Here are some nice questions I answered as Spokesperson for my favourite NZ mountain bike magazine, SPOKE. If you are in NZ, please buy it, the guys who produce it are absolute ace. Great content and picture, worth every penny. You can buy it online here or in your favourite bike shop in Aotearoa. And now enjoy the, sometimes interesting, answers.

 

 

First adventure
Walking through the Grand Canyon from North to South without any fancy outdoor equipment. Starting at night without lights and with no sleeping mattress made it a rather uncomfortable first adventure. On the bike my real first adventure was crossing the Scottish Highlands in 2006, three weeks with carrying all on the back.

Last adventure
I honestly try to treat every day as an adventure, but riding my beloved rigid Singlespeed cross bike though the Central Highlands last weekend was a proper one. It was a rather last minute decision, but a cosy hostel in the middle of nowhere made the heavy rain and darkness worthwhile riding in for quite a while. The next day I had a brilliant time riding off-road for almost 70k to get something to eat, as I had forgotten to bring breakfast and pulled an early start. The whole thing was finalized by riding 85k straight into work the next morning, as I had underestimated the time the trip would take me, but unexpected adventures are always the best. On the big scale it was cycling LEJOG in 6 days on a singlespeed unsupported.

First race you entered
Karapoti Classic in 2009

Last race you entered
Karapoti 2010

First childhood memory
Annoying the rest of the family with notoriously taking toys into restaurants with me. Or making a big fuss if I couldn’t!

First bike you owned
An East German folding bike, which was quiet hazardous to ride, as sometimes it folded itself when you were not expecting it.

First time you rode a bike
Maybe I was 6? I had to learn riding on a 700cc women’s bike.

Last time you rode a bike
This morning.

First bone you broke
Never broken anything, I tried hard though.

Last piece of clothing you trashed
My gloves.

Last form you filled out
The account recovery form of my Google account, not much fun.

Last website you visited
Spoke (o:

First job
You mean proper one? Working as Editorial Assistant at Germany’s public children’s broadcaster. I got to watch telly all the time, that’s when I needed to take up cycling properly.

First thing you think about each day
A nice coffee.

First thing you do each morning
Put on some music, and make myself a nice coffee.

Last track you rode
The Union Canal path from Falkirk to Edinburgh on my cross bike. That’s my way home, 75k.

First track you fell in love with
Glentress Red in Scotland. I had never really ridden a proper purpose-built track, but that one blew me away big time! Spooky Wood is still one of my favourites.

First big disappointment
Working half a year setting up a music festival and then ending up losing all my money I had saved for a trip around the world.

First lesson learnt
Don’t try to jump with cross country skies when there are concrete walls around.

Last lesson learnt
Average people are not my sort of person to hang around with.

Last job
Marketing Manager at an arts centre in Stirling, Scotland.

Last really good meal you ate
Falafel Burger with sweet potato chips in my favourite Edinburgh place, Under the Stairs.

First magazine you owned
I must have had to do something with stamps, I was a geek all my life.

First bit of good advice received
Always choose the harder way if you have the choice in life. Thanks to my brother for that!

Last bit of good advice received
Chill out.

Last creation
A new blog post

First thing you quit
My job as Festival Producer. I needed a change.

First guilty pleasure
Instant tea. I ate loads of that when I was a child, my teeth didn’t like that!

Last bike bit you broke
I think inner tubes don’t count? Then the SRAM Torpedo Hub on my Swobo, maybe it wasn’t built for that much riding. And the bottom bracket cup on my singlespeed. On the day I was meant to be on the train to London to start LEJOG. I really don’t like bottom brackets.

Last impulse-buy
Knee warmers.

First thing you did for the sake of the environment
Composting kitchen waste from the age of 6.

Last thing you did for the sake of the environment
Riding a bike!

Last argument
With myself about riding a singlespeed around the world. I should just do it.

Last thing you’ll ever do
Start a war.