Karl Platt, thanks for being on the show. It's been a long time. I want to drive, all right, as perfect as I can. You know, I must do it. There's no shortcut. I must do it, because there's, you want to perform. I want to win. Karl Platt is a legend in the world of mountain biking and marathon racing in particular.

He has won the iconic Cape Epic an unbelievable five times. At 46, he is still racing bikes for Team Bulls, but Carl has also developed a passion for four wheel racing. Everyone would have seen me sitting in your, uh, your Porsche 911 GT3 RS, which I just got a spin in. Literally, I thought I was going to die.

And then you sit eight hours on the bike and you think, I can't. Again, 8 hours. Why am I doing this shit? But in the same moment you said, hey, I achieved so much. What does success mean to you? And the second part is, what do you think has been the biggest factor? And your success.

Karl Platt, thanks for being on the show. It's been a long time. Yeah, thanks for asking me. Yeah, it's an honor to be with you here. I think it's a quite special location. As everyone would have seen, we're sitting in your Porsche 911 GT3. RS, which I just got a spin in, um, and, uh, You were sweating a little bit.

Literally. I don't know why. Literally, I thought I was going to die. Even though, You claim you had everything under control, but my mind couldn't comprehend the speed we were going. Yeah, it's a, it's a bit difficult in the beginning because you're, if you're not used for that speed. But I, I must also tell you, recently my son started driving and I took him on, on the race course and I was sitting also in the passenger seat and I shit myself.

Really? Not really shit myself, but, uh, It was like a new experience for me, if your son driving and I was teaching, I tried to teach him, but I was not teaching, I was shouting at him, why are you doing this stupid mistakes? Why are you driving over the rear axle? Yeah, it's, um, maybe we can start there. I mean, where did the.

The love for cars kind of, uh, come into the mix. I mean, you're known for, for bikes and, uh, cars are a big part of your life. So, um, yeah, it's normally you're right. Uh, I well known for, for bicycles, mountain bikes, especially marathon racing. And, um, yeah, my mates, uh, they were, they were super interested in cars.

And, uh, one day they took me to the, to the race course and then my life started. And that was it. You were hooked. I was, honestly, I was hooked from the, I was always hooked to cars. I mean, everything what has to do with speed and technique and some, yeah, exciting things or skiing, snowboarding. Everything exciting outside I love and I love to do it.

So, then the cars. actually come over and, uh, yeah, in the, in the beginning, uh, I started like with, uh, with cheap cars, uh, normal cars. And when you get older and you save some money, you can afford, uh, Something like this. Something like this. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, and, um, it helped me also a lot in mountain biking to have the right mindset because in the beginning, I mean, you were downhiller.

I was also downhiller in my younger years. I was going to ask you about that. When I was a junior and, uh, so 17, 18, I was German champion downhill. Uh, but it's, uh, long ago. So you're basically one of us. Yeah, kind of. Kind of. Yeah, but in the early days, uh, it was, uh, downhill was we were riding on full suspension bikes.

So my marathon bike now, has more travel than the downhill bike in the early days. No, but coming back to the mindset. So when I was younger, I tried to be as fast as possible. And, uh, then I crashed also sometimes. And, uh, the mindset was just wrong because I put myself always under pressure. And now it's different.

Now I want to, I want to, I want to drive or ride as perfect as I can. And then the speed comes automatically. So, you know, when you drive as perfect, you feel the car the same as mountain biking or in the downhill. If you want to ride, yeah, sure, sometimes you have to take some risk, but in the end of the day you want to ride as perfect as you can and not as fast as you can.

So, in the, coming back to car, car driving, if you drive as fast as, uh, as you want or as you can, It doesn't mean that you're driving perfect, so, and if you crash the car, it's super expensive. And, uh, it's useless because if you, if you, yeah, and maybe you can in a horrible car accident, you can also die.

Yeah. And, um, so the mindset was, I got the mindset from, uh, from friends who are, who did car racing and, uh, especially from one guy, Walter Röhrl, and, uh, when you ride with this guy, it's, everything is so smooth and everything under control, and then you get the mindset, okay? You don't want to show off when you, when you drive or, uh, hunting for seconds or, or even less.

So you want to drive as perfect as you can. Feel the car, feel the front, the back, the steering, the brakes. It's all physics. Yeah, so yeah, it's, it's, I guess it's kind of like when you watch Greg Menard or Loic Bruni or something, when they ride, it doesn't look out of control. It looks everything, it looks so easy, um, but yet they're going faster.

It seems to me that It's not always the guy who's just getting wild that's getting the time. It's just like connecting everything and doing everything. Perfect. It seemed like watching formula one, you know, it sometimes looks a bit undramatic because they so good at, uh, all the lines are perfect.

Breaking points are perfect. Acceleration is perfect. Um, exactly. It must be perfect. And that's the right mindset. So sometimes I watch also people, uh, Doing skill clinic and they go over the limit and then your brain switches off. So I recognized this one, uh, when I did some drift training in the car and drifting is completely something different.

to drive a perfect line. So in drifting, you want to slide your car. And in the beginning I couldn't get it because once, uh, the car was sliding, I tried to correct it immediately. Coming from the race course. And then I said, okay, I need to push more. And then I pushed a bit more and then I lost the car.

Spin. Yeah. So to find the right balance. And then, uh, I was too. I started to be aggressive, you know, like, and my mate, he's an instructor, he said to me, hey, I see you, now you want to, you just want too much, and your brain doesn't cope it, yeah? Go back to the routine, go back to the basics. I said, what's the basics?

Just try to get the drift in and stop. Drift, stop. Drift, stop. Okay. So our brain gets useful. the automatic process. And that's also with cycling. I also see a big problem with the SAFAS. They love to South African or yeah, the riders as well, they love the long rides. They want to go a hundred kilometers on unridden trails.

And then they want to learn the technique, but they, they, they will never learn. So my My opinion is you need to go on a small loop and do the loop hundred times, so till your brain starts going in, uh, out, uh, out of mind, you know, not thinking about. It must be an automatic process. Yeah, it's kind of, I mean, repetition is what makes you better in, in most sports.

Exactly. Um, I always tell people when they ask me about how to get better in mountain biking, I often tell them to ride a pump track, for example. Because a pump track you can do 100 laps. You know, and it's always the same. And maybe it's not exactly the same as, as the, the hill. But a lot of the same things apply.

