If you‘re gonna die, die with your boots on
If you‘re gonna try, well, stick around
Gonna cry, just gonna cry
If you‘re gonna die, you‘re gonna die
Iron Maiden, Die With Your Boots On, 1983
Retirement is the most horrible word to describe the phase of life I‘m in right now...and still there‘s plenty of stuff that will never be as it always was, even though a big part of me thought that nothing‘s ever going to change until my lights go out.
When I think back to the day I first rode my bike (and within the next 30 minutes rode it into a friend and a neighbour‘s car...) I can‘t believe how many friendships I‘ve made and how many little death‘s I‘ve died only to get up as soon as possible and prove to myself that I actually CAN do it.
Racing bikes has taught me everything that I didn‘t want to pick up from my parents or teachers. The most important thing has always been to fully commit to a goal and never have the „99% is enough“-mindset.
That‘s what I expect from myself, that‘s what the people who had my back over all these years expect from myself.
I didn‘t want to compromise my next chapter of opening my own bike shop with any short-term commitments of racing here and there, nor can I show up at a start line knowing that the preparation has not been ideal.
Whether I put a number on my back or on my handlebar is up to me, whenever, wherever...but to end on a high note: since there‘s no next season, there‘s no off-season🤘
Thanks to each and every one of you who made my dreams come true!
#loveCX
#02022020 a day i‘ll never forget
I left no stone unturned preparing for these world championships on home soil, and with the unconditional love and support of my family it was possible to go every little extra step.
after the heavy rain during the night it was clear that this would turn into a fight against myself because „our“ track was now a mud-fest.
I found a pace that i could keep up lap after lap and have some mini-recovery-sessions when descending from one of the steep bridges. without any major technical mistake and with bikes that survived the cruel conditions i got myself in a position where i could still see place 17 to 20 directly in front of me going into the last lap. during the last minutes of the race i started to realize that this is going to be it...i couldn‘t fight the emotions anymore and enjoyed the last 500 meters like i‘ve never enjoyed them.
i can‘t say enough thank you‘s right now to everyone who made these worlds possible, who was there for us during our stay in the @swisscyclingteam worlds camp and who was screaming their heart and soul out to give us the extra motivation we needed lining up against the very best of the world!
#loveCX 📸 @egopromotion
Massive honour to be on the ticket for @uci_cyclocross_wc_2020 and i‘d like to pass on the luck to you guys!
on march 6 i‘ll open my bikeshop ZAHNER FAHRWERK in stäfa on the beautiful lake of zurich, and this worlds ticket is your discount code for a unique purchase with 10% off all bikes and parts and a free coffee during march, april and may 2020.
all you have to do: support us at cx worlds during the next 2 days and visit me this spring with the ticket or some kind of proof that you‘ve been there!
tickets are available online or directly at the entrance, so get your cowbells and swiss flags out!!!
#zhnrfhrwrk #loveCX #ad
extremely proud that i get to line up @uci_cyclocross_wc_2020 with some of these guys next week!
this is both the realisation of my biggest goal this year and a dream coming true so to say i‘m motivated is a massive understatement!
thanks @swisscyclingteam for their trust, to my family, friends and sponsors for the endless support and i‘m looking forward to seeing a lot of people there!!!
#loveCX
Worldcup Nommay
some say the best swiss cyclocross takes place in france...
it‘s just 1 hour from the border, easy access from the highway, good parking, super nice course with everything a true cx course needs and every time an amazing athmosphere thanks to the fans from near and far...
i got out of the gates pretty good but found myself in traffic jam on the stairs, and a bit later made a stupid crash over the handlebars and smashed my own bike against my lower back(don‘t ask for an explanation,it just happened somehow..). so when i really got going after half a lap i was around 45th spot and everything felt miserable. but after a few minutes and with even lower tire pressure i found my flow and could kill myself out there jumping from group to group. i came away with 26th and i‘m pretty proud of that result after a bit of a disappointment last weekend at nationals.
thanks to all the swiss mechanics who killed it in the pits during the muddy battle, was great to feel how everybody was helping everybody else, true team spirit!!!
onto the next one in hoogerheide, stay tuned and...
