An Interview with Marius Karteusch

We had a chat with Marius, about life in general, his passion about riding bikes and talked about his season. 

If a stranger would ask you to describe yourself in one sentence, what would you say? 

I'm Marius, 34 years old from Sauerland Germany. For work I do B2B Key Account managment for JobRad in NRW.
If I am not on my bike you probably gonna find me somewhere outside together with my girlfriend and my dog.

What does bikepacking mean to you?

Riding bikes with friends, enjoying the nature and just enjoying life. It doesn't really matter, if it's a ultra race or a multi-day bikepacking trip. Bikepacking bags enable you to have a great time no matter your destination. 

What type of bikepacking to you like the most?

Multi-day bikepacking trips with friends or family.  

How do you train for races and events?

Till August this year, I trained without any plan, now Lukas is talking care of my training. Before that I just trained way to hard with too little rest. He takes care of me and my training, and also controls my recovery times.

How do you handle your time management?

Besides working full time, I try to train between 10 and 20 hours per week. Although that also depends on the current work and meeting situation. Lukas, my coach adjusts my training continuously to find the right balance between work and recovery. My girlfriend plays an important role, without here I wouldn't be able to train like that.

How do you plan your races?

I really like planning, that's where my passion starts for this sport. I love to spend hour after hour in front of my laptop trying to find the best route possible, mark all resupply options and plan everything as detailed as possible. Although all the planning I want to leave some space for unforseen things. To get everything dailed in and perfect you have to do a lot of races.  

How does your training look like?

If you're only riding long distance bikepacking and ultra races it's not necessary to train with a coach. Although you need to be structured, well motivated and race a lot. For me I like to have someone who tells me what to train and also thinks about the right amount of recovery. Knowing that someone cares, helps a lot especially on the mental side.
I am super happy with my material, having awesome partners on my side makes equipment choices easy.

I am one of the guys who leaves for a race with barely nothing in his bags than food.

How was your season 2022? 

Filled with a lot of ups and downs. It started perfectly with a second place at Unbound XL, followed by a nomination for the Gravel World Championships. From there on luck wasn't on my side. I crashed out lying on second place at Basajaun and had a super early crash which ended in a DNF at the Gravel World Championships.
Nevertheless I learned a lot for the future.

Which races did you ride?

The Traka 360, Unbound XL, UCI Gravel Worldseries Poland and Belgium, Basajaun and the Gravel World Championship.

Learnings from this season?

Start the ultra races at your own pace and do not follow the high pace of others at the beginning.

Plans for this year 2023? 

Generally, gain more experience in different bike disciplines and celebrate a few successes in shorter gravel races. In addition, do one or two nice bikepacking trips with my girlfriend or friends. 

Race 2023: The Traka 360, Unbound XL, The Rift Island, Gravel Earth Series, UCI Gravel Worldseries, Gravel German Championship and World Championship.

Which one is your favorite bag?

Definitely the HANDLE BAR AERO BAG! The construction is super stable and the bag improves aerodynamics.

Thank you for your time Marius and all the best for the 2023 season. 

To be always up to date, follow Marius on Instagram.