You know, pumping, the cornering, your balance points, how you pump for speed. They have jumps often. So a lot of the same things that you, Need on the mountain. You learn and pump track, but it's way easier because now you can do it over and over and over and you're not crashing and you're not having the risk as well.

And you don't have to deal with mud and stuff like that. So it's a kind of more controlled setting, but it's it's actually interesting that it seems that cars. I can see the connection that cars, racing cars can actually help you to become a better mountain biker, potentially. Yeah, definitely to, uh, like I said, to get the right mindset, to not overcook it.

Yeah, I mean, also with the, you mentioned with the, with the drifting in the car, I mean, I, I, the first thing I thought about was, you know what a shralp is? So it's a new thing now, the old, the fastest way to hit a corner on a mountain bike is you want to be as smooth as you can, carry as much exit speed as you can.

But now with social media, all the youngsters now, they want to try to blow the back tire off the rim. So they come into the corner on the inside, and then just do square off, and just whoop the corner. But you have no exit speed, but it looks cool on the camera. And then, uh, for me, that's, that's cool. It's something that I really had to practice like to be able to do because it was so it was like you trying to drift The car it was like the exact opposite thing of I've what I've been trying to practice the whole my whole career And then suddenly it's like okay.

I have to do the wrong thing now try to just Literally go as fast as I can and square off the turn But I can imagine when you're driving a car and then suddenly they tell you now you can practice The goal is to lose the grip. It's, uh, quite a hard concept to grasp. And to, yeah, exactly. To lose the grip, like, not in a hard way, but in a very soft way.

To get the impulse going, uh, on the rear wheels. Uh, very easy, very smooth. My son. He's probably wondering

what the Yeah, he's wondering what the So Maybe we can. Uh, so when you mentioned that you were a downhill champ in 1996, um, and that was quite a surprising stat, I didn't know that you were a downhiller before. So maybe you can take us back to the beginning and where, you know, obviously you started with downhill clearly.

When did that, where did that start? And then also when did the change come that you started to go for more cross-country marathon, um, direction. Uh, here. Uh, so you are quite younger than, than I. Um, so in the beginning, like in the, in the nineties, it was, um, my, so my first race I did in 92, but I was too, but yeah, so it was really, yeah, it was for fun.

I was a young boy and it was on a. On a hardtail, proper rigid fork, and no suspension at all, 1. 9 tires, bar ends, on a downhill. That was 92, but then, uh, so my prime downhill times were in 95, 96. And at that time, you still could, uh, still could do both. So in the early, in the early years between 90 and 95, Five 94, I would say, uh, people were doing both like John Tomek or net over and, uh, the early guys, they, they won cross country World Cup and they won a downhill World Cup.

So on similar bikes, crazy. So, and from 95, it started to, to change a little bit. Yeah. So the bikes get more suspension and, uh, you couldn't really ride with the downhill bike, uh, cross country, uh, race. And, uh, so at that time, it was still similar to, to ride both. And then from, I think from 97, 98, there was a big change.

So no one of the cross country riders would go to the World Cup race and downhill. And what, what made you go the direction of, of sort of cross country and marathon? So, actually I didn't start, I forgot to say, I didn't start with downhill, I started with mountain biking. Mm hmm. Cross country racing and then I added road racing.

Mm hmm. And, um, yeah, because, The coaches or people told you want to be a good cross country rider. You need to do actually a lot of training on the road So we did the hours on the road and some Riding on on the mountain bike. Yeah, and then yeah, like like I said, I had a downhill in 95 to also To my events and races and I did it when I was junior and then but it was clearly for me for for me So I don't want to go to a downhill race and Spend the whole weekend for three minute.

Mm hmm downhill and then yeah Yeah, you lose the first corner you crash or lose time and then it's over. You have to wait for another So that was clearly not, uh, not my game. And that's why I said no, never downhill again. And the change came and, uh, so from that point it was, when I entered the elite class, it was clear that I'm just doing, um, cross country racing and road racing.

And, um, So that was 97 then, then you stopped, stopped downhill. Exactly, 97 I stopped downhill. And then you said you went to cross country and, and was marathon around back then? Uh, it was, it started slow, uh, slowly with, uh, marathon racing in 97, but, uh, I was too young. I wanted to be a World Cup, uh, racer.

So my first marathon races I only start doing in 2001.

Oh, 2001 only, okay. Only started. Till then I was just cross country racer. World Cup. Okay, and Still young, under 23. It's interesting that you, you know, with that downhill background, um, because I feel like you've obviously had a lot of success, which we'll chat about, uh, in a bit, but I feel like the best Cross country and marathon riders have that skill base as well I think a lot of riders that don't have don't build up the skill when they're younger like doing something like downhill It's a huge problem because they just focus on getting fit and getting strong But if you look at now Alan Hathaway won the world champs and he he raced downhill He was also national champ as a downhill and Barry Stunder also raced downhill So, you know, look at these guys and I mean someone like Nino's also really good technically Um, and, uh, I think also in South Africa, that's a, that's an issue.

Yeah. But, uh, I mean, now. All the guys, they race downhill. Especially in South Africa, you have all the trails, the tracks, the jump lines. Uh, sometimes I meet some young, uh, in Stellenbosch, if I meet some young, uh, guys like 16, 17, 18, and we go to the jump line, and my eyes getting big like that, it's okay.

Okay, I never learned that. So personally, I'm, I'm scared of, of jumping because I never learned to like to jump high. So I can drop down somewhere, it can be high, but never like the technique for balancing the bike in the air. So yeah, but, but you're right. So in the beginning. Most of the roadies came to mountain biking and their mountain bike skills were terrible.

So I just needed to wait on the uphill, stay on the wheel, and then in the downhill it was easy to put, uh, two, three, four minutes into the guys. Yeah. Yeah. So that helped me definitely. But now if you, if you have a look in the cross country world cup or even marathon, they're all on a very, very high level.

Yeah. And when, when was the point, so you did after the downhill stage, um, you went into cross country and, and you said 2001 was the first time you did a marathon. And, um, first of all, when was the point that you thought that you could turn this into a career or was it that always your plan or was it something that just came about?

And, and when did you. Decide or why did you decide to then switch to Marathon as opposed to, as opposed to cross country racing? Yeah, people ask me always, uh, was it your plan to be a professional? Never. I mean, I just continued, uh, you're junior and then you hope for, for some results in the elite class, and you, you, you train, you suffer, you fight, and then all of a sudden maybe you finish like a top five or top three in German champs.

