How many kilometres do you fit in each week? How many can you fit in each week? Whatever that number is, it’s fewer than Czech cyclist Katka Rusà, who finished 2021 with a quite frankly ridiculous total of 50,105km, an average of almost 1,000km per week.
Somehow, she did all this – more than 2,000 hours of riding and 341,167m of elevation – while working full time as a proofreader for an online news company and had no days off. She also plays scrabble competitively.
To put that distance into perspective, Annemiek van Vleuten recorded the most distance of any professional woman on Strava and she only did 30,352km, the next behind her was Erica Magnaldi who did 25,471km.
‘Whenever I did any sport, I went all out,’ says Rusà, who is in her mid-thirties. ‘I used to play volleyball up to five times a week and I always wanted to improve. When my knees started to hurt after years on the court, I decided to switch to cycling.’
And switch she did, in 2020 she virtually circumnavigated the globe clocking up 45,678km. ‘Something that only served as a means of transportation to matches and training sessions for years became my main hobby,’ she explains.
‘On the bike I can test my limits in complete peace without having to argue about whose fault this or that was on the court. I don’t feel pressured on the bike and the zero stress also suits me in that it gives me a break from the reality of life.’
Luckily her partner cycles too, so she hasn’t had to completely shut herself off to reach her goals, though she admits he prefers to ride shorter distances and faster.
If you didn’t feel inadequate enough already, Rusà says, ‘Everyone’s day has 24 hours and there are seven days a week. We all have the same amount of time, it’s up to you what you do with it.
‘Obviously if you have a family you don’t have that much free time. I for one still can’t imagine becoming a mother, even though I’m old enough for that. Sometimes people say that I can’t have any personal life if I spend so much cycling. So what? It’s none of their business.’
Well, we can definitely get behind her because that is some achievement, although we do hope that 2022 provides some sort of break or holiday that doesn’t involve any wheels.
You can follow Rusà’s adventures on Strava and Instagram and read more about what makes her tick at festka.com.