A traffic engineer, a farmer, an analyst, and a passionate cyclist \u2014 this is a short summary of who Ivana \u0160tukelj is. Ivana has been in love with two wheels since her first Pony bike. She is currently preparing for an ultra-marathon of 1,530 km that will take place across England and Scotland. She has been working at Zubak Grupa since the beginning of 2023, when she started as an Analyst in the Used-Car Procurement Department, and later advanced to the position of Chief Analyst for AutoZubak.<\/p>\n
Ivana, this year you accepted a new position at Zubak Grupa. What exactly will you be doing?<\/strong> And when she gets home, she becomes a farmer. Since she has lived her whole life on the family farm, she and her family run the family business together.<\/p>\n How did your love for cycling begin?<\/strong> In 2022 she took part in the Fleche Velocio, a 24-hour race, in a four-woman team called \u201cWild Strawberries,\u201d and they managed to cover 432 kilometers. She pointed out that Croatia is the only country in the world that has had a women\u2019s team in Fleche Velocio two years in a row. She is a member of Randonneurs Croatie, an association that organizes brevets all across Croatia throughout the year, as well as \u0160RK Pedala Laganini Karlovac.<\/p>\n What is the brevet community like?<\/strong> She points out that she prefers long rides to speed racing. This year she plans to test whether she can reach 450\u2013460 km in 24 hours. Her dream is 500 km, which might be a bit out of reach, but she plans to try on the flat roads of Slavonia. Among the most important ultra-marathon races she mentions Paris\u2013Brest\u2013Paris, which she rode in 2023 in France, and last year\u2019s 1001 Miglia Italia.<\/p>\n What is your next goal?<\/strong> Although she is a serious cycling enthusiast, she doesn\u2019t own many bikes \u2014 currently four. She notes that she has only had a few bikes in her life and almost all of them are still around, except for one MTB that she, as she says, \u201ccompletely wrecked beyond saving.\u201d She is practical and invests in what she really needs. A lot of money goes into marathon equipment \u2014 even a bike bag cost over \u20ac400 \u2014 but, as she says, it was one of her best investments.<\/p>\n When you\u2019re not cycling, what is Ivana really like?<\/strong> Cycling is both her passion and her hobby, but it doesn\u2019t always have to be a race or training. Sometimes it\u2019s an epic ride, and sometimes, Ivana laughs, it\u2019s just a ride to the local pub for a good burger and a beer.<\/p>\n How long are your usual routes?<\/strong> She often rides a loop around the village with her mom or her nieces, and when she sees their smiles after a \u201cbig\u201d 13-km ride, she remembers how it all started and that these are really the rides one should enjoy the most.<\/p>\n Who is your biggest support in everything you do?<\/strong> When asked what it takes to ride an ultra-marathon, she answers simply: \u201cYour head.\u201d<\/p>\n Colleagues about Ivana:<\/p>\n Some projects can only be handled by colleagues with a high pain threshold \u2014 ultra-cyclists fall into that category. Ivana, best of luck in your new role as CX Manager, the heart of future communication at Zubak Grupa. (Dimitrije Trbovi\u0107)<\/em><\/p>\n Our colleague Ivana introduced us to the concept of the brevet, and now I also know about the Paris\u2013Brest\u2013Paris brevet that Ivana successfully completed, along with many other rides. I admire her endurance in these extremely demanding rides and her modesty once she finishes them. (An\u0111ela Vrkljan)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A traffic engineer, a farmer, an analyst, and a passionate cyclist \u2014 this is a short summary of who Ivana \u0160tukelj is. Ivana has been in love with two wheels since her first Pony bike. She is currently preparing for an ultra-marathon of 1,530 km that will take place across England and Scotland. She has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":52201,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-52738","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
-The new chapter in my Zubak journey is that at the beginning of 2025 I accepted a new challenge, where I work with colleagues from the Marketing Department to create various promotions and campaigns within the Matrix project. My role is to enable the functional side of the projects. I hope I will live up to the trust that has been given to me. – says Ivana.<\/p>\n
– Cycling has been part of my life since the days of the legendary Pony bike, and it has always been there, of course with breaks when other activities were more tempting. As for long-distance cycling, I would say it started in 2018. Something just pulled me to see how far I could go, and that comes from my lifelong drive for challenges and adrenaline. Even though I ride marathons, I\u2019m not on the bike every day \u2014 obligations often don\u2019t allow it. I combine weekend rides, brevets (cycling marathons), ultra-marathons, and commuting to work. Sometimes I don\u2019t get on a bike for a whole month, but over the year I rack up about seven to eight thousand kilometers, so you could say my daily average is around twenty kilometers. – Ivana explains.<\/p>\n
– At brevets you meet people from all kinds of backgrounds, but I connected the most with the Karlovac crew. It\u2019s the kind of team anyone would wish for \u2014 great company for rides and also great help on the farm. Always on the move, and when you have no idea what to do for the weekend, Pedala Laganini always has a plan. – Ivana laughs.<\/p>\n
– My wish is to complete \u2018The Great SLAM of the European Randonnee,\u2019 which requires PBP, Miglia, LEL, and one LRM 1200+ within four years, starting with PBP. LEL stands for London\u2013Edinburgh\u2013London, a 1,530 km ultra-marathon across England and Scotland, and this year I am preparing specifically for it. I can\u2019t wait. – Ivana says.<\/p>\n
– I like to say I live an active life \u2014 I don\u2019t know how to sit still, I\u2019m basically \u2018programmed\u2019 to always be doing something. When it\u2019s not work, it\u2019s some activity I feel like doing: long walks, jogging, cycling, hiking, spending time with friends\u2026 There\u2019s always something on my list. – Ivana says.<\/p>\n
– One colleague said he won\u2019t get on a bike for anything under 100 km \u2014 for a few years, for me anything under 200 km felt like nothing. But I\u2019ve gone back to my factory settings, so now I\u2019ll hop on the bike even for 5 km to go check on the fields and see how our work is progressing \u2014 or even for less. I have to admit it can get frustrating when you don\u2019t feel like riding unless it\u2019s something spectacular; that\u2019s when the magic and charm of cycling disappears. – she concludes.<\/p>\n
– My family supports me in everything, including my hobbies. My mom probably \u2018suffers\u2019 the most when I go to an ultra-marathon, because dark thoughts always run through her mind. But thanks to today\u2019s technology I make it easier for her by sending GPS tracking, so she can always see where my little dot is and worry a bit less. –\u00a0Ivana says.<\/p>\n