And then you think, okay, now. I'm at a point where I have some talent. And, uh, then you maybe need, uh, meet, uh, some, some coaches or some, uh, mentors. They tell you what you have to improve. They see what you train and then So it's cross country and, uh, marathons also about time. So you have to spend a lot of kilometers, your life kilometers must increase until you reach like a certain, uh, certain level.

So, the same happened to me. I mean, in the beginning, um, I, I was talented, but my form curve was always like this. So I never found like a, a good, um, Uh, stable base where I can work from. Yeah, and then I met some, some, some guys, some professionals, and they told me I have to train more. I have to train really more.

It doesn't help if I train like 12, 13, 14 hours a week. Uh, I have to train like 30, 35 hours. 35 hours a week. Yeah, 35 hours a week. And then I, but I liked it. Because I love, I love my bike. I love my bike. I wanted to be on the bike all day long. I wanted to ride somewhere in the morning and come back late evening and just experience.

And, uh, yeah. And that, uh, probably that was my, um, my talent. And, uh, then I was riding all day. Probably. And then you feel like, okay, legs getting better, shape getting better. You go to the races and then you add some, some kind of intervals and, uh, some races and then you get the shape. And over the years when you stick, you, yeah, you need to stick to the sport because most of the people also from my generation, they, they stopped early.

So they tried like for one year or two years and then they saw like, okay, it's useless. I can't be there and then they stopped and I continued always I continued I stick to the sport and then in the right moment boom I was there and I mean, I think we can all agree that racing marathon or cross country is really hard, um, in a different way to something like downhill.

You know, it's a lot of suffering and you need to be willing to endure a lot of pain. What is your main motivation? Um, to, to what was your main motivation besides, I guess, winning the race, but was there a different motivation that, you know, because you need a lot of willpower to be able to put in that, that time to train and, and, and also race at that intensity.

You know, it's, uh, it's also, um, personal thing or personality thing. Uh, some people need a lot of motivation to go for, for training. And some people need, like, a structure, they need, like, a training plan, where they stick. If they don't have a training plan, they don't, don't know what to do. Yeah. I was exactly the other person.

I hated training plans. Oh, really? Okay. Yeah, I never had, uh, if some, uh, I tried with some coaches and they gave me a training plan, it was a nightmare for me. So I had, I had like an idea what I have to do like in the weeks, you know, okay, like for example, the EPIC is in March and then I started in December some base training and then I did the base training and when I felt okay, the base training is now good and I feel good, my recovery starts getting better and I have a good, I have good legs.

Then I added some power training. And when I added some power training, okay, I felt I'm getting better and better and better. Then you rest because you get tired. So it was like a natural process. So, and then the next training camp in January, uh, it was a bit faster, a bit longer. And, uh, then you're tired again.

And the next step was like, okay, now I need some speed. Because from, only from endurance riding, you don't get the speed. So I added a lot of speed and even more mountains. And I just went hard on the climbs. Yeah. And maybe meet some mates and then we did some racing with mates. Just try and drop your mate.

That was my training. That's so crazy. Like, I feel like nowadays, everything is so easy. It seems at least so technical and and I think people overthink stuff sometimes too much. Yeah, and yeah I think that's crazy that you just basically figured out your training From how you felt and, uh, yeah. And sort of built it around you.

Yeah. It sounds, uh, super easy, but I needed a lot of years to figure out what is good for me and what is not good for me. I also killed myself in some years, and I was like flat. There was nothing possible. . I had no shape because I was too tired. I just added way, way too much training in the Mm-Hmm. in the wrong time.

And, um, yeah, it, it was always a learning curve till I would say. When I was, when I was 24, 25 mm-Hmm. . And then it stabilized somehow. Yeah. I knew what to do in, uh, in spring. I knew what to I, I knew what to do in winter and, uh, I was quite confident if I stick to, to this kind of program. Mm-Hmm. it must be like the same program day by day.

Yeah. But at least you have like a, a red, yeah. How you call it a red line. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, where you just move around. Yeah, and it's like a base kind of line that you follow this. Exactly. And, wow. So, I mean, there, as with any sport, I'm sure that there have been, uh, Very tough times as well, um, for you and whether it's an injury or mental struggles or, you know, whatever.

Was there ever a point that, I mean, that you thought that you don't want to do it anymore? Or was there ever a point where it was really the sort of lowest point for you? I mean, if I would say no, never, I would lie. No, you always have. I mean, life is always tricky. For more UN videos visit www. un. org And, uh, once, uh, you have like a good year or good times, for sure, they never hold on forever.

Yeah. That's life. You have to fight through all the negativity, what comes to you. Um, yeah, but I always thought about, I never looked in the back, always forward, always forward. So I had like a bad time. I thought, okay, give it two, three weeks, four weeks. And then I'm there again where I want. It's just, just, you have to go through.

Yeah. Just keep going. Always keep going. And leave it as fast as you can behind you. That, that was my motivation. And sometimes it just needed time. It's, it's crazy that you had so much, like, of this willpower and grit to keep pushing. I think, I think that, that is also kind of personality. DNA, I would say.

Like someone

Maybe God gifted me with such, uh, DNA, and other people, they struggle all the time. So maybe these people can learn how it can be different, you know. It's not always, it was never perfect, so people only see, ah, this guy won the Cape Epic. So, and, but I, I struggled a lot before the time, and there were many years where I struggled before the Epic, till like a week before, till like three.

three, four days before the epic. And I wasn't sure about my shape. I knew, okay, it's kind of good, but then only like four days at the last training, I felt like, okay, I'm ready. That was also kind of talent to bring to, uh, to know your body exactly how to bring it in shape just in time, just right, right there, not too early and not too late.

And so on that point, you, You won the Epic five times. Five times, right? Yeah. What, did you join Bulls before or only after the first one? Uh, it was after. So with Bulls it was a, it was a cool story. So I won the first Epic in 2004 with Manny Heimans, Mr. African. And, yeah, then two, five, two, six, finished second and third, I think.

And, um, yeah, then I got an offer from Bulls for 2007 to, to create, like, a complete new team with all the support I need and I want. And they've been super loyal. So Bulls was a kind of a shit brand before.

