Oberstdorf Marathon

In late September there is mostly no  weather anymore for Marathons, but Oberstdorf is sometimes perfect to ride a final last time on trails up to 2000m altitude. Once we had snow, but this year we had absolutely great conditions.

Well, to make  long 5 hours short, it worked fine for me, a first time under 5 hours for the big round and a happy face after the race (even if I suffered badly again at the final loooong climb). A bit sad is the rather unfriendly getting surrounding in the town. They close the race circuit 5min after start and also quite early after the race. No beer and tables at the park anymore etc… Well, the course is still nice to ride that late in the year.

Andre’s First

Andre rounding the corner

So this was it. My first mountain bike race. OK, I did a couple of 24 hour races back in the states, SSWC 2005 and of course SiS. But this is different. It is my first race as a member of BWR and this race should be my starting point for next step in my mountain biking life. In the last couple of years I would have never thought, that I will join “normal” races besides SiS and SSP-Events.

How could that happen?

In 2003 I started with singlespeeding. In the beginning it was nothing else than a other form of training for me, something that I could do with my wife. It soon changed after I discovered how much fun it was and that I could ride all the trails I did geared.

Five years later I pedal higher gears and it is still fun, especially 2009, in which I got to ride a lot and really felt the progress which comes with constant riding and a little more training.  So this race should be a test for me how much is possible – on a twentyniner singlespeed.

The race took place in a small village near Augsburg. It was organized by the Veloclub-Lechhausen. You could choose from 1, 2 or 3 rounds each 34 km long and with 600 hm elevation change. I went for the 68km 1200 hm Halbmarathon – it should be a test – you remember? The course resembles a lying eight on the map. The first part has really nice singletracks, uphills and rooty downhills. The second part consists mostly of forrest roads.

I went with my normal gear: Niner Sir9, built up with parts from FRM and Geax. The dry weather in the last couple of weeks made me initially go for the Barro Race tires, which I absolutely love for fast rolling forest roads. A night ride in the rainy weather we have lately made me to rethink my decision and I changed back for the Saguaros, I rode the most part of last year. I feel absolutely confident with these tires. On all surfaces they roll the line I chose, be it gravel, rocks or loose forest ground. It proved to be a good choice.
Sunday 9.30am. I arrived at the location. Picked up my race package put on the number and went for the starting line. There I stood between all the others. Some faces turned to my frame, but nobody said a word. I think they have never seen a twentyniner before. Moments later some saw the SSP-setup, the looks on their faces – priceless! And it stopped to rain just before the start, finally.

10am- off we went on a stretch of road before we turned right into the forest. I started with a moderate pace, I didn’t want to go faster, sometimes there were cues on the trails. And then it was up and down some nice trails with a steep downhill at the end. My glasses were all foggy, so a root got me at this trail and I crashed, but I could go on. On the flat parts the riders I passed on the uphills rode by again, before I got them at the next hill. Also on the rooty parts I had the advantage of the big wheels. Even the fullsuspension bikes seemed to have more problems to go over the wet roots. Again no problems with the Geax tires.

After 20 km we turned into the start/finish area, went over a bridge to go on into the next loop of the first round. Thanks for the warm tea and the bar. This part was mostly fast rolling. Back at the start, it was time to refill my bottles and grab some bananas. Now the course looked empty since many riders went with one round because of the conditions. My bike was all covered in mud, I couldn’t read the decals any more. There was a constant murmur from underneath, the chain was also clogged up with mud, but Connex chains have never failed me. On the course I passed a lot of riders, experiencing problems with their drivetrain, chains fallen off or even broken. Lucky me to ride singlespeed!

But the finish was still one round to go and it should be a long one. Just before coming back to the finish area the third time I had the first cramps going up a hill. They went by and I rode on. But they came back again. But I was not the only one. Some other riders going a similar pace, were riding with me and also fighting the pain. This made it a little easier. After holding back the last 3/4 of the race I tried to put all I had left down on the pedals. And it worked. I could leave some riders behind me and even closed the distance to one rider before me. After all it was a race. On the last long uphill of the course I passed him and the finish was before me. With the sign 200 meters to go I knew I had done it. My first marathon.

In the end I even fulfilled my expectation: finishing in the middle third, although at the end of it.

For pictures go to http://www.veloclub-lechhausen.de/mtb/index.html

A pair of Finals

The US Forces Europe mountainbike championships were held at Hoenfels on Saturday, and unfortunately for me it consisted of more walking and changing tubes than actual racing, only completing 3 of the 7 laps before I succumbed to my 3rd DNF of my career, 2nd this month.  So Sunday I vowed redemption.

Sunday’s race was the mitteldeutschland cup finals held near Wunsiedal.  All the short XC specialists showed up.  77 men lined up, with 30 of them being called up due to their series standings.  I started about 50 back, and long story short, never did move up.  Probably one of the hardest 5km loops I’ve seen in a XC race.  What was awesome was I was given the number 29 plate, and being the only 29er in the group, it seemed fitting.  I would have kept it but would have cost me 15 bucks in a security deposit.

