I wanted to take off for a year and travel the world solo with a pack strapped on my back. I wanted to take my backpack and discover the world...in the most literal sense of the word. I not only had researched round-the-world air fares, malaria risk areas, and other precautions as well as travel plans; but I also investigated sailing licenses and the demand for crew members to navigate boats across an ocean. I had a list of countries I wanted to visit ready... nations like Cambodia, Peru, Vietnam, Laos were on the list of off-the-beaten-path destinations in addition to well travelled and more-or-less safe countries like New Zealand, Argentina, Thailand, China, and Australia. Moreover, I intended to stay in a developing country and work as a volunteer. I thought of African countries or Southeast Asian countries for that endeavour of helping others & learning for life.

But then cycling came along out of the blue... something I could only do now or never. So I had to postpone my thirst to discover the world's landscapes and cultures and learn from them hard core by diving in bone deep.