Yeah. Yeah. And they, they, they just wanted to, to improve and to get a good image. Yeah. So they have also a lot of commuter bikes and, uh, uh, yeah, cheap bikes. And, um, we, they wanted to add just some, some high class. Uh, bikes into their portfolio and to create a nice image through the sport. Yeah. And I got, I got the chance and the guy who asked me, I knew from racing cars.

Ah, funny. Yeah. He was also racing cars. All comes back. All comes back. Yeah. It's, it's like a socializing. If you socialize with a lot of people and they know you and then it always comes back to you. So, and then we started in two thousand, uh, seven. the Bulls brand, the Bulls bikes team, not the brand. We started the team and we were highly, highly motivated with Stefan, Stefan Zahm and Friedemann.

Friedemann was my training partner, but then he had to decide, um, either he is the team manager or, or racing, and he got an opportunity to be the team manager. And, yeah, we were like three friends, like, yeah, now if you compare it like with Beat Company, with, uh, Lucas Egger. So we were kind of the first guys, uh, before them.

And, uh, yeah, we got all the support and that was motivation pure. So we were training like crazy in the wintertime and, because, you know. We had our team manager was our friend, so we were the bosses. That's cool. Yeah. And the company Bull Bikes were really loyal to everything we did. And then in the first year, we, 2007, we won the Cap Epic, we won the Trans Swap, we won Trans Germany, we won the trans out, cleaned up.

Uh, we want everything. It was super cool. And then you build something. Yeah, we built it in a nice era. Is, is, what for you would be the, the, is the Cape Epic sort of the pinnacle, in your opinion, of stage racing? Or do you think there's another event that you hold at a higher standard? No, if, now definitely the Cape Epic is the highest standard you can get.

I mean, that's, that's to the front of mountain biking. Thank you. And, and in the early days, the, the, the bike trans Alp. Mm-Hmm. , that was the mother of all stage races, uh, racing over the Alps in, in eight days. And, uh, I won the trans a seven times and um, yeah, starting in 2002. Exactly. And Epic was 2004, the first edition.

Yeah. Yeah. And then from, from there on, I was. Racing and what was the I mean with the epic specifically, I mean to win it five times. It's a pretty remarkable I think you and Salza done it as well. Yeah, Christophe. Yeah, Christophe and also five times What was the difference? I mean with you? How how did you guys was it something just that you felt like you had naturally or the way that you trained or?

What do you felt like was the game changer for for being able to win it five times? Or just the ability to suffer more. I can't even tell you this, uh, there is a secret. There is no secret. We took it every year. That wasn't like I want to win it now five times or six times or seven times. Uh, we raced hard.

We were exhausted after the race. We were happy it was over because yeah, it's, it's really, I mean the Cape Epic to race eight days. It's really demanding. It's, uh, it's not only. Harden on on your body Racing for eight days, but also on your mind. I mean they're going going to bed in the evening and thinking Shit, I need to wake up in seven hours And then the suffer shit Starts Starts again Yeah, and then you wake up like, so you were scared.

Sometimes you were scared already going to bed because You were scared to wake up Yeah, no, I must tell you honestly, I mean looking back now winning it five times I think okay, how How that was possible But in the in the right in the moment . I think we, the pros probably they suffer more than the hobby riders.

Really? Yeah. Because that's, you have the mental stress. Yeah. Yeah. You have, you have the pressure as well. Yeah. The, the, the hobby riders, the amateurs, they need to get through. Mm-Hmm. . So they also under stress, uh, because they wanna make the cutoff time. But for us, it's about winning, you know? For us, it's not about, uh, making the cut off time that if we would just go for a cut off time, it was, it would be, uh, like, uh, Christmas, but now you're, you want to win because you're, you know, it's important for the company, for your brand and also for yourself because you feel responsible also for your sponsors.

Because you want to deliver, you want to show, uh, okay, um. They, they pay your money, they support you, and yeah, for sure, you wanna, well, once you're a racer, you're always a racer, you wanna win. You want to perform at your best level ever, because you spend so many hours in training. Like I said, like, in wintertime, sometimes I started in the dark, and come back in the dark at zero, or minus two, or minus three degrees, and then you think, okay, I've been training now the whole winter, freezing my fingers, freezing my feet, and, uh, yeah.

Yeah, and, uh, now I also want to deliver because I'm not training just for, for fun. I feel like as well, when you, when you win something, um, multiple times, um, I mean, I experienced that to a degree as well in downhill, when you winning races, it becomes like people expect you to win. So it's, even though every time for me, at least every time was just as hard as the previous time, but.

You have this expectation that people are like, because you won it now twice or three times, and they're like, oh, but now you're going to win again, you know, because it's like, oh, it's easy for you. You, you did this before, but I feel like it's not like that for the athlete. It's not, it's actually worse because you have this pressure.

Now you feel the pressure from everyone else. Yeah. You feel the pressure. Even, uh, yeah, I remember quite well. Uh, after the epic, so we went for the route launch, uh, in October, the route launch was always in October, November, and they say, Hey, but you win it next year again, right? Yeah, for sure. I win it. And then you think like, ah, and you know what's behind because you have to train a lot.

You need the, uh, yeah, if you need the extra portion of, uh, of luck. You know, no flat tires, no mechanicals, and what if, uh, your rival is a little bit stronger, then you have to suffer even more. So all this comes together, yeah, and people, they don't realize, they don't realize, they only see like the little of the iceberg, but they don't know what's behind.

What, what did, you're talking all about the training, so in the base training season, what would a typical week of training look like for you? Like I know you say you had, didn't, it wasn't always the same, but maybe like a ballpark because I think people, uh, even me, I, the amount of miles that you, I mean, you said 35, um, hours a week of training is insane.

Yeah. 35 was a, was a, was a, uh, was a good week, like a, a proper week. But sometimes I did also more than 40 hours, like a proper, uh, like in, um, Peak week, I did between 40 and 45 hours. So it's like you go out in the morning and you come back in the evening. You ride the whole day. Yeah, so I had times like, uh, I went to Mallorca for the training camp.

And, uh, I went on my bike at 8. 30, 9. And then I rode every day 200, 220 kilometers. It's like seven hours. Every day. That is insane. Coming back. Eat. Eat. Eat. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. Yeah. I remember like my, my, my, my proper weeks. I was so, so motivated. I want to also try, uh, if it's, uh, if it's, um, it's good for my body or not.

