Artistic Cycling
Ines did gymnastics as a child, but as she moved through adolescence it was hard for her to continue. “You start thinking if it makes sense to do all of those things, because there is always a chance you can hurt yourself. As a child you don’t think about that, you just do whatever the coach tells you to do, but later you start doubting, whether it is safe or not. A good coach would help you to get over this, but my coach wasn’t supportive, so one day I just decided to quit, I didn’t want to do it anymore, ” Ines explains.
She was looking for some other sports to enjoy, but nothing seemed to be inspiring and challenging enough. Not until by pure chance Ines saw a woman doing artistic cycling. “I saw a lady doing bicycle tricks and it was like love at first sight. I saw her doing it and I realized that this is what I am going to do and still till today I love it,“ Ines says. She liked cycling since her childhood; therefore to be able to combine gymnastics and biking was really amazing. A few years later Ines joined the National team of Artistic cycling in Germany and took part in a number competitions.
Artistic cycling requires a lot of practice time. Coming from the field of gymnastics, Ines had advantages for doing bike tricks—her body coordination and balance was very good, and she had strength and flexibility, all important for doing bike tricks. By trying to do what she already knew from gymnastics on the bike, Ines “invented” a new stance, which is appropriately named after her—the “Ines Straddle.”
Performing is an essential part of Ines’ life as she enjoys doing it and believes she can inspire people to ride bikes. Ines performs for cycling events, bike competitions, parties, festivals, corporate anniversaries, TV shows—whereever she is invited. “A lot of people come up to me after performances to tell how impressed and surprised they are, that such things could be done on the bicycle and that they can be done by a woman,” Ines says, smilng.