Rowing / triathlon / cycling clubs

Hi Persons (always amuses me the way non-english speakers say persons, not people, so when in Rome...or Cologne)

I've just moved to Cologne, so I just wondered if anybody could recommend a rowing club, triathlon club or cycling club in or around here? I've got to get back to doing some sport as the currywurst and beer is having an adverse effect on my waistline.

I'm not looking for serious elite training - in my 40's so past that now - just something that is fun (can all that pain really be classed as fun!), that keeps me fit & healthy and competion is just an excuse for a beer afterwards. When it comes to rowing, preferably I'm looking for veteran stuff.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Thanks.

Hi PoD,

You might like to try the Sporthochschule for this kind of thing - it's the big complex near the football stadium in Muengersdorf. I think there's an athetics club around there too. There's a rowing club or two in Rodenkirchen directly on the Rhine - you can probably just go along and inquire at the boat/clubhouse.
I might be interested in cycling myself, though it's years since I did anything serious, and then it was just long-distance touring.
Otherwise, I'm up for squash - notoriously dangerous for 40-somethings, but only if played seriously - any takers to work off the seasonal lethargy?

Hi fnkygn

Hmm, squash, would offer to give you a game but I'm no good at squash and retired in humiliation from it about 20 years ago. Could possibly be persuaded to play badminton.

Thanks for the tips on the rowing clubs in Rodenkirchen. I had heard there was one there, but I'm not sure I fancy rowing on the Rhine, looks a bit like hard work in those horrid wide coastal boats. I'm not really a coastal rower having always rowed on the Thames, so what I'd really like to find is the non-coastal version. I shall do some more digging.

Happy new year and all that.

There's a rowing club at Fühlinger See between Chorweiler and Merkenich. Don't know what it's called but I'm sure if you got your arse down there on a weekend there would be someone around to ask. They do triathlons there as well, so a win-win for you.

Actually I've not played for at least 10 years and am probably completely out of condition - ideal scenario for breaking a leg/knee.
(This has happened to at least 2 people I know).

As mandrax points out, there are rowing/windsurfing/sailing clubs at many of the 'Baggersee's (ex-gravel pits/mines) in NRW.
Here's the one at the Otto-Maigler-See (Huerth): http://www.huerther-rudergesellschaft.de/ - don't ask me what message the photo is supposed to convey.
There's also one a bit further south just to the west of Bruehl - can't remember the name though.

Dangerous game squash, I know two people who have snapped their achillies tendon playing it, definitely not the game for me. Badminton is much better for just tearing a few ligaments.

Thanks for the link to the rowing club, interestingly irrelevant picture indeed. Unfortunately, wrong kind of rowing. I sound like British Rail. As mandrake suggests, I need to get my arse to the Fuhrlinger See (or what ever it is called) once I have worked out how to get there without a car as I'm getting seriously bored of running.

Sorry mandrax, not mandrake. It is late and Borat is distracting me.

Just an afterthought triggered by an ad I saw in Rhine Magazine: there's a newish Hash House Harrier club in the Duesseldorf-Cologne-Bonn area know as CRAP (Combined Rhein Area Pack). For those not in the know, they organise runs (or hare chases) with ample liquid refreshment at the end of the trail. See the CRAP website for details.

Fantastic, thanks for that. Anything to do with running that has 'crap' in the title has to be of the right level for me. Add in the incentive of a couple of beers, and who could ask for more.