So I did in 15 days, 2750 kilometers on my yorker. Yeah. With no group alone. That's insane. Yeah. It was every day, 200 kilometers riding. So. Is that on the road? On the road, yeah. The base training on the road. And then the first week I went just flat or little hills, and then the second week I went through all the big climbs.

And your body get used for it, and all of a sudden, if you, if you train for a hundred kilometers, it feels like a rest day. Yeah. I went for a hundred kilometers in the morning, and then I didn't know what to do the whole afternoon. I was bored. Ha ha ha! For me, if I go for on the cam, not normally on the road, but on the mountain bike, but for me, if I go for like 30 Ks on the mountain bike on just single track, like that's a big ride for me.

It's, it's, it is a big ride. But, uh, what I also tell people, if you go on the road, uh, Your brain doesn't cope so many information because you just see the road the road and the road maybe some cars But while you're going on the mountain bike, you get much more information. You see the rocks That's the little trail the trees everything.

Yeah. Yeah, so there's much more information going through your eyes into your brain Yeah, you need to digest everything. That's that's why it makes you tired so quick. Uh huh. Interesting Yeah. And on the road, you just see the road. There's not many information. It's like a computer, you know. So you just get all this, you don't need to concentrate.

Yeah. So I realized that, uh, in the beginning, um, when I came the first time to South Africa, and you have to drive on the, on the left side of the road. Yeah. So, and it's, in the first moment, it's a little bit, not panic, but you have to concentrate yourself a lot. Uh, when you go into the roundabout or if you're in the town and then you have to, because your brain starts working like proper, while when I'm at home, it's all automatic.

You don't need to think. Yeah. It's all automatic. Well, I hope it's automatic in this car. When we were driving, I was like praying that we But that is also a thing. The first time I drove like with a professional car driver, uh, with Walter Röhrl, he was going like crazy speed on a normal road. I was on the limit.

I was, I was sweating. I was, uh, I was praying in the car. I, I just thought, okay, because of you, he, he is not going to show off and he never crashed before in his life. He's 65 now and he never crashed. Not because of you. No, but what I also realized, um, his brain is so used for the information, he doesn't even look in, straight on the road.

He doesn't need because his brain is copying it, so he's, he's digesting it. Yeah. So he, he watches always left and right for wild animals. Mm hmm. Interesting. And see what's around the car. I mean, you're just looking straight. Yeah, I was just looking straight and always, When we were driving, I had also, I was watching you all the time to see how, but that's, that's the difference, you know, you have to train, you have to train your brain for the, for the information.

Same like mountain biking, actually, like when you get good, you are processing so many different, if you're going through a rocky section or whatever, you're processing what's coming at you. Also, what's coming from the side, maybe a loose rock rolls in your way, maybe, you You know, and it's actually crazy how much your brain can, can, uh, And your brain starts processing.

And if you're not used for it, so, and then you, you're focusing. So if a, if a root comes, so you, you have just a short look on the root, and then it's done. It's, it's, it's, it's done. Digested already, you know, okay, there is a route and your body does automatically while the hobby rider He sees the route and then he he looks at the route.

He looks looks look and then he crashes on it Do you think I understand? I think for me obviously I'm not racing cars, but I've felt like Riding and racing downhill has made me a much better driver on the road I'm being able to because obviously There's so many things, as we said now, that you're processing while you're riding, especially at speed.

Trees, rocks, roots, and you have to be so quick, and everything is like instinct. And I feel like, when I've driven with other people, you know, sometimes things happen, and I notice it, immediately, because, you know. You always like scanning, uh, and it's automatic because you're so used to it, but with other people don't see it.

Um, and they, so their reaction time is way slower. Um, I don't know if it's just a coincidence that I've noticed that, but that's the feeling I get. I believe when you start driving cars now, you will learn so quick. It's just, uh, if you, yeah, if you have that ability for, for speed. Because your brain can process just a little bit of training and, uh, and you get it also in cars because you also have it on a downhill bike.

That's the next goal. To get one of these. I'm going to have to sell a lot of bikes to get one of these. Um, so we were talking obviously road and off road and stuff and maybe a little bit of a controversial topic, but I feel like you're pretty easy, easy going with this. But, um, with. With the sport, with cycling in general, there's been, obviously at certain points, there's been a lot of, uh, controversy with drugs and stuff in the sport.

I mean, And it's changed a lot, I feel like, over the years. It's sort of had these waves and what, have you ever seen that in the sport? Like being personally exposed to it? Number one. And number two is how do you think the sport, or where do you think the sport is now, um, in relation to where it was maybe 10 years ago?

So what, what I see now is, um, completely different to like 20 years ago. So now you have all this, uh, nutrition scientists and coaches and they are really on a really, really high level. And now the power came into the game and they can control very easy and they can calculate, uh, your threshold, uh, your, uh, training performance.

They know exactly when your fuel is, is empty. And that, that wasn't in the early days. Uh, I mean, the history of the sport comes from even from the war. Yeah. They were riding and they, I think they just took drugs in the, in the past. just to survive also the, the long, uh, the long, uh, races. I mean, in the past, can you imagine on this shitty bikes with one gear going over the Alps, 300 kilometers and how you want to survive.

And I mean, if, if you have easy access and it was allowed, it was allowed. If you have easy access, uh, to hardcore drugs and you don't feel the pain anymore. Yeah. I would also take it. I mean, if it's, if it's allowed, I mean, now we have a different mentality for sure. Now I would never take it because I know it's not, it's not good.

It's, uh, uh, shit for your body and, uh, also for your health. And, uh, yeah. And there are certain, certain rules and that it's, that is good because, uh, can you imagine everyone could be, uh, doing what they, they want, they would get horns everywhere. I don't know. Time changed and, um, also people asking me why, uh, why, uh, you think, uh, the young generation is so, so strong now.

Also, um, I must tell, when I was young, there was a certain Hiroshi, so when you were riding in the peloton, and the older guys, they were always educating the younger ones. And now, because they can measure, when you do like a power test, and uh, they can measure your ability. They see what kind of engine you have originally.

Yeah. And some of these guys, they have a freaking, freaking big engine from DNA. That's not something you can train. It's just you're born with it. You're born with that. So God had a big heart. He gave it to someone or he had some proper, proper legs and he gave it to some or skills like, I mean, like Bruni or Greg Minnaar.

