A wonderful way to get really relaxed is to really exert yourself. Here you can see me close to the finish line of one of my better races, the 2008 Karstadt Marathon. For a change, I did NOT lose the sprint of my pack and finished 27th in the field of 400 starters.

In the winter, I exchange the wheels for either skis and go here, or blades, hoping for ice on the Dutch canals. See below for more info.

• The Niederrhein area is more or less flat and packed with fast cycle paths
• The Flaeming Skate south of Berlin
• The Rheindamm leading to the Bodensee in Switzerland

Where to race

• Best race in europa: the one-eleven in Switzerland, which currently is a 113 km race (pb = 4:02:25)
  Sad news: suspended, let's hope for a restart
• Really more than a race: the Berlin Marathon (pb = 1:21:03)
• Flat, Fast, & Hectic: the Mittelrhein Marathon (pb = 1.15.02)
• If you are really crazy, 145 km through Georgia Athens2Atlanta (myOnlyTime = 5:44:24)
• Maasdijk Marathon, not a great race, but it's close to home. Won it's first edition and got 2nd this year (think I'm bragging? check "uitslagen", = Dutch for 'results'), will I be third next year? (pb = 1.24.51)
  
• The Torrey Pines Hill Climb. Ok, you won't do an 10h flight for about 8 minutes of pain, conquering 130m elevation on 2.2km. But I was there anyway in 2011 and got 3rd.
• Schauinslandkönig. Also a hill climb, but you'll need more endurance for this one, 11k, 800m of elevation, made it in 56.34. Fortunately, there is a cable car bringing you down.