Dani & Martin.
And a whole lot of headwind.
A full-time job, sport as a hobby and goals that are sometimes a little bigger than sensible. We take you along, from the first road bike to the finish line after 600 kilometres, and tell you honestly what happens along the way.
Our podcast and journal are in German. The ultracycling calendar is for everyone – in English, too.
From the crew to the start line
We met as crew at the Race Across America: Dani as a physiotherapist, Martin in the media team. Then came a first ride together. One of us was faster uphill, the other downhill, and afterwards the question hung in the air: what now? The answer was the Race Around Lower Austria (Race Around Niederösterreich).
To prepare, in spring 2026 we rode the Gran Guanche route across the Canary Islands on road bikes: four islands in six days, around 650 kilometres and 11,700 metres of climbing. In May came the race itself, in a mixed pair with a changeover every 45 minutes and rain for almost the whole route. After 21 hours and 33 minutes we crossed the finish line in first place – which we hadn’t seen coming ourselves. Every kilometre raised money for a therapy plate for Fenja.
We started the podcast a few weeks before the race, and it stuck. Every Friday we talk about training alongside a job, about bad days and doubts, about crews, fans and guests, and about what stays with you after a race.
“What can my body do, what am I capable of? I think it’s really cool that I’m not just training into the blue, but training towards something.”
“You should set yourself goals, work towards them and prove to yourself that you can do it. And that can be a twenty-kilometre bike ride just as much as a thousand-kilometre one.”
Sports physiotherapist and mental coach, originally from volleyball, and through her work she knows many sports from the inside, right up to looking after pros. Her first road bike ride: 30 flat kilometres to the power station and back, then knackered and proud. Since then she has ridden across the Canary Islands and, as a pair, around Lower Austria. Rides best with a bigger why and can watch a dot on a map for hours.
The one with water stops and carbs on his mind, still calculating spare batteries halfway up a climb. Comes from triathlon, until his knee wouldn’t allow much for a long time in 2022 and 2023. In 2025 he got going again after Dani, as his physio, sorted out his knee, and 2026 brought his first solo ultra race, the RACA 300. Likes to plan one size too big and then works out whether it adds up.
What matters to us
We train alongside work and everyday life. Every kilometre counts, whether it’s 20 or 1,000, and we explain what we learn along the way so that you don’t have to be a pro.
It rained, we froze, we rode anyway. We talk about doubts and setbacks – not just about watts.
Behind every race there are crews, family and fans by the roadside. Without our crew we wouldn’t have made it to the finish at the RAN, so we tell their stories too.
Trophies for the shelf, stories for the retirement home: what sticks is the night ride under the stars, the cowbell at three in the morning and the people we shared it with.
At the RAN, top of our list was: reach the finish healthy. That means a helmet, good lights and bike handling – and sometimes turning back when your knee or the weather says no.
With motivation, plenty of humour and bad jokes on the way to adventures and races. The ⚡ stands for exactly those moments.
Find your next ultra race.
Ultra races, brevets, gravel and bikepacking events from 200 km, plus 6- to 24-hour races – each one with a direct link to the organiser.