Yeah. I mean, you can't train this. You can train to a certain point. The rest it's, it's gift. Yeah. And it's, that's cool to see how. How people can be so gifted, you know, like, for example, now, Pogacar, or, um, Thunderpool. Yeah. They is just super, super gifted. And if everyone would train like they train, they would never be like them.

So, definitely it's, it's a gift, yeah. In, in the past, I always thought, why the other guys don't train like I do? Then they can win the Epic. Yeah. No. It would never happen. Yeah. Because I have another gift like other people. Yeah. And you can't compare. You can compare to a certain point. You can calculate and make a super training program.

But even the top guys, they always train alone. Yeah. Never like in a group, like in the past. In the past, they always trained like 10 to 20 people all together. And the guys with the most fitting for the training or strong guys. Yeah. They were always in front. Because I think, I mean, it's hard for me to, I mean, I've been a professional athlete as well, but obviously downhill is a completely different world.

Um, I would, there were times where I would be putting in, I couldn't put in more work. I didn't know how to recover well enough to put in more work. But then you go to the race and you, you know, you see someone come down, for example, Val De Sole or something like that. Crazy difficult track and they, they don't even look out of breath, you know, they're just like, and I'm like, boom, boom.

And I'm just, I think I know how hard I work and how much training that I was putting in. And then you just think like, how is it possible? And the same when you watch people doing the Epic or Tour de France, it's, it's like, how can the human body Sustained that, you know, for eight days or the Twitter France for multiple weeks.

I mean, how is that possible? It's, it's crazy. It is possible. It is possible to sustain for, for such a long time, but you must always also think they have, they don't have to care about anything. I mean, they have a special food truck going with them. , they have a truck with mattresses. Yeah, that they can sleep the best ever.

They have their own pillow, they have their own blanket, they have their own mattress, and they have a food truck with a kitchen, everything. So they get, it's, it's like on the edge, everything is on the edge, as perfect as they can. That's why they, they're so good. They don't have to care, care about anything.

They just need to be fast on a bike. Yeah, that's true. Um, speaking of fast on a bike, so, Best moment for you in your career? I mean, you've obviously won the Epic five times, you've won all these other races. Which one, is there one that sticks out as sort of above the rest? Yeah, there's one, one moment, uh, in the Epic.

It was the second, uh, on the first time with Stephan Zahm in 2007. We, we came as, uh, as rookies. We just built the team or created the team structure with Bulls. And, uh, then we won the, the first stage in a In the drama final, we were dropped on the last climb. And, um, I was riding two weeks ago on that climb.

Really? In the gravel burn, yeah. So, next year there's a new gravel event. And everything comes back into mind. And we were dropped by 40 seconds, maybe a minute. Ah, even a bit more than a minute. And I told Stefan, hey, uh, be relaxed. Thanks. We're going to catch, we have good tires on the bike, Schwalbis. We're going to catch them.

It was Ruhl, Paulusen, Jakob Fugelsang. I told them we're going to catch them back on the downhill and then we sprint them over. And we did. And then we won the first stage there. And then the whole epic was a whole drama because the yellow jersey changed every day and in the end we won. The epic and it was like, yeah, it was one of the best moments.

Uh, we created a team and then we delivered, but most important when something unexpected comes. and you get surprised. That's, that is super special. And that was special in the epic. I mean, we were hoping to win it, but, uh, not, not hoping. We never thought about to win the epic, but like to perform maybe on podium.

And then in the end we won it and be still like brothers, like 17 years after. And, uh, yeah, that's, that's a cool friendship. That's, that's also sport can be. I guess you get to know someone pretty well when you're suffering with them for eight days. Yeah, in the prime time when we were racing, I think I spent more time with Stefan in bed than with my wife.

Sounds weird, but. And, uh, I mean, I'm sure that, I know that you also have a bit of a wild side as well, like to have a party every night again. And were there big after parties after, after the epic etc? Oh yeah. Yeah, there was always this stage nine, we invented stage nine. So the epic has eight stages. Okay.

And stage nine, stage nine was always, we even, uh, uh, created a company with the name stage nine. No way. Because of the spirit. Yeah. When you race hard, you train hard, you race hard, and then you party hard. So we, we used to, to party in Stellenbosch till, till seven in the morning after the epic. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, because we celebrated it. It wasn't, it wasn't. Just a race for us. It was a lifestyle. Craziest, craziest, uh, story after party wise that, that happened. Was there ever anything that really sticks out that was like wild? Oh. Too many? Too many. Every party was nice. I mean, it wasn't stupid, you know, not like doing stupid stuff, destroying stuff or just jumping off the roofs and this smashing cars.

It was just a cool party, nice atmosphere, for sure. Some drinks, lots of drinks and you get smashed, but dancing all together and just celebrating the week. I mean, that's, that sticks out. Yeah, it's not. Just being Stupid yeah, yeah stupid stuff. Just having a good time. Um, so on the I mean on the party Side of things I thought it's a good time to bring it up.

You obviously seen, uh, You know that i'm sponsored by Onifans Yeah I was about to ask you Yeah, yeah, so so i'm sponsored by Onifans They actually have now almost 300 athletes that they're sponsoring around the world through different sports and there's a lot of Mixed emotions. I would say some people really love it.

Some people are not a fan of it What's I mean, what's your take on it? Do you have a take on it? You know, do you think it's a good thing? You know, I for me personally, it's been a huge huge benefit for me And I think for the athletes especially in a sport in a lot of sports that are not football or something You know to have more money come into the sport and and offer athletes opportunity to actually make a decent living But yeah, well, I mean, what do you think of it?

Honestly, I never thought about it. Um, I combine OnlyFans only with strange chicks. But I never paid for anything. So I kind of OnlyFans.

I think it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a cool thing. Um, yeah, something super special because you can also provide with special content and people know if they go on OnlyFans, they know maybe what to expect if they know you and, uh, I would support it. Cool. Cool, it's uh, nice to get a straightforward answer because it's, it is, it is different and I think the whole uh, sort of goal for them is to change the image to some degree and to show that the platform is, is more than just idle content and there's a whole other side to it as well.

Obviously it will take some time but um, yeah, I think it's, I mean nowadays I think it's always good to have more uh, yeah, more support coming into sport. But it is, it's definitely a talking point for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because like I said.

