I had never planned to stay in Germany after my cycling adventure was to come to an end... but personal things changed so for now I am staying put inside the Germanic tunnel. I knew all along that looking for an finding a job on the domestic job market would not be easy for a CV as exotic as mine. Things in the HR departments around here run very different from other countries... very narrow-minded they are run here!
It is really funny... in the U.S: people are so excited about ex athletes and ex soldiers. They kiss your feet if you show up looking for a job with an extensive background in traiing your soft skills such as motivation, leadership, discipline, work ethic, tenacity, focus, determination, or self-sacrifice. In Germany, only ordinary, black-ink-on-white-paper technical skills count!
Tough market for exotics who decided to sacrifice all and everything for a world-class competitive passion that teaches you many valuable and transferrable things you need in all walks of life...!
In the meantime I will keep hunting...
to come...
We had a fantastic team in 2008... staff and riders harmonized perfectly on the road. We had a lot of fun at races and training camps all year long. Team director Jens Zemke's decision to leave the team was a sad shock for all of us.
It did not take our management very long to put a new director in front of our faces: we were blessed with a very familiar face named "Jochen Dornbusch", long-time national coach on both road and track. I did not think it was (or IS) a blessing that JoDo is to take over Jens big hole in the long string of road success of the Equipe Nuernberger. Hence, I told the management I was leaving the team .
I am not the only one who is turning her back on Nuernberg. Assistant ds, Dennis Sandig, is leaving as well alongside physio Maja Meissner, mechanic Alex Ritze, and secretary Edith Doerfer, Three big names on the team are heading towards other teams: Claudia Haeusler (Cervelo), Edita Pucinskaite (Dila), and Modesta (Bigla).
It will certianly not be the same for the remaining girls on the team in 2009...but I wish them the very best of luck, strong heads, and good nerves! Keep kicking ass, Schluempfe! :)
Dresden, Germany -
Hi all. My first full and last full road cycling season as team member of the UCI pro team "Equipe Nuernberger Versicherung" has come to an end. My last appearance in the blue smurf jersey took place at the German Cup final on the Buettgen track. I had the honor to finally ride my favorite cycling event: the team's pursuit. In company of the Becker Sisters. What fun that was!!! :) I was sick once again but still enjoyed my last race in blue.
Last year I had already wanted to quit cycling after I got kicked out of the national track team following an injury and a big mess between the federation and I. I was persuaded to stay in the sport but switch to the ghetto - road cycling - and join one of the best pro teams in the world. I agreed to the challenge.
All season long I was debating with myself about what to do... continue cycling on the road in 2009 or make a cut and take care of my career as a future businesswoman. Road cycling is a nice sport but I still missed being a track cyclist. The track brings me more fulfillment. As a result, I tended towards hanging up my wheels at the end of the season throughout the year.
There have been a lot of voices who told me "don't quit!" or "it would hurt my soul if you quit!" in the past few months. I was torn. Certain changes of my team's staff made one decision very easy: to leave the Equipe Nuernberger after the season was over. But the other decision was yet to make. Dutch Team DSB Bank of world and olympic champion Marianne Vos showed interest in me after finding out about my intentions to leave my team. However, the team is on a very low budget. I would have to live FAR below the national poverty line if I decided to continue cycling at the professional level.
So my decision become... get the hammer and push the nail into a wall for my wheels to store safely!
Dresden, Germany -
Hi everyone. Welcome back to my site. I thought that now as I am opening yet another life chapter, it was time to make a few slight (big) changes to my very outdated website. The design has been completely reconstructed. The content - at least as far as the information provided about me - is wideley the same. The site has yet to be finalized but the majority has been put online today. I will deliver my photo page sometie not too far in the future I hope!
I hope you enjoy browsing my pages. I will try to keep my news page a bit more up to date from now on, I promise!
Best wishes, Lilli