520 kilometres and 17,215 metres of elevation gain in 7 days
In July, steps will be supported in a sporting way by Ronny Staps and Markus Kaiser. The team tells you in an interview what the two are planning and how they will carry steps into the Alps.
Please introduce yourselves in a meaningful way: who are you and what connects you?
Ronny: My name is Ronny Staps, I am 39 years old and work as a product designer in a Hamburg design office for medical technology. By now I am a family man with 2 sons aged 4 and 6.
Markus: My name is Markus Kaiser, I am also 39 years old, married and father of 4 children (13, 11, 7 and 3 years old). Life has taken me to Franconia. More precisely to Forchheim, near Erlangen/Nuremberg. There I work as an engineer, also in medical technology.
Ronny: We both come from Münchenbernsdorf, a small place in the east of Thuringia. There we went to school together, trained football and basketball, or simply played computer games. Later, we lived together in Jena in our first student shared flat.
Since when have you been mountain biking and how did it come about?
Ronny: For a long time, the mountain bike was my usual means of getting around as a teenager, to go to friends, training or meeting points in the village. In 2007, then still students in Jena and Weimar, we had the idea of crossing the Alps by bike on the old trade routes of the Romans and riding to Lake Garda (on the Via Claudia Augusta). On the first crossing of the Alps, we chose a somewhat easier route. On the following tours, there were more and more metres of climbing with significantly more off-road sections!
Markus: For me, the initial spark for mountain biking came through our 2007 tour. Back then it was still an adventure. Without smartphone and GPS. After that, it quickly became more. In the meantime, I have developed a general love for cycling and endurance sport.
from left: Ronny and Markus on a training ride in April. A little muddier than expected but happy and full of anticipation for the Alps in summer!
In summer you will take part in one of the toughest MTB races in Europe – the Maxxis BIKE Transalp. Why did you decide to do it?
Ronny: The BIKE Transalp to ride was a dream for us ever since we rode our first mountain bike marathon in Thuringia. Back then, this stage race was still a step too far for us. Both in terms of the figures such as kilometres and metres of elevation, but also financially. At that time we were still studying. At weekends we went together to regional MTB races and simply felt like hammering the roots and soaking up the sporting atmosphere. We always started as lone fighters over different distances. We never won – apart from a towel as overall 7th place in the Thüringer Energie Bike-Cup 2009 🙂
Markus: Since we started together again at a mountain bike marathon in 2022 (the EBM – Erzgebirgs Bike Marathon) and finished the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring as a team in 2023, we decided to take part in the BIKE Transalp for the first time in 2024, together as a two-man team. If not now, then when!
You have a great idea – you want to take us along on the stages and start together as a steps team and in the matching, self-designed steps jerseys. Is there a way to support you in your sporting challenge?
Ronny: Above all, we want to give steps visibility in the cycling bubble. We want to draw attention to this great project and the great work of the staff and volunteers on site, as we know first-hand what is being done there for children and young people.
Markus: We will share our experiences, but also a little of our preparations for the race on social media: LinkedIn – Facebook – Instagram
We are delighted that you are bringing steps to the Alps. How did you hear about the steps for children foundation?
Ronny: My wife Barbara wanted to support a non-profit social organisation as a volunteer in 2015. That was when she became aware of steps for children and then 6 months in Gobabis worked there and, together with the staff on site, taught lessons or helped with the daily lunch routine. Although I could not be there in person, apart from a few overnight stays in the steps guesthouse at the beginning of your time there, over the following months I was able to experience first-hand how directly and immediately steps for children has an impact and how children and young people are given a future through education, social community and at least one reliable, warm meal a day. That really impressed me!
Is there anything that has particularly convinced you about steps for children?
Ronny: Personally, I get the impression that your commitment in Namibia always takes place in partnership with the people on site, and that co-determination in implementation is completely normal. I think it is great that the motivation of the staff on site is trusted to implement the projects! I believe this is one of the things that helps ensure that the aid from your foundation reaches people directly on the ground!
Markus: When you read about steps, you immediately notice the personal enthusiasm of every single person involved. The transparency about which projects you support and how donations are used is exemplary. The sheer range of projects you support is also impressive.
When you read about steps, you immediately notice the personal enthusiasm of every single person involved. The transparency about which projects you support and how donations are used is exemplary.
Markus Kaiser
They designed the jerseys themselves! That is how the two of them will get started and ride for a good cause, to tell even more people about our activities in Namibia. And who knows, maybe we will see the two of them at the start of the Desert Dash in Namibia next time?
We have various steps – that is, social and income-generating measures that you can get involved in: Do you have a project close to your heart?
Ronny: Definitely the steps nursery school in combination with the guardian angel programme. This enables the children to transition into the local primary schools and thus gives them a future. Through the steps staff and volunteers, the children are guided „step by step“ into their school careers and are also supported with seemingly trivial formal steps. Without steps, some children in the settlements might never „find their way to school“ at all! You have to start a school career before you can successfully complete it.
What do you wish for the steps children in Namibia?
Ronny: School is a long journey for every child until it is completed, and through what they have learnt, new doors can one day open. We wish all schoolchildren that they keep at it and become School-Finishers, even when there are difficult phases!
Without steps, some children in the settlements might not take the „path to school“! One must first begin the school career in order to be able to successfully complete it one day.
Ronny Staps
Is there something you are grateful for?
Ronny: We are grateful to have our children and to be supported by our families in preparing for the race! And of course we are delighted that this year we can fulfil a dream with the BIKE Transalp. We hope that we will start healthy and fit.
Markus: And the icing on the cake is that we will take you with us into the race and are allowed to take the start as the „steps for children“ team!
Dear Ronny, dear Markus, we wish you lots of fun and success with the sporting challenge and thank you sincerely for giving our work in Namibia visibility at this event in the Alps and for standing for steps with heart and conviction yourselves!