People see me, my van has got, uh, fans on the side. And, uh, when I'm, like, the funny thing is when I'm driving with my fiancé, for example, and then we pull up at a petrol station or something, we get out, And you see people like looking at us and I'm wearing like only fans cap and then the two of us are like cruising around and they're like What is going on here?

What's in the back of the car? No, but it's uh special cameras It's it's the funny thing is it's it's been one of the it's been really good for me publicity wise as well because even though It's a talking point, you know, and as they say, any publicity is good publicity, uh, to a degree. And, um, it's definitely, there's way more people that know me now because of, you can do some contact also for me.

Oh, man. Um, uh, so. Now, I mean, we've got, now you've come all the way through now to, after you won the, the Epic, the We've got a lot of teams now. To 2016, you've won the Epic the final time, right? Yeah. And Um, what, when did you, you, so now you're still racing but more the age category and stuff and not so, sort of not full time should I say.

Um, when did you sort of step away from full time like 100 percent focus on, on the epic and stuff and um, yeah, what does life kind of look like? for you nowadays as opposed to when you were full on. Um, Yeah. So now, um, I'm a brand ambassador for Bulls. I mean, uh, I grew up with the, with the brand and they can't without me and I can't without them.

And, um, Yeah, I try to support them everywhere. So I'm the quiet person behind giving ideas where to go. Have a, maybe a little overview of some stuff. And for sure, yeah, I want, I always wanted to be in the scene because I love, I love the sport, I love cycling, I love mountain biking. And there's no better way to do it.

Still going to events and be a little bit competitive. Yeah, and creating some. cool stories. So I've been racing now with Tommy Misa, former downhill champion. Mm-Hmm, . He won the downhill World Cup and he also switched a little bit to brand ambassador or not a little bit. He's a brand ambassador and doing videos, uh, doing uh, stories and uh, uh, producing content.

So it was a, a cool experience to, to race with him. He learned a lot from me how to race in marathon racing, and I learned a lot from him. Create good content and, uh, tell also a nice story to the people because there are so many people out there. They want to see what is Karl Platt doing after his career.

And, uh, yeah. So. That's my main point. I still love doing the epic. And then, uh, two years ago I raced with Christoph Sauser with my biggest rival. I mean, we were not, we were respectful to each other, not always respectful, but, uh, uh, but we were definitely not friends. And now I can, I can tell after, after the race racing with him together, we learned so much from each other.

And we talked also a lot of cool things. Which we didn't see. When we were professionals. Yeah. So we were, we had, we were like a horse with this. Yeah. Uh, how you call it? Blinkers. With the horse blinkers. And we just wanted to win and uh, we were hard rivals. But we also created some nice stories. Uh, we created a nice legacy in the past two years because we, we shared the, the wins between us.

Mm hmm. And, um, yeah, so. That's what I'm doing. So I've, I added some other stuff, uh, to my, to my living, to my portfolio, some property I started, uh, 15 years ago and now I'm spending also some time in, into property. Yeah. Just being around doing, going on the race course, having a bit more time, uh, driving this, this car and, uh, yeah, making new contacts.

and not being a full professional anymore. I'm, I really enjoy it. So if I feel like I don't want to train today, I don't train. And if I don't want to write tomorrow, I don't write tomorrow. So whenever I feel like, uh, I'm having fun doing stuff, uh, I'm doing it. And it's, uh, yeah, it's a privilege. Yeah.

Privileged lifestyle. What, what I have, I mean, I have a family. I have, uh, three kids. They're grown up and my son is 18, so he's, he doesn't like, yeah, he's okay with, uh, cycling or mountain bikes, but he never cycles, so. Mm-Hmm. But he's more and motor sport. He does, uh, go-karting and stuff. And now he's 18 and I'm driving with him on the race course, and, uh.

So, it's cool to spend also some time with your kids, with your family, and um, yeah, having a good time. I mean, you worked, uh, you worked hard. I think that there's a, there's a bit of a misconception maybe with professional athletes because I think it's glamorized, uh, how do you say, glamorized, made to look more glamorous on social media than it really is sometimes.

Yeah. And I think people see the, see you on the podium and they see you spraying the champagne and they're like, wow, this is, he's got style. You know, he just, uh, travels around the world, rides his bike and, and makes money and lives the perfect life. But for me, at least, I also found it was, you know, quite a, it can be quite a lonely life, you know, because you spend a lot of time on your own training and, and things like that.

And, and also it's not quite what it looks like on, uh, on, uh, on social media. Yeah. I mean, uh, sportsmen can be very, uh, can be very selfish because if they have the dream and they, they chase the dream, they, they, they, they lose completely overview or over their life. Some of professional, uh, sportsmen. So sometimes, or not sometimes a family can give you.

Like the perspective why you're still living and that sport is not everything. Just, uh, to having a good balance. And my family always gave me a good balance. Between, okay, my wife told me she's, she was born in Russia and, uh, she's straight out. And she can be, you know, Sometimes very loud. And, uh, but she's a lovely person.

I love her very much. And, uh, Yeah, she, uh, One, one cool thing she did is like, uh, I was waiting for my first German national performance. title in marathon very long for eight years. I've been always like top five, top six at worlds, uh, in marathon and, and German championships. I never been better than eight place.

So finally I, after eight years, I won, The German, uh, national title, and I was so, it made me so, so happy to finally get this shit. And, uh, yeah, and then, uh, I was so proud and, uh, I came home and we went with the team to Burger King and I had this crown. Put the crown on and came, and she watched me. Look, there's the garbage, bring it, bring it out.

Bring you back down to earth really fast. Yeah, she brings me back to earth very fast. What do you think the, I think it's sort of, as I said, most people think that it's really cool to be a professional athlete, and I think it is, but there are also a lot of hard parts, and what do you think was the hardest part for you about being a pro athlete?

At one point it was, so in the beginning when you're motivated and you're chasing your dream and, uh, you go. Everything is easy. I mean, even, even riding 45 hours a week, it doesn't bug you at all because you're loving it. You're just in your movie. You're in your bubble. There's, there's nothing else existing outside your bubble, you know, and you, you want to, you know, I must do it.

There's no shortcut. I must do it because there's, you want to perform and want to win. Yeah. But then, When you've done it like for many years, for 10 years or 12 years or 15 years and then you sit 8 hours on the bike and you think, Oh, again. Again 8 hours. Why am I doing this shit? I've done it already for 15 years.