#loveCX 📸 @lizziehaumesser
Swiss Championships Baden
had a pretty good start and was part of the big leading group with all the strong guys. the speed in the beginning was very high and i didn‘t really manage to move up in the group on my strong parts, instead i got several small gaps on my weak parts that i managed to close in the first 15 minutes of the race, but my elastic snapped after that acceleration from @jrf94 towards the end of lap 3 and from that moment on i rode a cyclocross time trial for the remaining 6 laps.
6th spot was certainly not the plan before the race but i gave absolutely all i had today so i can‘t complain...better say huge congrats to the guys who fought it out for the jersey and the medals, impressive stuff!
thanks for all the good wishes and nice words before, during and after today‘s race, you people are awesome!!!
also to my family and pit crew for their unlimited and loud support, sorry if your voices are a bit sore the next few days🙈
small victory against myself on the pic: jumping these barriers during the whole race needed a whole lot of concentration and commitment. would have been easy to just run them when it was more or less clear mid-race i would end up in 6th but i tried to keep my head up and that‘s exactly what i will do heading into the final weeks of the season!
#loveCX
EKZ CrossTour Meilen
After i‘ve struggled with crashes and technical problems in the last races of 2019, it was finally time to catch a massive bloody cold to start 2020 with a blocked air intake🙈
but you don‘t want to skip your home race, do you?
so i thought i‘d give it a try and climb the steep hill lap after lap until i blow up. but then everything went surprisingly well and i was able to rip my heart and lungs out while so many people were shouting my name. on the very last opportunity i messed it up at the barriers so i was not able to fight for a top10 until the line and had to settle for 11. spot...that means 9th overall but with only 3 races counting this season, my poorest performance in 1 of them, i couldn‘t really expect a lot more.
i don‘t want to repeat myself but a big THANK YOU once again to everyone who helped to put up another @ekzcrosstour this winter, to all the spectators and fellow athletes for the athmosphere and the good fights!!!
the list of races coming up in the next 4 weeks needs no introduction and i can‘t wait to turn myself inside out in every one of them, see you there and lets keep our fingers crossed for a nice outcome here or there!
#loveCX 📸 @radsportphotonet
a lot of awesomeness in 1 pic...
took advantage of the brilliant weather conditions in the last days to put another few long training rides in. and i haven’t been riding with @konnylooser for quite some time so it was great to catch up on a lot of stuff.
unfortunately you can‘t see the wind but it‘s always impressive to feel the power of mother nature and i wouldn‘t want to swap my „office“ for anything else.
i‘ll skip namur worldcup to spend a weekend at home for the first time in months but will be back in zolder on december 26...
see you out there, merry x-mas and enjoy the ride!
#loveCX
Tour of Europe ends on a high note🤘
a week ago i left for a 3000+ km round-trip across europe.
first stop was the cx race in fae di oderzo(italy), where we raced on a mostly dry course with lots of corners and some scetchy short off cambers. i got a good start and tried to split the leading group in the first half of the race, but fell a bit short in the last 20 minutes when the other guys put the hammer down. i could still see the 3 leaders in front of me in the last 10 minutes of the race,but was not able to close the gap and had to settle with another 4th place.
after that i joined the @swisscyclingteam training camp in tenero(ticino) for a few days to take advantage of the good weather and the strong group to spice up the training. after hustling around the lago maggiore in less than 5 hours at 2 degrees i picked up my dad and drove the first 7 hours towards the czech republic. we arrived in unicov on friday afternoon and i played around a bit on the partly frozen course. during our race the temperatures were a bit too warm for ice, but the course was still pretty slippery and muddy, and the rain made the conditions even harder.
i had a slow start, but could finally settle in the leading group of 6 after maybe 20 minutes. in the same time daddy made some friends in the pits so there was someone who took my dirty bike when he handed me the new one every other lap. it‘s just great that we can show up far away from home and there‘s people who help, because we also try to give a helping hand whenever possible. 1,5 laps before the finish @diethersweeck put in a strong attack that gave him the winning gap immediately. behind him i was able to drop all the remaining guys and with a drag race in the last lap i could keep my position and climb onto the podium with my 2nd place.
thanks to the fact that our start was at 13 o‘clock we got onto the road early and because of various „father and son-topics“ the journey never got boring, so we ditched the original plan of sleeping somewhere on the way and drove home directly. needless to say i also had the big motivation of seeing the family again after a week on the road!
