Four times German champion, two U23 World Cup victories and a ticket to the Olympic Games in Rio already in her pocket: anyone looking at Helen Grobert's palmarès can hardly believe that she is only 23 years old. Even former champion Sabine Spitz is currently only riding in her cloud of dust.
This achievement seems even more unusual when you look at Helen's home village of Remetschwiel in Baden-Württemberg - at least at first. Civilisation is limited to a few little houses and a small brewery. Anyone looking for a train station to get out into the humming world has to cycle south and only reaches their destination after 14 kilometres. It's a patch of earth as cosy as grandma's crocheted tablecloth, so desolate that the whole cliché world fits at once: There's no bear dancing or pope in chain mail here, no, in Remetschwiel the fox and the hare just say goodnight to each other.
This is exactly where Helen Grobert trains - part-time, so to speak, as she actually lives in Freiburg. But regardless of whether she lives in Freiburg or with her parents, the Black Forest, Germany's largest and highest low mountain range, attracts the elite of German bike sport with its superlatives. The southern tip of Germany offers 24,000 kilometres of marked trails, an endless number of trails, two bike parks and plenty of big marathons.
Biking as a balance to riding
"Hop, one more", motivates father Markus, while Helen Grobert squeezes the beads of sweat from her pores. The 23-year-old has been lifting iron in the gym for 45 minutes. After the national league race in Titisee Neustadt, it was actually supposed to be a relaxed session. But relaxed ... with 40 kilos on the barbell? Helen heaves the weight upwards. She gasps, the air conditioning blows. The radio presenter fires up the summer from the speakers: "35 degrees, dear people, the Black Forest is going to boil. So off to the bathing lakes!" Grobert sighs, turns her gaze away from the loudspeaker and looks over to the window front. Behind her, children and adults are splashing around in the pool - her working day didn't include this kind of refreshment.
"And up," Markus Grobert encourages his daughter again, while he holds his arms out behind her for safety in case she can no longer lift the weight. Her knees tremble, Helen pumps and pushes the iron bar upwards in slow motion. Then the weight slams into the holder with a crash. "Great," Markus pats Helen on the shoulder, "now let's eat and get on the bike later." Helen wipes the beads of sweat from her forehead and squeezes the water bottle, then goes into the changing room.
Markus Grobert himself did not expect his children to become so involved in the sport of cycling. "Initially, my wife and I just wanted Helen and Hannah to have a balance to riding. We didn't really care what. They started rowing once a week. The girls quickly got bored of it and then it was too cold in winter. Well, and suddenly there was the bike that a riding colleague was riding. That's how it started," he explains, tapping the barbell. "When I started riding more, athleticism and strength were the most important things for me. Helen only did more kilometres this year."
Leave food on the table? Not when your girlfriend is cooking!
Thirty minutes later: freshly blow-dried, hair in place, eyeliner freshly applied. Helen has a break and walks across the hot tarmac to her SUV, which she has had for a few weeks. "It's amazing, they didn't even want to give it to me at first," she laughs and goes into more detail: She once enquired about it, but the company turned her down. But they had such an advertising campaign with outdoor athletes. "After my DM title, they thought it was exciting. And now I have the car. It's really cool, but I'm finding it a bit difficult to load the bike onto the roof rack," she says, turning down the air conditioning. "Now it's time to eat properly. My friend Christine has cooked my favourite dish."
After a 20-minute drive, Helen finally reaches her parents' house. Outside the window, the hot summer air flickers over the yellow-scarred lawn. Inside, Christine is already waiting with steaming risotto. Bussi left, Bussi right. "We see each other so rarely," explains the 23-year-old after the hearty meal and heads for the table. There are pictures of her and her siblings everywhere - mostly on bikes. She then points to a large newspaper article featuring her and Sabine Spitz: "Look, it looks like a comparison of the two of us," Grobert laughs at her friend.
But now to the table: Helen shovels a hot portion of risotto with chanterelles onto her plate. "Wow, I'm so hungry!" says the professional athlete and digs into her salad. "I know female bikers who would skip a meal like this because they're afraid of putting on weight. What a life," says the German champion, shaking her head. Some sportswomen are only concerned with weight, she continues, and pure performance is not taken into account. That works sometimes, but it can't be sustained over the years. At some point you're heading for an eating disorder, says Helen. And anyway, who wants to spend the whole day worrying about what, how much and when you're allowed to eat? So second helpings. After all, there are still kilometres to cover today.