Why am I doing it again? So you lose a little bit, uh, Yeah, the perspective. And that's when you start doing the shortcut. It still works for a few years. But then you, you missed already. So, uh, that was a hard point for me. To realize, okay, when it's over, you know. It's, it's, it's hard. So when, when I've turned like 40, 41, I realized already, okay, I, I can't, I can't get there anymore.

Mm. That, that was a hard part. More mentally or physically? Uh, both. Okay. But first of all mentally, because you realize, okay, your career is now over, and you can chase your dreams, uh, but in the same moment you said, hey, I achieved so much. Yeah. What, what, what do you want to do? Are you stupid? I think there's a lot of questions with, with when you see, you know, top athletes at the top, and then they say, oh, why don't you retire?

on the top, you know, but I think it's so hard when you, when you're winning and you're having fun and you, you feel like on the top of the world, then why it's, it must be, it's even harder to stop then because why you want to stop you the best now, you know? And, uh, yeah. And also there's also like, uh, you don't want to lose your lifestyle.

It's a, it's a nice lifestyle, but now it's even better. Yeah. That's the thing. So we are scared to do something new. To, to try something new because we are like human, they, they love the rhythm. Yeah. They always want to do what they know and, uh, what they're used for. And so new things creates always stress in, in life.

But you have to do it all the time. Because it's, it's good for you. You're learning, your learning curve goes up. I mean, that's why I, kind of why I'm here, uh, and, and starting this podcast because, uh, I knew that, uh, I don't want to race downhill forever and I need to at some point make a decision. And I think downhill is even harder because, uh, when you, uh, when you get older, you start realizing, okay, uh, when you crash, When you crashed a few times, you had also a bad crash and breaking your, your hip.

I mean, the, the, yeah, both, yeah, the rotor recovery, it's, it's just, it's tiring. And, uh, it's, uh, when you've done it once, you say, okay, one time is no problem. But then for the next time, you maybe think, Oh, do this again, do this again. It's painful. I think it's, I think it's also the, the. The mental, the mental struggle is worse almost than the physical pain, you know.

The physical pain is hard, but it goes away in some time. Yeah. But the mental struggle, because you know how hard it is to get to a certain level and how long it takes and now to make it through this recovery and build yourself back up and then when it happens again, you know. And, uh, I think it also changes your, for me it changed my perspective on, on life in general.

Because I had a really bad injury. It was sort of racing was my life. And I didn't, not that I didn't care about anything, but racing was the most important. And no matter what, everything else was secondary. Like for sure I cared about my family and stuff, but it was always, it's really hard. was racing first, you know, and, uh, suddenly when you can't anymore and you have to contemplate, like, maybe I can't even race anymore.

Then what, who am I now without the sport? And you realize then that actually the people around you, your family, your friends, that is the most important thing. Um, because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how many trophies you have in the cabinet. Like if you buy yourself, then it doesn't help, you know, after a year, no one reminds.

Because there's always every year, I remember, uh, because there's every year someone new coming and winning. And you have a lot more friends, friends, when you, when you win, you know. Like when you win the race, everyone's phoning you and messaging you and da da da. When you're broken in the hospital, then you see who the real friends are.

Because then you get like one or two text messages. Um, yeah. Yeah. Is there anything you would have changed in looking back? Sometimes to, I would have changed sometimes just to be more smart. More smart? Yeah, more smart to avoid, um, mistakes. But then in the end of the day, I think these mistakes I've done, they are character building.

If I wouldn't do the mistakes, I would never learn. You know what I mean? Yeah. So all mistakes we do, they are for a reason. It makes you a better person. Yeah. And that's most important. It's not about, in the end of the day, it's not about winning. It's nice to have a bonus to win, but being a nice person is much more important.

That's my conclusion. It's a smart way to look at it. Um, so we're gonna get, we're at the final question now, which I asked the same question to everyone to get their perspective. Um, so it's a two part question. What does success mean to you? And the second part is what do you think has been the biggest factor in your success?

And you getting to the point that you are now, it could be a character trait. It could be, you know, some sort of motivation for when you were younger. Yeah. Okay. What's my biggest success. So what's, what are you, what does success mean to you? So what, what do you consider successful? Whether you made a lot of money or you won certain amount of races.

So success, like I said before, when you put a lot of, of time, effort. And, uh, strength into what you're doing, you need a kind of reward. It doesn't mean winning or in any kind of, uh, Result in a position in the race, for sure, if you win, that's the biggest reward you can, you can get, but you can also get some little rewards.

I mean, if you put so much time and effort into something, it can be also like building a car or building a house and you see the result. That's the reward also in training. The more you're smart. The better reward, uh, you get. That, that means success. For me. And it's built on your, uh, On your own, uh, Sacrifice.

And, and your personal journey and, and career, Is there one thing or something that you feel That has been the, the thing that has helped you to be successful because I mean, so many people try to become, whether it's in business or in sport or in a relationship, even they try to be successful, but it often doesn't work out.

Yeah. So what helped me, it's my, uh, my environment, um, friends, my wife, my family, parents, My, my surrounding, I always said, uh, it's, it's very important to be in a good environment that you're always very balanced. I mean, you can train. I also, sometimes I had, I had years I wanted too much. And then people told me, Hey, you, you're getting an asshole.

I said, Hey, why? I don't understand this because it's only, it was always a view just from, from my side. And I wanted to do more, more, more. I started being an asshole, yeah, just being, not arrogant, but not paying attention to other people. Yeah. Just selfish, because I wanted too much. And then they say, it's not you, it's, it's, it's, it's not Karl, you, normally you're another person.

Yeah. You're more, much more balanced. And um, I think that's very important to have good friends, but good friends you only get if you invest first. Yeah. Yeah, if you, if you give first, you get good friends. If you expect too much from the other, it doesn't work like that. Always give first. Yeah, I think that's, that's success.

Yeah, I think that's, that's success. Carl, thank you very much for Yeah, making the time and taking me for a spin in this beast of a car. Uh, one of these days, uh, one of these days I'm going to have one. That's a promise to myself. But, uh, thank you very much. And, uh, yeah, it was cool. Thanks for visiting me.

Yeah. And, uh, I'm excited. Oh, excited. Excited for the next time we can have a battle on the Hohenheimring or the Nürburgring. Sweet. Cool.