Denise Schindler, Runner-up in the World Championships in Paracycling, at the 2014 ENDURA Alpen-Traum

News Release / 09.10.2014

Just a few weeks have passed since the 2014 ENDURA Alpen-Traum, and Runner-up in the World Championships in Paracycling, Denise Schindler, is already looking ahead to the 3^rd Edition in September of 2015. That’s because she definitely wants to take part again. “Granted, this race is tough, but it is also a very intense experience that is about more than just competition. It’s a battle against yourself,” the 27-year-old athlete comments on the ENDURA Alpen-Traum. Her team of 9, EISs auf Rädern 2.0, took off for the short-distance course covering over 146 km (91 m) and 4,315 m (14,157 ft) of elevation change two hours before all the other riders. This time, it was not about winning or losing, though. It was about a very special goal: To collect one euro for each rider and kilometer to help finance a handbike with a price tag of 4,500 euros for the EISs group of the Wernsbach-Weihenzell sports club. Title sponsor ENDURA covered the entry fees.

September 13, 2014 was a good day for Denise Schindler, with everyone in high spirits at the early-bird start of the athletes with a handicap in Landeck. The conditions for coming through successfully were good, but not perfect. “Granted, I had gradually reduced my training schedule, my normal speed was good, but I hadn’t done a single pass before the race,” the 27-year-old rider explained: “And no distances that long either.” Schindler didn't get back from the Paralympics World Championships in Greenville (USA) where she took second until just a few days before the race. “Flat, short, tough distances of 15 km (9.5 mi) and 55 km (34 mi) is how I would sum up the World Championships. Thus, the very opposite of the ENDURA Alpen-Traum,” the athlete from Dachau explains with a grin.

Denise did surprisingly well on the course after all. Even a small detour in Switzerland, adding up to an extra distance of 13 km (8 mi) and no laughing matter, failed to unsettle her. Things went well for her and her team partner, Steffi Kaiser, who had agreed to do the race together, until they got to the base of Umbrail Pass. There, things got critical for a short time as she revealed later: “I had a real low there, could barely ride in a straight line. I even had to get off my bike at one point to swallow some gels and take a break.” It’s good thing she was able to get over that low, as the most beautiful stretch of the course was yet to come.

"The descent from the Stilfser Joch pass was sheer delight, the sun was shining and all you had to do was coast downhill.” Denise and Steffi reached the finish in Sulden together after 9:33:47 hours. All nine of the EISs auf Rädern team members completed the short-distance course of the ENDURA Alpen-Traum successfully, giving the handbike purchase a big kick start. A princely sum of around 1,500 euros was collected on September 13th. “Of course, that’s still not enough, but it is definitely a big chunk and has moved us much closer to achieving our goal,” says Denise with a radiant smile.

For the time being, the ENDURA Alpen-Traum was her final coup for the 2014 summer season. Now it’s time for a few weeks of “off season” before the winter season on the track begins. “I’m currently doing a lot of cross-fit, just to do a different kind of workout for a while. But then, every so often I feel the urge to get on my bike, so I go for a ride.”

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