Originally written in German. Translated to English by AI — please excuse any awkward phrasing.
Or: life almost came to an end…
I was incredibly lucky on Wednesday — by just a few very, very tight centimeters I managed to avoid a head-on collision with an oncoming car. I was on my way home from a bike session, riding at around 40km/h in aero position between Horrenberg and Dielheim, when a silver Opel Zafira appeared just meters ahead of me on my side of the road — overtaking two (!) cars at clearly excessive speed despite no-passing signs. Why I happened to look up at exactly that moment I’ll never know, but thank god I did — I could just barely grab the handlebar properly and swerve those crucial centimeters onto the grass verge. A head-on crash at that point would not have been survivable — we’re talking a combined impact speed of at least 120km/h.
The guy nearly took the two other cars off the road with his own swerve… completely unbelievable, what an absolute idiot. Stopping and coming back wasn’t an option for him either — he just floored it. If I ever find him, I can’t guarantee anything. Useful tips are appreciated — it was a silver first-gen Opel Zafira.
Anyway, back to the training week data:
Monday: easy swim session
Tuesday: 75 minutes easy GA1 on the bike
Wednesday: 3h bike with a lot of pressure on the pedals, followed by a 45-minute brick run with 3×5 minutes flat out
Thursday: the planned swim session was skipped — it wouldn’t have been worth it anyway…
Friday: 45 minutes easy GA1 run
Saturday: 75 minutes swim, 1h easy GA1 run
Sunday: 1.5h bike with 1h at race pace, 30-minute brick run with 2×5 minutes at pace
One more thing I need to get off my chest — with a special dedication to the two cyclists I encountered this morning between Rettigheim and Östringen:
I did today’s bike session in full race kit and gear. I can understand feeling a bit provoked when I cruise past you during my warm-up spinning. I don’t mind if you then draft behind me — not even if you’re doing it while breathing heavily, coughing, snorting, and whatever else. What does annoy me enormously though is when you then try to overtake and go Belgian roundabout on me — especially when you can only hold that for exactly 100 meters…
Just don’t bother in future — I’m not riding this equipment around for show!!!