van Ravenswaay: “Sport gives me a feeling of freedom”

Among the “cranking cracks” of SC Union Nettetal, he is already quite far ahead in his handicap class MH4, competes in races – and has still set himself many ambitious goals. With the campaign “Top Talent in Competitive Sports”, the state sports association of North Rhine-Westphalia and WestLotto, as the largest sports sponsors in North Rhine-Westphalia, draw attention to talented athletes. Oliver Schönfeld interviewed the handbiker from Dinslaken.

How did you discover handbiking for yourself?

I had my first contact with this sport in the hospital, right after my accident. However, I had to wait until the fixator holding several vertebrae together could be removed. First, I tried mono skiing in 2018 and started with adaptive bikes. But when I was able to test a recumbent bike, I was hooked right away. I have been training regularly since summer 2020. At SC Union Nettetal I experience a lot of team spirit and solidarity. Our oldest hand biker is over 60 years old and a real role model for me!

Why hand biking? What fascinates you about this sport?

You grow into it over time and want to tease more and more performance out of yourself. I appreciate the speed just as much as the physical challenge. Handbiking puts a lot of strain on the arm muscles. Above all, this sport gives me an unbelievable feeling of freedom while I’m driving. I enjoy being on the road at high speed and overtaking a few racing cyclists myself.

How important was sport before your accident, did you also ride a racing bike, for example?

In the past, the bicycle was simply a practical means of transport for me to get to school or training. Endurance sport was never an option for me before my accident, on the contrary, I found it pretty annoying. Instead, I played football for many years, sometimes in a competitive level when I was young.

What are your next sporting goals?

I’m always excited to set my goals higher and higher. I would also like to win more races or at least be able to annoy the really fast handbikers a little more often. The start at the Berlin Marathon 2021 was a great experience for me. Here I was able to compete with around 60 strong handbikers. Although I had some technical problems on the way, I still finished in the middle of the field with 1 hour 26 minutes over the 42 kilometers.

Most recently you competed in a 24-hour race. How can the layman imagine that?

That was at the beginning of August on our training track in Venlo – an unforgettable experience! We started in teams of 3 and 4, the bikers took turns over the 24 hours. I took over six and a half hours of that and ended up just riding along so that I could cover the 250 kilometers over 24 hours.

And what do you wish for the sporting future?

At my age, I still have ten to 15 years to continuously improve my performance. I want to work on that and compete in races, especially long distances. Another wish of mine is to compete in a triathlon. For this

I currently attend swimming training once a week. In addition to handbiking and swimming, the third discipline is the racing wheelchair. Who knows, maybe in 2023 I can do my first triathlon!

More impressions of Thorben van Ravenswaay’s sporting experiences can be found in the video:

Every tip helps the sport

Whether LOTTO 6aus49, Eurojackpot or scratch cards – as Germany’s largest lottery organizer with a government mandate, WestLotto has stood for safe and reliable gaming since 1955. But WestLotto doesn’t just turn the players into winners. Around 40 percent of the stakes go to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which uses it to support non-profit institutions from the fields of welfare, sport, art and culture as well as the environment and monument protection – for example the State Sports Association of North Rhine-Westphalia, which can use it to implement numerous projects and activities. Over the past decades, 30 billion euros have already flowed into the common good in this way, 690 million euros in 2021 alone. Everyone in NRW benefits from this – including you.

_{Participation from 18 years. Gambling can be addictive! Help and advice under BZgA: 0800 1372700 (free of charge). www.check-dein-spiel.de. State-licensed gambling operator (whitelist according to Section 9 (8) GlüStV)}