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Transcontinental Race winner Fiona Kolbinger puts in massive lockdown ride

24-year-old’s 559.5km effort was mainly fuelled by bananas, Haribo and Snickers bars

Fiona Kolbinger, winner of last year’s Transcontinental Race, has posted a massive ride she undertook on Friday to Strava, covering 559.5 kilometres as she rode from her home in Dresden to tackle the highest climb in the Lower Saxony region before heading back.

The 24-year-old, who since becoming the first woman to win the race last June has completed her medical studies and qualified as a doctor, said on Strava that the ride formed part of a challenge she has set herself this year to ride to the highest point of each of Germany’s 16 states, or Länder.

> Who is Fiona Kolbinger? The medical student who has become the first woman to win the Transcontinental Race

She also revealed the food she ate during the ride, which took 21 hours 48 minutes and 48 seconds to complete – including no fewer than 14 Snickers bars - with Strava estimating that she consumed 8,848 calories.

Fiona Kolbinger Strava.PNG

Responding to questions put to her by followers on Strava, she said: “Thanks everyone, just realized this was my longest solo ride so far and parts of it felt pretty much like TCR (brief stops, partly suboptimal weather and being unable to get the heart rate over 100 any more in the end).

“Water and food: I took 2 bananas, 400g Haribo, 10 Snickers, 200g mixed nuts and raisins and 1.5l juice from home and this turned out to be a bit optimistic.

“Juice refill at a gas station at km 250, water refill at a church at km 400 (had also eaten all my food by then). I therefore needed two unplanned refill stops, one at a McDonald’s drive-in at km 450 (two large packs of fries and 500ml coke) and one at a gas station at km 490 (2 Snickers).

“Overall, my bad planning made the last third of the ride somewhat hypoglycemic.”

She also revealed that she got caught in a downpour as she returned to Dresden, saying that she “got pretty soaked on the way back and hid in a scenic hunter’s high seat next to the road for 20 minutes.

“Luckily the sun came out afterwards and dried everything, so just the shoes stayed wet until the end.”

Previously this year, Kolbinger has ridden up the highest peak in the Harz mountains, the Brocken, the summit of which lies at 1.142 metres above sea level, and which is in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

She said: “This time, I was aiming at the Wurmberg, the highest point of the county of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) as part of my little 2020 project to cycle to the highest point of each German county.”

Located, like the Brocken, in the Harz mountain range, the Wurmberg reaches a height of 971.2 metres.

Germany began easing lockdown restrictions in mid-April, although Chancellor Angela Merkel has come under criticism from some quarters about not ending them as quickly as some people would like to happen.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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8 comments

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daverein | 3 years ago
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Is there such a thing as an eating Everest challenge? 8848 calories.

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jollygoodvelo replied to daverein | 3 years ago
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daverein wrote:

Is there such a thing as an eating Everest challenge? 8848 calories.

At last, something I can aim for!

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Kendalred replied to daverein | 3 years ago
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In feet it's 29,000!

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Dao | 3 years ago
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Bravo. I could only dream of having the fitness and drive needed to attempt such a challenge once, nevermind 16 variants of it all in the same calender year!!

The best I can hope for anytime soon is perhaps having the fitness required (and the correct tools) for a #TransEngland or #TransScotland.

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BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP | 3 years ago
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I recently read 'Where There's a Will' by Emily Chappell. The TCR sounds like an ordeal. Certainly an outstanding achievement - just to make the start. 

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Rapha Nadal | 3 years ago
1 like

I love how uniform that course profile is.  Very satisfying.

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kil0ran replied to Rapha Nadal | 3 years ago
2 likes

Looks like a silhouette of Mont St-Michel

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Simon_MacMichael replied to kil0ran | 3 years ago
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kil0ran wrote:

Looks like a silhouette of Mont St-Michel

I was thinking more the Duomo in Milan with the Madonnina on top but yes, it's lovely, isn't it?

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