Anke is Awesome Interview: "For me, the winner is the one who has the most fun on the bike"
Sandra Schuberth
· 29.10.2025
Anke Eberhardt actually started cycling back in 2006, on a mountain bike that was too big for her boyfriend at the time. However, it quickly ended up in the cellar because she was too afraid of trails. Bikes were out of the picture until 2018, when she tested a gravel bike for a magazine article - and was hooked. At the same time, however, she was also confronted with all the issues familiar to those who had already reached the same point. Which pedals are the right ones? How do I repair a flat tyre? What do I wear? How do I plan routes, and, and, and. She quickly realised that there was one thing missing from all the tutorials in the big wide YouTube world: Beginner-friendly instructions and explanations that are understandable even if you don't know the technical terms yet. When one cry for help after another fluttered into her inbox during the bike boom in the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, the idea of closing this gap was born.
No sooner said than done. Since 2021, she has been diving deep into various topics and presenting them professionally and with a pinch of humour. Not only complete beginners can learn a lot, but also die-hard cyclists can take something away with them - even if it's an entertaining refresher on their own level of knowledge.
TOUR You paint a special picture of yourself on Instagram. The fact that this is meant ironically is not always understood and can be off-putting. Let me throw the words "overbearing" and "arrogant" into the room. How did the fictional character "Anke is Awesome" come about in the first place?
Anke Eberhardt: Instagram originally started out as a parody. I accidentally set up the account while stalking my ex-boyfriend. Then I started joking that I was destined to be the next Kardashian. I've already called myself an 'influencer' with a hundred followers. But I hate social media and the self-promotion is totally repulsive to me. "Anke is Awesome" is already a joke because everyone presents themselves as so great online. I never assumed that anyone would take it seriously because everything is so exaggerated. But the bigger the account got, the less jokes about absurd product placement were questioned. That's a sign of how absurd the internet is, because such self-congratulation is already seen as completely normal. Fortunately, the people who have been around a little longer celebrate my madness. Anyone can be normal!
How Anke is Awesome got into gravel biking
How did the topic of gravel biking come about?
Anke Eberhardt: I used to write a lot for Bergwelten magazine as a journalist and was asked at an editorial meeting in 2018 whether I would like to write an article about gravel bikes. I said: "Yes of course! I've always wanted to do that!" So I went out and had to google what a gravel bike is. But after the shoot, I was totally hooked. I had torn my cruciate ligament while snowboarding in 2017 and couldn't do any sport for a while. That was totally awful for me, because everything that makes me happy has to do with activity. Cycling was the first thing I was able to do with my knee and I can still do it today. My gravel bike really saved me. And I mean that without exaggeration: without my bike, I would probably have gone crazy. Even crazier.
I'm an extremely cerebral person and cycling manages to clear my head. - Anke Eberhardt aka Anke is Awesome
What does gravel biking mean to you?
Anke Eberhardt: It always sounds so clichéd when people talk about freedom when it comes to hobbies. The combination of physical exertion, speed, being outdoors and experiencing nature is what it's all about for me. After a few minutes on the bike, I get the feeling that my body understands: "Ah, she's doing it again." And then you get to that point when you're just pedalling, breathing, going up, going down, the wind, the landscape, and at some point nothing else matters. I'm an extremely cerebral person and cycling manages to clear my head. Although I now also love my road bike, the gravel bike is always my first choice because I can spontaneously turn right or left without knowing what's coming. Sounds a bit like freedom again ...
Do you have a favourite gravel tour?
Anke Eberhardt: It changes depending on the day. Sometimes I'm the happiest person when I'm only cycling 30 kilometres flat alongside the Loisach. And sometimes I want to pedal my legs for 100 kilometres and do a lot of climbing. That's one of the reasons why I love cycling so much: because you can both chug along at a relaxed pace and really step on the gas on the same piece of sports equipment. I moved to Garmisch a few years ago, so luckily I can do both.
About the person
Name: Anke Eberhardt
Born 1 October 1981 in Stuttgart
Profession: Journalist, including at Pleasure Snowboard Magazine, founder of Pleasure Girls Special, has written for GEO Saison. She was editor-in-chief for the fashion and DIY magazine CUT as well as for the women's business magazine "Plan W" of the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Has been riding gravel bikes since 2018
Instagram / YouTube: @anke_is_awesome / @AnkeisAwesome
That's why fun is what counts
Strava and social media often paint a picture of "higher, faster, further". What do you say to that?
Anke Eberhardt: I find that extremely problematic. Not because I don't value sporting achievements. I have many friends who do ultra races and I'm an avid dotwatcher (Dotwatcher is an internet platform for reporting on ultracycling events, so called because the athletes' points can be tracked on a map, editor's note).. What these people do deserves the greatest recognition! But on social media it's often suggested that you're not a "real" cyclist if you don't perform at your best, and I don't see it that way. For me, it's the fun that counts. That doesn't mean you shouldn't challenge yourself. And if top performances motivate others, that's great. But if the result is that you feel bad if you haven't already crossed the Alps every morning before breakfast, it's counterproductive.
