Dennis Stratmann

"If u set goals and donīt reach them u are disapointed..."

Date of Birth: 12.04.1976

Hometown: Ratingen/Germany

Who are your sponsors? FIAT/Rotwild (with all their co sponsors), Sunshine, Spy, Giro, teriffic

Do you have a girlfriend? sometimes indeed - its not easy to find someone when you are always on the road and on the race tracks. and if u once found a girl u can be lucky if she arranges herself with your life and stays - even when u are not at home half of the year.

When did you start to race Mountainbikes? first race in 1992 but my "semi"-professional career started in 97. in the beginning i took part in some cross country races but with just little success. i recognized very early that my interests were fast descending, jumps and difficult trails. i had good friend who started mountainbiking just the year i did and we always pushed our own limits to go trails no one else ever did before on a bike. too bad that he stopped riding a few years ago.

What did you do before?  i did a lot of skateboarding what i stopped because of knee problems. then i bought a mountainbike and started to ride in the woods around Ratingen. i also did those "average" sports like soccer (sorry oli!), badminton, basketball and skiing. Skiing is still one of my favourites and sometimes even better than biking because the crashes are much softer.

What was you biggest succees so far? my biggest success was without a doubt finishing third in the german championships 1999 and maybe the NRW title in 1995. even though my list of significant wins is very small i think it is a great success to ride constantly among the best 5 riders in germany and to be part of the national team.

How do you train for the races? i donīt have any special training. i donīt go to the fitness studio and i hate riding road bikes. i ride my freerider when i am in the mood to do some smooth kilometers in the forest - and thats all. I think my success has its roots in the big joy i have when i ride a mountainbike. if i would do a kind of coordinated training like all the other riders i would loose this joy. even though i might be fitter i would be slower - iīm sure.

 

Who do you train with? on the races it is different. here at home i often ride with my team mate manfred stromberg or the former giant rider veit sowinski. its always big fun with these guys because we all like the same crazy tracks. But most of my training i do alone.

What are you doing when you are not riding your bike? hangin around with some friends, skiing, or visiting the university because my race career will surely end one day and i didnīt earn as much as Mr. Palmer yet.

What will you do in the winter? skiing, skiing and skiing!! i also work as a skiing instructor.

 

Descibe what it is like to race Downhill or Dual!? i like the feeling to play with the mountain youīre descending. to use every bump and every gap to make your ride faster and smoother and to catch air time wherever u can.. its only u and the course - and everything else is far away.

Descibe a normal day in your life?! i donīt believe that i have normal days to describe. i try that every day is different.

What should be changed in Germany and at the World Cup? there are many things to be changed but the worst one is that the big mountainbike magazines donīt recognize our sport very much at the moment. they only hype their own events like the garda festival or all those marathons. they have totally forgotten what the race scene did for the sport in the beginnings. now they could do something for us and not only follow their own interests.

What are your goals for 2001? if u set goals and donīt reach them u are disapointed. my only goal is to go trough the next season without any injuries.

Last words: thanx to all my sponsors, my family and friends.

Respect nature!

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