ISABELLE.
When we started hearing about Isa within the community here, it normally centred on one topic: that she’s very, very fast. Not only fast, but with endurance to match. She began attending our fast paced rides in 2022 and quickly became friends with the members of our expansive community, hanging out for beer and pizza at the end of the rides and, in addition to the already well formed idea of her competence on two wheels, made a reputation for being a very nice individual (She won the PNS Plus One Race in 2022, too). Skip to the beginning of 2023 and we’re looking for a new employee, ‘why not ask Isa?’. We did, she said yes and, as simple as that, this cyclist with a cult status within Zürich is now part of our team. Isa has a wealth of knowledge relating to how to sustain, both physically and mentally, on the bike. She knows how to prepare, how to fuel and what to wear/ take with you/ consider before you head out on a long, ambitious tour.
RALF.
Finding a good mechanic is a tricky task, finding a good mechanic who fits into the current team, understands the store philosophy and generally elevates the day-to-day mood is something we had almost lost hope of finding, after all, Alex set the bar very high with his arrival in 2022. Then, restoring our waning hope, a guy called Ralf came along. Having cut his teeth as a mechanic in the professional racing realm, working in the most demandning environment a mechanic could ever find themselves in, Ralf is very, very good at his craft. It seems he’s seen everything before. Beyond this, he’s just proper nice and a real hoot to work with.
Ralf is very tall and his bikes are very big and, after years of working in the pro circuit, he can often be found on the road mimicking pros in colourful team kits of the past. Not quite in keeping with the CSZ aesthetic, but we like it nevertheless.
