Oar-some on two wheels
Karsten Forsterling has two Olympic medals and a World Championship gold in rowing, but claims the most pain he’s ever experienced was riding a bike!
The 37-year-old from Melbourne won silver as part of Australia’s quad sculls boat at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, going one better than the bronze earned in the same event in London in 2012.
Cycling has always been a passionate hobby, though, and not just for the excellent cross training benefits for his primary sport. And Forsterling even has a world record to his name on two wheels following an amazing 24-hour charity challenge a few years ago.
“Cycling is a very good activity to help with the rowing. In 2014 I had a stress fracture and also a slipped disc and as a result I wasn’t on the national rowing squad and did a lot on the bike instead,” he explains.
“I ended up doing a 24-hour Wattbike challenge with fellow rower Matt Ryan and we broke the world record by putting down 320 average watts over the duration by each riding 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off.
“From there I was able to have a decent 2015 back in the boat with a silver medal at the World Championships and then that carried on into the 2016 Olympic Games. So I think cycling can be a very big part of condition training for athletes such as rowers,” he adds.
“Rowing is a whole body exercise, so cycling is very good for strengthening the legs. Your legs maybe hurt more than any other part of your body at the end of a race and when you are trying to go a bit faster at the crucial final stages, it’s the legs that are driving you.
“We have cycling as part of our official training programme with the national squad. We would usually do two or three sessions on the bike per week for maybe two or three hours. Some of the rest of the guys aren’t quite so keen on cycling and definitely see it as a bit of a chore. Not everybody enjoys it as much as I do!”
He then started to focus more on road racing and has competed in crits, as well as getting to know some of the professional cyclists after spending time with them at various training bases in Europe.
“A few of the cycling teams use the same training facility as the rowing squad when we are based in Italy for the European summer,” Forsterling says. “I’ve had the chance to meet a few of the professionals. I remember Cadel Evans being there when he was with Mapei and I’ve got to know him a little bit down the years. And now the Orica boys are also based in the same location.
“We have tried to get some of the cyclists into a rowing boat, but I think it’s a bit easier for us rowers to do well on the bike!”
Forsterling admits he loves the excitement and drama of the Tour de France, managing to catch a couple of stages in person while previously training in Europe. And he’s also lucky enough to currently be riding an official team machine that was a spare on Le Tour a few years ago.
“I’ve got a SystemSix Cannondale that was a team bike from the Tour De France. It’s got all the bells and whistles, SRAM Red and weighs about 6.5kg so it’s a very nice bike,” he says.
Despite his longstanding preference for road riding, Forsterling’s most painful ride came while taking part in a mountain bike event in Canberra. But he only has himself to blame after failing to properly read the rules of the race and trying to beat whole teams of riders single-handedly!
“The national rowing camp is based in Canberra and that’s a great place to get into MTB,” he says. “I did a day/night twilight event one time and it was the hardest thing I have ever done! So much so, I didn’t even finish. It was a three hour race and the aim was just to do as many laps as you could.
“What I didn’t realise was that it was actually a relay race! I thought it was a bit strange when the guys went off from the start really fast, but then they knew they were going to get a breather when they handed over to their team-mates.
“But I was there all on my own and it was just exhausting!”
Forsterling has put his international rowing career on the back-burner this year after refusing to move permanently from Melbourne to Canberra as part of the new training camp rules. But while he is still competing in the boat at a lower level, it does give him a bit more time to enjoy getting out more regularly on the bike.
“I’d love to keep cycling in the future and maybe do some more road racing,” he adds. “I’m not on the national squad now since they made everyone move permanently to Canberra which was something that was just not possible for me.
“But riding in general is just great and I love the freedom of being able to jump on my bike and really do some travelling.”