#loveCX
after you‘ve listened to @jpows @globalcyclingnetwork cyclocross podcast, you’ve heard me talking about my day in hoogerheide in january 2013. this is the @feltbicycles f1x bike i crossed my most memorable finish line on and i‘m happy to give it away to my sponsor @ekzenergie for a few weeks for a special project. stay tuned...
#loveCX
Flückiger-Cross Madiswil
I had massive troubles to get the engine running in the first 2 laps, and the gap to the 3 leaders @taimenrueegg @larsrace and @kevin__kuhn was already way too big when i started to find my flow.
the rest of my race has mostly been an all-out cyclocross timetrial where i was able to drop everyone who was around me after 15 minutes, but more important, have a smooth race in the slippery conditions. can‘t remember not crashing once in an edition of the @flueckigercross on one of the most challenging descents in swiss cyclocross, this time i nailed it every lap, probably also thanks to the fact that i rode tire pressures at the absolute limit.
priceless look in the eyes of the pit crew when you ride past them and shout „lower tire pressure“ when we‘ve already decided for really low before the start. but they did an incredible job once again, we‘ve changed bikes every lap and with most of the other riders doing the same that means crazy busy times in the pits!
even though the podium was still out of reach when i crossed the finish line, i‘m pretty happy with my race and it was once again a big pleasure to ride an event where everyone is so passionate to make it as smooth and unforgettable as possible for the racers, no matter if they‘re 3 years old or 58...THANKS for that!!!
#loveCX 📸 @danipochetti @flueckigercross
Koksijde ... Enter Sandman🤘🤘🤘
simply put, this race is an adventure, every year some parts of the course beat you up with a big bang, then 1 lap later you completely rule them, and 10 meters later it can be back to square 1 because you lose the rut and get stuck in the deep, heavy sand...
after last year‘s disappointment of being taken out of the race after 3/4 my main priority was to make peace with this race that has given me so much in the past, such as a win in the u23 race and a 10. place at worlds, but also a crash and dnf only days before our 2nd child was born, and a recon-crash resulting in broken bones and a dns. all the highs and lows one could imagine in one of the true epic classics of our sport, that‘s why I just love to go there and test myself again and again.
I got away with 31. spot and a few cuts and bruises, but also countless memories of a weekend full of belgian cyclocross madness, meeting old and new friends and testing my abilities as an endurance car driver
#loveCX 📸 by @lizziehaumesser
new jersey, new motivation, and this is how it looks before hitting the dirt!
i‘m going to enjoy racing in this kit for the remaining 2 months until @uci_cyclocross_wm_2020 🤘🤘🤘
big thanks to @ekzenergie and @wamsactivewear for their continuous support in this and all the other projects over the years🚴🏼♂️💙
#EKZCT #EKZ #loveCX #cyclocross #newkitday
total offday @ekzcrosstour #hittnau or when #newkitday is the only thing to celebrate🙈
would have liked to present my new @ekzenergie colours by @wamsactivewear with a better performance but it felt like I forgot the legs somewhere on the road between tabor and hittnau. I had no power from the very first moments of the race, and it never got better. feel a little bit sorry for everyone who came to watch the race in these horrible conditions and mostly for my pit crew who turned themselves inside out to hand me a clean bike lap after lap but sh1t happens...
thanks for the support during this monster cyclocross weekend, there were tons of nice moments and great friendships along the way in these past few days so let‘s keep those in mind and forget about the bad stuff
#loveCX
Had a great start coming from 5th row and was 19. after half a lap, when i catched the wrong rut and smashed my front wheel into a pole🤦🏿♂️🤦🏿♂️after i had to let the next 10 guys pass until i could walk over to the other side of the course to collect my bike. with a new bike i started from 40. position and managed to move up until the last lap where i ended up in 26.
didn‘t plan to smear the skinsuit into the tabor course on it‘s last outing...bikes are all up and running thanks to my wizard and race car driver and we should also make it to @ekzcrosstour hittnau in time. pasta salad was prepared between course recon and warm up, that way we don‘t lose any time waiting for highway restaurant food🤘
see you tomorrow, you probably have like 3 minutes to see my new jersey, after that it will be covered in mud and everybody will look the same🙈
#loveCX
As we‘re getting ready for @uci_cyclocross worldcup #tabor in beautiful autumn sunshine I have a little bit of news to announce...
Can‘t believe that this will be the last time I‘ll line up to a race in my iconic @ekzenergie jersey from @wamsactivewear
stay tuned for more on this channel, first #allin #loveCX
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