Three Austrian Kickbikers want to know how good they are compared with Europe’s best foot bike racers – Over 100 participants, 2 competition days, and 4 contests. Who had the best Kickbiking performance and how did our Austrians come off?
350 km [ 217 mi ] away from Vienna, right next to the Elber bike line, there is the sports center Labe aréna Račice (CZ). Around the designed lake for rowing and canoeing runs a 5 km [ 3.1 mi ] long Inline-skating lane. Which was used as a racing track for this year’s Kickfest 2017
The difficulty level of the track
The asphalted race track is surrounded by wood sections, an impressive large grandstand, and goes without any ascent or descent. But! – Don’t underestimate a flat track. A flat track means for a Kickbiker to have a constant and powerful push with the foot to win the race.
A flat track means for a Kickbiker to have a constant and powerful push with the foot
Mehr als 100 Kickbiker, darunter 3 Österreicher
More than 100 Kickbikers came to participate in the different contests of the criterium, relay, kids race, and marathon. The most contestant came from the Czech and Holland. But there were a few German Kickbikers as well and for the very first time, our three Austrian foot bikers were Cinderella Kugler, Günter Kugler, and David Pasek. With their goal “to compare our performance among us and with the winner of the race”.
There is great respect for Czech Kickbikers since they have been the Kickbiking sport in their country for more than 50 years already. That’s why the motto of our Austrians for this race is simple: “Participate, gain experience and enjoy the event”.
Participate, gain experience and enjoy the event.
Explosive sprint power and high endurance
Two competition days are ahead of our athletes. On Saturday it is a matter of explosive sprint power within a 12 km [ 7.4 mi ] criterium race, the team relay, and kids race. On Sunday it’s a matter of endurance: 35 km [ 21.7 mi ] for women and 45 km [ 27.9 mi ] for men.
Austrians in midfield
Saturday, July 15th, 2017: The 3-Lap criterium race was over in less than 30 minutes. And the Kickbikers put the race pace up high. The fastest woman, Hermien Koers, raced an average speed of 27,67 km/h [ 17.2 mi/h ]. The fastest man, Machiel Steenberger, reached an amazing average speed of 31,51 km/h [ 19.5 mi/h ].
Criterium race over in less than 30 minutes.
Our three Austrians lay with their performances a bit behind the mid-field. David Pasek achieved the best performance among the Austrians with an average speed of 25,22 km/h [ 15.7 mi/h ]. Behind him, Günter Kugler, with 24,3 km/h [ 15.1 mi/h ]. And Cinderella Kugler achieved an average speed of 24,15 km/h [ 15 mi/h ].
To compare our performance among us and with the winner of the race
Sunday, 16. Juli 2017: The women started it off with their 35 km marathon. The fastest woman, Hermien Koers, ends the race below 1 ½ hours and had an average speed of 26,5 km/h [16.5 mi/h]. Austrian, Cinderella Kugler achieved an average speed of 22,77 km/h [14.1 mi/h] and reached 21st place.
Marathon over after 1 hour and 30 minutes .
After the last woman did cross the finish line the men went to the start line. After 1 ½ hours, 9 laps with 45 km were over. With an average speed of 29,87 km/h [18.6 mi/h], the Dutchman Machiel Steenberger won once more the race as the fastest man.
David Pasek got overlapped once during the race and reached 57th place. His average speed for 40 km was 23,96 km/h [14.8 mi/h].
Overlapped twice was Günter Kugler and he achieved an average speed of 22,48 km/h [14 mi/h] on 35 km.
Netherlands and Czechs dominate the race
The overall champion of the women is the 32-year-old Hermien Koers from Holland. She takes home two gold medals (criterium & marathon) for her team Selles Kamprzeedijk. Her fastest lap during the 35 km long marathon race was 10:50 min with an average speed of 27,69 km/h [17.2 mi/h].
In second place is her college Fiona Olthof from sport club Stepteam Twente. And in third place is the Czech Kateřina Šefcová (KOSTKA Racing).
The overall champion of the men is the 23-year-old Dutchman Machiel Steenberger of sports club Stepteam Zwoll. He also wins both races. His fastest lap during the marathon was 9:21 min for 5 km. This led to an average speed of 32,09 km/h [19.9 mi/h].
Second and third place in the overall ranking of the criterium and marathon goes to the Czech men Michal Kulka (ULTIMA K. Lap Team) und Matyáš Olšar (KOSTKA Racing).
The bottom line – good but improvable performance for the Austrians
For our Austrian Kickbiker-Newbees, it was an impressive race on a nice track with personal bests.
Experiences are taken home and will be used for the next training
Now, it is time to reflect and adjust. They take home all their new impressions and experiences and put them in their training. Then the bottom line for our Austrian Kickbikers is that “compared to the fastest Kickbikers we need to improve our pace. But we are not at our limit yet and we can for sure get better on our kicking method.”
