Tölzerin Sara Hallbauer: From chain smoker to endurance miracle

Created: 07/25/2022, 3:00 p.m

By: Patrick Star

The goal has been reached: Sara Hallbauer celebrates in Mandelieu.

© Private

Sara Hallbauer was the only woman to reach the finish line in the "Race across France" over 4 mountain peaks.

An incredible transformation lies behind her.

Wackersberg

- 555 kilometers in one day are easily doable - by car, by plane or by train.

But cycling 555 kilometers in a row?

And that in little more than a day?

Even well-trained athletes reach the limits of their imagination.

Tölzerin Sara Hallbauer did it.

And that's not all. The 555 kilometers were only the start of the nine-day "Race across France", in which more than half of the 131 starters had to give up.

And in which the woman from Wackersberg was the only woman to reach the finish line.

You can't exactly say that endurance sports were born to Hallbauer.

On the contrary, for 35 years she had very little to do with sports.

She put all her energy into her job in the media industry.

"Until then I was a really heavy smoker, I was a chain smoker," she recalls.

The turning point came when she met her husband Axel and the two of them started a ski tour: "With great difficulty I managed 400 meters in altitude." On that day she realized that she should change something in her lifestyle.

Her husband bought her her first racing bike, she quit smoking, started endurance sports, resigned from her employer and rearranged her priorities: “There are a few things in the world that I really want to see.

I want to do something that's a bit of an adventure." That's why she starts her races in the "unsupported" category, which means, unlike others, she doesn't have an escort vehicle in tow with physiotherapists, trainers and food distribution.

One of the highlights of the "Race across France": The ascent to the more than 2600 meter high Galibier.

© PHOTO: QUENTIN IGLESIS

In 2019 she started in this way in the ultra-cycle race "Northcape 4000" from Lake Garda to the North Cape.

"But compared to the Race across France, it was a walk in the park." In its fifth edition, the race covered 2,570 kilometers from Le Toquet on the English Channel across France to Mandelieu on the Mediterranean.

In addition, 40 mountain passes and 36,526 meters of altitude had to be mastered.

This would have been enough of a challenge on its own, but then there was the extreme weather: during the race, Provence suffered from a tremendous heat wave with temperatures around 42 degrees.

Storm and rain lashed the athletes' faces in the Alps.

One of 40 mountain peaks has been cracked: Sara Hallbauer on the 2770 meter high Col de l'Iseran.

© Private

The very first day was an endurance test.

Start time was at 6:48 p.m.

Hallbauer sat on the bike all night and the following day. At 4 p.m. she went to bed for a short while, then continued to ride until just after midnight.

Her speedometer showed 555.29 kilometers when she took a longer break for the first time.

"That was a great start to the race." When she looks at the photos from the following days, she has to laugh.

Completely soaked, she stands on the Col du Télégraphe and looks into the camera: "You can see from my look: Fuck, I'm not in the mood anymore." Another photo shows the water deposits on her face caused by the Alternation of heat and cold.

The wet gave her problems at all points of contact between the bike and her body: "If the socks are damp, the shoes rub.

The feet become extremely sensitive in the area of ​​the shoe plates.

My wrists also hurt.” The rain was particularly heavy on the descent from the Col du Télégraphe down into the village of Valloire.

Hallbauer was clear: With her thin rain jacket, she better not drive up the pass road to the Galibier and, above all, down again.

So she bought a thick hooded hiking rain jacket in a sports shop in Valloire.

"And merino underwear for men in size XL," she adds with a laugh.

"All the other underpants were sold out." This equipment was worth its weight in gold for the descent from an altitude of 2,642 meters.

Hallbauer was clear: With her thin rain jacket, she'd better not drive up the pass road to the Galibier and, above all, down again.

So she bought a thick hooded hiking rain jacket in a sports shop in Valloire.

"And merino underwear for men in size XL," she adds with a laugh.

"All the other underpants were sold out." This equipment was worth its weight in gold for the descent from an altitude of 2,642 meters.

Hallbauer was clear: With her thin rain jacket, she'd better not drive up the pass road to the Galibier and, above all, down again.

So she bought a thick hooded hiking rain jacket in a sports shop in Valloire.

"And merino underwear for men in size XL," she adds with a laugh.

"All the other underpants were sold out." This equipment was worth its weight in gold for the descent from an altitude of 2,642 meters.

Of course there were also many good experiences.

Some hotels would have extended the opening hours so that she could still check in around midnight.

She was repeatedly cheered on by motorists.

Near Grenoble, at 2,000 meters above sea level, they were welcomed by a fan who cheered for the drivers with his buddy: "When people like that come onto the street because they think what you're doing is great, I think it's really cool."

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The climb up Mont Ventoux is also unforgettable.

In the middle of the night at 10:51 p.m. she reached the summit and looked down into the valley all alone.

The emotional high point for Hallbauer was the last 60 kilometers through the Cote D'Azur National Park towards the Mediterranean Sea, which was all downhill.

"I turned on my music on my smartphone and drove down at dawn with a view of the mountains and the sea - gigantic."

When it's urgent: You don't need to reserve a table for the "Race across France", you eat on the way.

© Private

Apart from Hallbauer, only 53 men were able to cross the finish line.

73 starters and the two other starters had to give up on the way or did not reach the checkpoints in the given time.

"The organizer wrote that he will never make the race that hard again," says the woman from Wackersberg.

Does Hallbauer sometimes regret that she didn't start competitive sports earlier?

When asked this question, she shakes her head: "I don't think I would have been able to ride a bike that well when I was 25 or 30." Long-distance cycling has a lot to do with being able to assess your strengths and weaknesses: "You had to I'm getting older." Apart from that, long-distance driving is a matter of character: "I'm a person who's in the mood to give everything.

It used to be at work, and now this character trait is being carried over to sport.”

Her story may seem a bit unbelievable, the Wackersberg resident reflects, because she doesn't come from a family that is enthusiastic about sports: "But my example may show that it's not about where you come from.

It's about who you want to be." Her goal is to help women to have such adventures: "Of course, Race across France is a blatant thing.

You always think women can't do that.

But they can.

I am proof of that.”

Bike tour tips

In her blog www.bikepackers.de, Sara Hallbauer describes her adventures on the bike and gives travel tips.

Their tours are documented on www.strava.com.

Simply enter Sara Hallbauer in the search field.