Step by Step

I live in Esslingen, a beautiful old medieval town near Stuttgart in the south of Germany. I did not grow up directly in Esslingen, but in a smaller town nearby, and nature was always part of daily life. Even now, although Esslingen is a city, I can leave my house and be at the beginning of the trails within five minutes. We have a lot of forest around us, and there is also a mountain bike club that builds legal trails, so it is an ideal environment for getting outside on the bike.

When I was a child, being outside was simply normal. Maybe that was still more common for people born in the early 1980s because there were no mobile phones and our parents did not always know where we were. We met each other outside, took our bicycles from one place to another, went to the swimming pool, visited friends, and sometimes came home too late. Sometimes our parents had to search for us because they had no way of calling.

There was a bridge where my friends and I always met. That was the meeting point, and from there we decided where we wanted to go or what we wanted to do that day. I also spent much of my childhood at the local swimming pool. I was always in the water, although I did not actually learn how to swim properly until I was 33. As a child, it was more about playing, moving, and being outside with other people.

Always Learning

I am the managing director of Bwcon GmbH, where we support companies with innovation and transformation. A lot of the work is about change, learning, and finding ways to move forward instead of staying the same.

I find a strong connection between that work and endurance sports. In both areas, you are always learning something new. You develop, you try something, and you see what is possible. That is especially true in mountain biking because there is always another technical skill to improve or another part of a trail that asks something different from you.

It is also important to me that learning does not stop because of age. We do not have to remain the same forever. Whether it is in business, sport, or another part of life, there is always the possibility to continue developing.

A Shared Life

I am very lucky because my partner, Siggi Becker, is also a crazy triathlete. He is the coach of our local triathlon club, Nonplusultra Esslingen, and we are both very involved there. We do not have children, so the two of us have built a life where work, training, the club, and sport take up a lot of our time.

My days are usually very full. I get up early, and some of my favorite sessions are the 6 a.m. early bird swims with other crazy triathletes. People sometimes laugh about that, but I like having the first training session completed before the working day has really begun. After that, I work, and depending on the day, I may train again at lunchtime or later. It is still a lot to manage, but it works because this is a lifestyle that both Siggi and I understand.

On Saturday morning, there is not usually a long discussion about what we are going to do. We get up, have breakfast, and go out on the bike. Later in the afternoon, we may relax and watch other people doing sport on television, whether it is cross-country skiing, mountain biking, or road cycling. It sounds a little crazy, but we genuinely enjoy it.

The important thing is that we do this together. Siggi understands why I want to train, why an event matters to me, and why I may want to spend part of a holiday travelling from one XTERRA to another. I understand the same things about him. Even when he is injured and cannot participate himself, he still comes as my supporter and coach, so the experience remains something we share.

Learning Courage

I started triathlon when I was 33. I had always had the dream of doing a triathlon, but I would never have had the idea to begin mountain biking or cross triathlon by myself. That came from Siggi.

He said, “Now let’s go on the mountain bike.”

In the beginning, he had a hard time with me because I am not naturally fearless. I struggled with fear, and it took time before I became more comfortable on the bike. Even now, new technical sections can require a lot of work from me. I often prefer to go alone to a new trail, look at it carefully, and try it step by step.

That is also what I have learned to enjoy. When you work on something and finally manage it, there is a very personal feeling of success. It may be one short section that another rider completes without thinking, but for you, it can represent many attempts and a lot of concentration.

Race-cations

My connection to XTERRA developed gradually. There was not one single moment when I suddenly decided it would become such a large part of my life.

In 2024, I won my first XTERRA European Championship title in my age group, and the following year, I returned to Molveno and became an age-group World Champion.

Those titles mean a lot to me, but the relationship with XTERRA had already become important before the results arrived. Now it is normal for us to plan what we call our XTERRA tour. We travel to the Czech Republic and then continue to Germany the following week, or we build other events into our summer plans.

It has become part of our holiday. The dates are already in the calendar, and there is not much discussion needed.

Bringing Others Off-Road

Almost all of my friends are now connected to triathlon in some way. One of our shared goals is to introduce more people from road triathlon to mountain biking and cross triathlon. Many triathletes spend the winter on the road bike or training indoors, so every Sunday through the winter, we organize mountain bike rides and invite people from the club to join.

Every year, we seem to bring a few more people from Esslingen into the XTERRA world. In the beginning, Siggi and I often travelled alone. Now, more people from the club join us, and it is rewarding to watch that group grow.

That is how people improve. One person becomes more confident and then passes that confidence to the next.

Two Communities

There are people we meet again and again in different countries, and it is always a happy moment when we see them.

Siggi knows many people in his age group, especially some of the older men. Not all of them speak perfect English, so they run towards one another, say hello, and then sometimes struggle with what to say next. But the joy of seeing each other again is completely clear. They do not need many words.

Siggi and I often say that we move between two communities. During much of the year, we are part of our local triathlon community in Esslingen. During the summer, when we travel to XTERRA events, we enter this international community.

What I also appreciate is that the Elite and age-group athletes are not completely separated. The groups mix. People know one another, speak with one another, and share many of the same experiences. You might meet someone at one event and then arrange to check the course together the next time you see them.

Becoming Someone Else

I was not a fearless person by nature, and I had to work through a lot of uncertainty. I am still cautious sometimes, and I do not think that will disappear completely. But I can also be courageous now.

I can ride trails that I would never have imagined riding before. I can arrive at a difficult section, look at it, and believe there may be a way through.

That confidence came from trying, stopping, looking again, returning another day, and adding one small ability after another. Through that process, I became someone else.

Courage does not mean that fear disappears. It means that you can still move forward while the fear is there.

Imperfect Satisfaction

Being outside and pushing myself is so natural to me that it is difficult to explain exactly what it does mentally. When I return from training, I often feel completely satisfied with myself and with the world.

Of course, the world is not always perfect. But during that time outside, I have moved, pushed myself, and dealt with whatever was in front of me. When I come back, everything feels fine again.

There are days when everything works and you enter that flow state. Then there are days when your legs do not feel the way you hoped and the whole experience becomes hard work. On those days, it is also mental work. You have to tell yourself that you can still have a good day even if it does not feel good.

Both are reasons to be proud, and that is one of the things that makes me want to keep going.

Giving Something Back

What has changed is that I also want to give something back from my experience. I am becoming a coach myself and completing my coaching license through our regional triathlon association. I am also involved with the younger athletes in our club.

I think a lot about how I can help someone else improve, enjoy the sport, and build confidence. Sometimes the younger athletes see one of my medals and say, “Alex, that is cool. Can I hold it? I want one too.”

I tell them that they can work towards whatever they want, but good results do not simply fall from the sky. It takes time, work, and passion. It can be fun, but the work is still part of it.

When I first learned how to swim properly at 33 or when Siggi first put me on a mountain bike, step by step, I improved. Step by step, I became more courageous. Now, everything I learned through this process can help me support someone else as they take the next step.