I grew up with these dunes in my backyard. Played there a lot as a child, from hide and seek to my first rides on a MTB. Later in my teens I discovered the joy and beauty of exploring this area more with my MTB. Looking up to my cycling hero John Tomas I pretended I was him riding up and downhill as fast as I could. From riding for fun this soon changed to racing levels. I rode MTB races in the summer and cyclocross in winter. To train my endurance I started training on the road as well. Trained 8 times a week and did pretty well. I managed to get in some good results for 3 years but then a double knee injury kicked in. Going to a physiotherapist he told me that my inner leg muscles where to strong compared to the outer leg muscles. I needed to go to the gym and practice those. That soon became a depressing time for me as I lost all joy of cycling. I quit racing and soon the love for cycling in general went away. I met my former wife, got married and we got three kids.
But then 9 years ago we where on holiday in Germany. I rented a MTB again and met up with some guys to explore the nature and scenery there. I found back the joy I lost in cycling again. As soon as we got home I bought a MTB again and wen’t straight for my trusty dunes again. I missed all these fun moments and re-lived my memories there. The MTB soon made way for a gravel-bike. The combination of my gravel-bike with road pedals and my trusty UDOG CIMA shoes makes it possible I can ride anywhere I like. My backyard now opens up to newly and undiscovered roads again which is essentially what cycling is about. Never knowing what’s behind that top or turn but just go with the flow and soak in every opportunity being in the outdoors.
That’s why I ride there, finding peace in this epic landscape.