He started Trondheim-Oslo with the Heinemann XP Team, rode non-stop from Heidelberg to Paris with friends and is always fighting for a Strava KOM. His own cycling adventures are the basis for stories about "Osenberg, the fat badger and Cerny." In individual chapters he tells in "Only 100 kilometres to the cake" with a lot of self-irony about wrong decisions (not bringing a rain jacket in constant rain), painful decisions (chasing KOMs in blind corners and oncoming traffic), right strategies (peeing on the top tube to keep the group together) and happy moments (not breaking anything in a crash). "On the Laktatexpress, there's often only one place-name sign between victory and total defeat," he says, describing his training rides with the team. Elsewhere, he describes the "circling over the handlebars" that ends in a crash. We don't know exactly how much exaggeration there is in his texts and where the borderline to fiction lies. But is that even important? In any case, the anecdotes are very entertaining and aptly depict the equally likeable and crazy world of racing bikes that we know from our own experience. Perhaps this book tip will even make you want to go on a non-stop ride with friends, a cycling holiday on Mont Ventoux or a road bike tour in Switzerland? On the other hand, there's no need to break your bones on the KOM hunt - it hurts enough just reading it!
Book tip - Text excerpt:
"Of course, some crashes go badly. I rode alongside Osenberg on a miserable dirt track. Not only did he annoyingly babble in my ears[1], he also forced an unpleasantly high speed on me. As a result, I missed a pothole. It ripped the handlebars out of both my hands. I knew that I had to straighten the handlebars as quickly as possible. But I was already on my way to the ground. Before I hit the ground, however, I still had a surprising amount of time to think about the whole situation in detail. Covered in bruises and grazes, I picked myself up again and we continued on our way. Osenberg said to me: "Anyone who crashes like that is too old."
Book tip: Only 100 kilometres to the cake, Marbod Jäger, Pietsch Verlag, 16.95 euros
To the author:
Marbod Jaeger is an author, columnist, cycling fanatic and cycles 30,000 kilometres a year. Jaeger lives in Heidelberg and his favourite routes are in the Odenwald, in the Engadine, around Lake Maggiore and on Mont Ventoux.
Kristian Bauer
Editor
