CHRISTOPH STRASSER: The more competitive and the tighter the race, that s the best way! By Vic Armijo

Transcription

1 CHRISTOPH STRASSER: The more competitive and the tighter the race, that s the best way! By Vic Armijo Thirty year old Austrian Christoph Strasser won RAAM in 2011 and took second last year. He s coming back for another shot at the win. When Christoph Strasser won the 2011 Race Across America he did so with what was then the third fastest average speed ever. So when the 2012 RAAM came around many looked to Strasser to repeat with another dominating win. But it was not to be. Strasser struggled through the desert heat of the first two days, and by the time he d found his

2 form in Monument Valley, Arizona, RAAM rookie Reto Schoch of Switzerland had pulled away, putting Austria s Strasser in the role of chaser. Strasser did indeed catch Schoch and even led for a time through Kansas, but Schoch rallied and defended that lead to the end, despite Strasser s best efforts. It was very hard because it was so close, Strasser said of their close battle which caused both racers to alter their carefully laid plans. You have to be very flexible, he observed, I know that in Chillicothe, Ohio he was having a meal break, Strasser recalled, And when he saw my motorhome he knew that I was not far behind. He got back on the bike and got going. And that s how it was for much of RAAM, when he saw that I was coming close he was cancelling his breaks and going on. Of course I was reacting too, but later looking back you must be honest and say that it is very good when it is a close race. The more competitive and the tighter the race, that s the best way, an interesting and exciting race. Exciting race or not, second place wasn t Strasser s goal, Everybody wants to get first of course and the fastest man should win. You have to give your best, and if that is first, or second or third, there a lot of good competitors and the best racer should win. To ensure that he ll be that best racer Strasser is changing a few things for For instance last year he arrived in the USA early to train in the desert heat, But maybe it was too much, he now admits, I didn t have 100% fitness at the start of RAAM maybe just 95% and I was pushing like I was 100% so I had problems very soon. And that is why I am just going to Borrego Spring (in the California desert) for seven days and that is enough. Last year we were there two weeks before, this time I will stay and train in Austria so my body doesn t have so much stress from the heat before the race.

3 With temperatures in the Arizona desert well over 100 degrees F during RAAM 2012, the pool at the Congress time station was a welcome respite. In February when your RAAM reporter spoke with Strasser, heat was the last thing on his mind, Now it is zero degrees Celsius, so it makes no sense to ride outside, he said, I did seven hours on the (stationary) trainer today. That is the most efficient means of training. I did 37 hours last week the most hours that I have done. How does someone pedal the road-to-nowhere that much without going stark racing mad? I am doing videos, music and sometimes easy work on the computer, like looking at photos, putting photos into presentations and think about what I m going to tell to people in my presentations, I can do that on the trainer. That discipline is the mark of a champion, Motivation comes from within yourself, he said, If the motivation is too small the best

4 movies won t help. How does one train for RAAM when it s literally freezing outside? Pedal inside, of course. Strasser spends his winter pedaling the road-to-nowhere up to 37 hours a week! Another means of gaining an edge will be a spring reconnaissance trip, The first part of RAAM until Kansas I know everything, but I think that the last 500 miles are the most difficult ones, he said, Not only because of the Appalachians I like them but you are very tired and your (diminished) concentration makes problems. And after the Appalachians there is a lot of traffic and all that is very very confusing and tough. So I m going to fly to the USA and go for training rides from the Appalachians to the finish line. I am going to watch the road very exactly and I hope that gives me more chances to have a fast time in the race. Strasser is able to devote himself full time to RAAM in this way thanks to Wiesbauer, the Austrian sausage and meat company that sponsors him, If you want to win RAAM you need a lot of time for training, and Wiesbauer makes this possible. They do a lot of sports

5 sponsorship, especially cycling and they ve been a sponsor of World Cup Soccer for many years. For all of the years of riding RAAM I have had the same sponsor. They also sponsor some races in the Pro Tour in Austria. Sponsorship is all about exposure, and Strasser has provided the company with plenty, When I won RAAM in 2011 I was on the front page of the second largest newspaper in Austria. And I go six pages in the biggest magazine in German-speaking countries, and I got eight pages in the second biggest magazine. There was a lot of attention. In Austria RAAM is very popular, really. It is the best country for publicity in this kind of thing, perhaps it is because of Wolfgang Fasching. He was so popular for so many years and for there to be another winner from Austria It was Fasching that instilled Strasser with his RAAM passion. He explains, It was 2002, I saw video reports on Austrian television about Wolfgang Fasching s RAAM and thought Hey man, that s cool, that s crazy, I want to try it! So the same year I tried a 24 hour race. That was the beginning of my cycling. I was very bad! I had no plan of how to do it. But I was just trying it but it was interesting and was good fun. The next year I was better and the next year I was again better and I was improving year to year. And then in 2007 I did Race Around Slovenia for the first time and I was qualifying for RAAM. Seeing Jure Robic and Marko Bahlo was very inspiring. So here it is just a few years later and Strasser is one of the top racers in the sport and is readying himself for what could be the fastest and most hotly contested RAAMs ever that

6 could develop into fierce battle between three former winners; Strasser, Schoch and Dani Wyss. I m looking forward to a great race, he said excitedly, And we must not forget about Marko Baloh he s not a past RAAM winner but he s one of the fastest and we need to be careful about Marko. He s very strong. I m in very good spirits. I m looking forward to RAAM, I am very much motivated again. I m expecting a very fast and very tight race that will get more attention from the media and the fans.