Not everyone has the physical ability, the time or even the money to cycle excessively. And the glorification of pain is particularly difficult for me because I have had chronic knee and back pain for more than eight years. My strength distribution is currently 70 to 30 per cent between my left and right leg. My body hurts on every tour. And in internet comments, I'm labelled a "Sunday cyclist" by strangers. I think everyone should ride the way he or she can or wants to. For me, the winner is the one who has the most fun on the bike!
In your "How to fahrRad" tutorials on YouTube, you explain You many different topics related to cycling. Gives it not already enough videos about changing the hose?
Anke Eberhardt: That's exactly what many people told me when I had the idea. But until now, tutorials have been made by people who know their stuff, mechanics who have changed a hose dozens of thousands of times and no longer realise what's so difficult about it. I was desperate every time I had a problem myself and had to watch five different videos until I managed to do it myself. That's why I always say that my core competence is incompetence. My aim is to ensure that even the most complete beginner can understand my tutorials and that even the nerd can learn something new. But that's really agonising for me. I start from scratch and then research my way up to professional level, speak to umpteen experts and interview manufacturers in order to break down complex topics such as nutrition or aerodynamics back down to the essentials. Sometimes I spend months researching a video and then die inside before every publication because I'm afraid of being torn apart in the comments.
The comments are mostly positive.
Anke Eberhardt: Fortunately! After the first season, I realised that it could have really backfired. I wasn't on YouTube beforehand and thought I'd just upload the videos and be done with it. I totally underestimated how much attention the series would generate. And I know that it looks different to the outside world, but it was never about putting myself as a person at the centre. The style should convey the content and I used humour to ensure that people didn't switch off during a 30-minute tyre pressure tutorial. But now I'm recognised so often, from Malle to Tuscany. Despite all the jokes about "fame", that was never my aim. When people write to tell me that they started cycling because of me, or that a video saved them when they broke down, that's all that matters.
3 tips for cycling beginners
What are your three most important tips for cycling beginners?
Anke Eberhardt: Firstly: Just do it. It's completely normal to be overwhelmed at the beginning. Cycling requires a massive range of knowledge: Technique on the bike, riding technique, training and nutrition, route planning ... At the beginning, you feel like you're riding into a wall! But don't let that put you off: Just go for a ride, see what's important for you personally in practice and then dig in bit by bit - or not. You don't have to know everything. And to get you started, check out my tutorials.
Secondly, don't compare yourself. Cycling is what you make of it. No matter what a bike manufacturer, a clothing company or some bikefluencer like me wants to tell you. If you decide to ride a gravel tandem in a Hawaiian shirt, that's wonderful.
And my third tip is: eat more. The biggest beginner's mistake is not eating enough on the road. I always thought I had no stamina. But cycling consumes an incredible amount of energy. If you don't refuel, you'll run out of energy. That doesn't just apply to people who race. Even if you don't have any sporting ambitions: You can then make it to the lake further away and simply have more fun!
The Nevertheless, entering the world of cycling is not easy. Example: The Style police lurking with sharp eyes behind the next bend to judge: wrong socks, false Bicycle brand, wrong shoes. Another one: Comments in the social media, in which someone better white. You expose yourself as "Anke is Awesome" extreme. How are you dealing with it?
Anke Eberhardt: I'm not made for the internet and I really suffer from every negative comment. In the beginning, I tried to explain and justify myself. In the meantime, I've given up believing that you can change people. My approach now is radical empathy: if someone feels the need to look down on others because of their performance or equipment, you should sympathise rather than be annoyed by it. There is no such thing as "the" cycling community. That's also something positive about a popular sport like cycling: that niches are forming within it again. Gravel, road, mountain biking, touring, bikepacking, ultra races, Sunday riders, blood-sweaters, high socks, tight jerseys, Birkenstocks or Hawaiian shirts: there is a microcosm for every taste. For example, I like Events like the "Gravel Fest" near me in the Zugspitz region or "Into The Wold" in the Bregenzerwald. The atmosphere there is totally relaxed and you always meet good people who just want to gravel - no matter how long their socks are. And: in the end, you really should put your mobile phone away more often for more real life. I'm the happiest person when I'm on my bike and my phone is in flight mode.
Quick Questions an Anke is Awesome
Sweet or savoury?
First salty, then sweet
Forest motorway or single trail?
Forest motorway and everything up to S0, maximum S1, otherwise I'll wet my pants
In the morning or in the evening?
In the evening. The early bird can kiss my arse.
SRAM or Shimano?
Shimano! #advertising
Introverted or extroverted?
Extroverted introverts (keyword: Me time)
Solo or group ride?
Solo
Dog or cat?
Crazy Cat Lady!
Sandra Schuberth
Editor