It all started with a bike from the DIY store
Despite the double portion, the jersey doesn't fit really well. Helen tries to pluck the Lycra into shape. That's why she always has a safety pin on her trousers, which she uses to pin the jersey and trousers together. Then the shoes click into place, the helmet fits and the tyres are already whirring over the heated asphalt. The road stretches upwards. There are 200 metres of altitude to conquer before you reach the cool forest of Höhenschwand. The spa town lies at 1015 metres above sea level. "It's actually still quite pleasant here in midsummer, but today it's really hot," Helen snorts, before turning off onto the forest needle-covered trail.
The studs grip quietly into the ground, only a slight cracking sound now and again reveals that you are not travelling on cotton wool. The path winds its way between small rocks as wide as a towel. "It gets really cool from here," shouts Helen, pointing to a green wall where the path disappears. "30 minutes of the finest downhill," she says briefly. Then she dives off. Leaves flicker to the left and right, needles whip. The path twists and turns between the tree trunks. Then it slows down, Helen straightens up: "There are two ways to continue - leisurely on the road, or climbing back on the trail. We never used to ride up here, it was far too difficult," she explains, tapping her bike "At the very beginning, I had a DIY store thing. But after four months, I got a good one. Radon, I think."
No coincidence: all Grobert children successfully ride cross country
That's how it started: Instead of once a week, the siblings travelled twice. She, her sister and her brother. Suddenly the biking became more. They rode through the woods almost every day. Even on holiday: the siblings would set off in the morning and explore the area for hours. "When I think back, I think we only sat on our bikes even on holiday." The Grobert family's success is a mixture of coincidence, self-direction and paternal guidance. All three children - Helen, Hannah and brother Henrik - are successful cross-country racers. Their careers are not the product of chance: to achieve sporting success, the siblings moved out of their parents' home at the age of 17 and moved into a sports boarding school in Freiburg. They keep coming back to Remetschwiel.
And that's where we're heading again. But first we have to make sure we don't get wet. A thunderstorm is approaching. A cold wind blows in Helen's face. She stops and lets her gaze wander over the approaching storm front. "Finally!" she smiles: "The heat is almost unbearable." Then it thunders, thick drops hammer on the tarmac and immediately evaporate again. The air smells of tar. Helen stretches her face towards the sky, the rain beats down on her skin and washes the sweat from her forehead - cooling off, her working day ends.
Helen's Trails
Want to know where Helen Grobert trains? Here you will find the best suggestions for short tours. The GPS data of tours 2 (Waldhaus Marathon) and 3 (Ibacher Tour) can be downloaded free of charge in the download area (below this article).
1st Titisee loop (approx. 23 km, 510 m elevation gain)
A mountain bike tour could hardly be more varied: it offers a magnificent view of Hinterzarten, the Hinterwaldkopf, the Seebuck and the Feldberg and later leads back to the ridge of the Jostal. The start is right by the lake, where you first climb 300 metres in altitude. But that's it for the toughest metres in altitude. From now on, you can enjoy the whole panoramic tour to the full.
2nd Waldhaus Marathon (40 km, 900 m elevation gain)
The Waldhaus Bike Marathon offers everything that Helen Grobert likes to train for regularly. Although the route is stingy with altitude metres in one go, the constant ups and downs will quickly set your teeth on edge. The whole thing is spiced up with beautiful trails and a view of the Rhine valley. You can't miss the start and finish of the circuit: right next to the brewery in Remetschwiel.
3rd Ibacher Tour (35 km, 1003 metres altitude)
Not long, but crisp: the Ibacher-Runde impresses with its metres in altitude. The start in Heppenschwand gives no indication of anything bad, as after just a few kilometres the route heads straight downhill to the Albstausee reservoir. From here, the climbing begins along the Alb until the final ascent via Sankt Blasien.
Helen Grobert's territory
Character and trails
The climbs in the Black Forest are mostly leisurely and pleasant. Due to the two-metre rule, many paths must be enjoyed with caution. Variety is provided by the countless marathons (www.ultra-bike.de) and cross-country races (www.waeldercup.de).
The region around Freiburg is considered a biking Mecca. There are many established, legal trails here. The best known are the Rosskopf Trail, Borderline and Canada Trail.
Tours, bike parks, shops and more
1st X-Crossing Black Forest: 450 kilometres and 16,000 metres in altitude have to be mastered on the tour from Pforzheim to Bad Säckingen. www.schwarzwald-tourismus.info
2nd Waldhaus Marathon
The bike marathon directly in Helen's village. Attention, limited number of participants! Route: 40 kilometres, 900 metres in altitude.
www.waldhaus-bier.com/bike-marathon/
Profile Helen Grobert
Helen Grobert only recently decided to join the professional circuit. However, her path there seems straightforward: she started cycling at the age of 12. She finished her first race in fourth place. A short time later, she became U17 champion and two-time U23 champion (all DM). She landed her biggest coup in May of this year when she won the German Championships. She is currently the best German biker in the World Cup.
