"A race feels like life in fast-forward"
28.5.2018
Translation: machine translated
If a person grows with her challenges, then Nicole Reist is a giant. Big enough to take on an entire continent. The ultra cyclist is taking part in the Race Across America for the second time.
If you simply know your limits, you won't do something like this to yourself. Only those who know them and refuse to accept them, pushing them further and further with unbridled determination, pedal after pedal after pedal, in an endless act of self-conquest, will take part in the "Race Across America", the toughest ultra-cycling race in the world. The RAAM may only have one stage, but it's one that goes beyond all dimensions: 4,941 kilometres on a racing bike across the USA, from the west coast to the east coast, over a total of 53,400 metres in altitude. To be ridden in a maximum of 12 days. Maximum challenge, maximum exhaustion. Hell on wheels - and Nicole Reist's dream.
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Comfort zone is an elastic term
The 33-year-old from Winterthur is currently the most successful female ultracyclist in the world, and her races start at 1,000 kilometres non-stop. "I am convinced that people can achieve much more if they are prepared to leave their comfort zone from time to time," she says when asked about her motto that success comes from outside it. However, the term is very elastic and, for her, does not start just behind the edge of the sofa, but in other dimensions. "In training, my goal is to push the limit as far up as possible so that I can ride within my comfort zone in the race. My body wouldn't be able to cope with anything else in the long run."
She achieves this like no other, and the list of her successes is impressive. World championship titles, European championship titles, course records, consecutive victories in the "Tortour" around Switzerland. Thousands of kilometres, endless metres of altitude. She also won the Race Across America in 2016. She is one of only 37 solo female riders to have ever crossed the finish line in 36 events to date. These are extreme races and tremendous achievements that remain only a side note in the public eye. A world of their own, without big prize money and fame beyond the scene.
100% - in the office and on the bike
There's no privileged professional life in it for Nicole Reist, who works full-time as a structural engineer. "I train when others are still asleep, so I've already completed my first session before work. And then there's a second session after work." Long sessions are on the programme at the weekends. A lot has to be organised and financed around the races; the costs for the Race Across America project alone amount to around 60,000 francs. A life at the limit that sounds like deprivation in every respect and almost forces you to ask: why? What drives them?
«I'm fascinated by the interplay between physical and mental performance. A race feels like life in fast-forward - highs and lows alternate.»
When Nicole Reist takes on America on 12 June in Oceanside, California, she will be very much alone on the one hand, but also part of a bigger picture on the other. "Eleven people will do everything for me around the clock, except the cycling. The team navigates, feeds and entertains me," she says, who is also carried through the race by the team spirit: "The experience of reaching a goal together, which seems almost unattainable, is an incredibly good feeling." She is not a lone fighter, but a piece of the puzzle in the entire project. [[image:14253838 "All for one, together towards the goal: Nicole Reist (2nd from right) pedals alone.) may be pedalling alone, but she can rely on her team in the background."]]
How the head stays in control
When her team works, Nicole Reist is free. Free for the battle, which she also has to fight in her head. "I focus on the moment and try not to worry about what lies ahead. Because if I can't do this pedal stroke right now, I don't have to worry about how I'm going to do it in 4,000 kilometres." Mental training is a key part of her preparations to ensure that her body follows this logic time and time again. She blocks out negative factors and circumstances that cannot be influenced, such as the weather, wherever possible. Full focus on the moment and total reliance on the team are key. Onwards and upwards through the USA. There are no opponents to beat, except herself.
And yet there is a lot to lose in the Race Across America. The battle against your own body, the external circumstances, the fatigue. "Microsleep is insidious," says Nicole Reist, who is constantly connected to her team by radio. Conversations, riddles and music blaring from the roof of the support vehicle help her to stay awake and on track. Once 32 hours in a row, then 24 hours non-stop and finally with two to three breaks within 48 hours. She then gets off her racing bike for an hour at a time. It's not hard to imagine how much self-conquest it takes afterwards to get the exhausted body going again: "It's crucial that I'm not woken up from a deep sleep phase and that everything happens very quickly after I wake up," she explains. "As soon as I have time to think, I fall into a negative spiral." Driving away before the mind can surrender - that's the trick.
The pain will come, but so will the rewards
After all, she knows exactly what she's letting herself in for. She's been through it before: "I know from last time that I can finish this race. In 2016, nobody knew whether I had the ability to ride 5,000 kilometres at all." Nicole Reist is familiar with the extreme sleep deprivation, the rough road surfaces and their consequences: "Hands and feet hurt non-stop," she recalls, "and it will be the same this time," except that she will be able to mentally adjust to it even better. The pain will come, but so will the rewards. "I'll never forget the first descent into a desert," she thinks back. "This endless expanse fascinated me."
She doesn't want to lose herself in it, she wants to arrive: "No matter how much experience and success I have, every race starts at kilometre zero and every metre has to be ridden."
She was on the road for 11 days, 14 hours and 25 minutes on her first participation. "If everything goes as planned, I'll be faster this time," says Nicole Reist. She will ride, every turn of the pedals a small victory on a long journey. The team behind her, the country in front of her, pushing her own boundaries further and further. And at some point, she will be where she herself cannot go any further: on the east coast, at the City Dock in Annapolis. At the finish line.
About the person
Name: Nicole Reist
Birthday: 26 June 1984
Hometown: Winterthur
Grown up in: Tann, ZH
Profession: Graduate technician HF structural engineering
Biggest successes
2017: Victory and world championship title at the Glocknerman ultra bike marathon world championship (1,000 km, 16,000 metres);
Victory and Swiss champion title at the TORTOUR (1,000 km, 13,000 metres altitude); overall victory, course record and
European champion title at the Race Around Ireland (RAI, 2,150 km, 21,000 metres altitude)
2016: Race Across America victory (RAAM, 5,000 km, 50,000 metres altitude); victory and Swiss champion title at the TORTOUR
2015: Victory at the TORTOUR
2014: Victory and world championship title at the Glocknerman ultra marathon world championship; victory at the TORTOUR
2013: Victory in the Race Around Austria (RAA, 2,200 km, 30,000 m elevation gain)
2012: Victory at the Race Around Austria
2007: Victory and world champion title at the Glocknerman Ultra Cycling Marathon World Championship
Michael Restin
Senior Editor
Michael.Restin@digitecgalaxus.chSimple writer, dad of two. Likes to be on the move, shimmies through everyday family life, juggles with several balls and occasionally drops something. A ball. Or a remark. Or both.