So this marks the end of the mtb season for me.  My first year racing in Europe has been a tremendous experience, and hopefully next year we can pick up where we left off.  I hope everyone has a great off-season and look forward to seeing everyone out there next spring.

Justin

Carbo Rocket… a new sponsor!

I’m a bit late to the party posting this one, but I suppose late is better than nothing.

Carbo Rocket is a relative new-commer to the Sports food market but I’ve been watching Brads company since he started awhile back. It’s been fun and cool to see a one man operation turn in to the supplier to a few pro teams and we, of course, wish him continued success. That, in part, is why I wanted to see if Brad would be interested in sponsoring BWR Europe. He enthusiastically agreed to join us. Woopee!

Direct from the Carbo Rocket web page comes this discription….

What Is CarboRocket?

Athletes don’t jog, they sprint up trails and run marathons; they don’t beach cruise, they mountain bike up 14’ers. It becomes mind over matter when the body begins to pull back. To sustain extreme physical activity the body needs to be properly fueled and hydrated.

The current sports drink market is saturated with chemical-filled, poor-tasting beverages. CarboRocket is the next generation of sports drinks.  The latest sports science research combined with the best tasting, all-natural, proven ingredients makes CarboRocket the perfect alternative for hydration and nutrition needs.

————————–

So… if you have an interest in Carbo Rocket jet (yes, pun intended) over to his web site http://www.carborocket.com/ and get some of this great stuff! Let him know how you like it and where you heard about it.

Thanks Brad and Carbo Rocket for your support!

Eigerbike, marathon racing in the shadow of the big swiss mountains

Sunday was swiss  “Eigerbike” day. With briliant weather, a bit hot with up top 30-32°C, but blue skies and marvelous sights it was just great. If you are high up at 2100m and you see the glaciers up at 4000m, you feel like heaven and hell are very close.

Mother of all Uphills, this Race is hard. I knew that would be tough, beeing the swiss race with the steepest uphills and the highest climb/km ratio. And I got my share of suffering, thats for sure. I have done the smaller 55km already 2 or 3 years ago and was  fully cooked after that one then, so I knew I had to start slow, otherwise I wouldnt make it. Start was fine however, the first 1000m climb was good and I felt well. During the second steep uphill then I have got foot pain, back ache, head ache and my stomach didnt accept anything, so I reduced the pressure and took it slowlier. My collegue went away then and was 16min faster overall. Somehow I recovered then, and felt ok after the first 60km.

Being not done yet, a third climb of a little more than 1100m awaited me. Meanwhile it was really hot and sunny. And it was a long uphill, but finally I made it. The time was anyway no issue, but I was really happy to finish in 8.04h, loosing only 3 hours to the first in my age category!! Before the race I changed my gears to 22/36 to 11-34, but I nearly only used the small granny, being to big for some parts still. I really missed my 20t granny, but I am getting to much chain sucks with the 20t. Some problems with the rear shifter didnt let me put pressure on any gear beside the 3 smallest without chain hopping, but these three were anyway what I used 90% of the time.

However, it worked out finally and I am happy. And it was fun! The trails were better and more challenging than I thought and remembered. Still a lot is done on tarmac, it could be better with some longer downhill sections, buts thats like it is. Currently I am a bit tired, but all, legs, brain, stomach, works, so I am fine. Depending on the weather to come, it might be that the race was my seasons highlight and I can only recommend it to everybody not knowing the area yet. We had a LOT racers from Holland, Belgium, Britain, Spain and so on and the camping (called “Eiger Nordwand”) was really great.  See you next year?

SIS 2009

Looks like rain...because it is!

He always comes out smiling!

WOW! Is all I can I say about SIS 2009. This year was my first time in Weidenthal, and man was it AWESOME!  Lots of 29er’s, singlespeeder’s, freaks, a recumbent and a unicycle!

For me, riding at night is something new and strange. I really didn’t know what to expect. I was about to find out what it means to check out your gear BEFORE a night race.

The first lap was cool, I passed the guy on the recumbent, that guy was brave to ride that thing off-road. Lights were really not needed on the first lap but it was mandatory. On the Second though it was dark and lights were a must. About a third of the way through the second lap my light went out, I had no back-up so I was in the dark! Luckily I was able to ride with Andreas from Düsseldorf, Germany, and he brought me safely through to the pits. After my second light was mounted I took off full of confidence for my fourth lap. On the first downhill section the light slipped down and I had to keep adjusting it so I could see. At one point it came off the bars! I was riding one handed, one on the light and one on the bars! Back at the start/finished area my son Eric taped the snot out the mounting bracket so it wouldn’t slip. The battery for the other light was charged by this time, so that was also mounted and off I went into the fourth lap with two functional lights!

After that the time just flew by and the race was over. I was pretty tired and hungry for something other than powerbar or nutella bread.

I’ll be back next year for sure! My son is also now infected with the SIS virus, he wants to race next year. I’m already thinking about better and more reliable lights, like a Supernova E-3 with a dynamo hub. I have one year to get it ready! J

Phil

12 Hrs. Of Külsheim July 18, 2009

The face of determination

Tougher than it looks

Zoom!

Around the puddle

This was a brand new experience for as I’ve never done anyting like this before. So needless to say I was kind of nervous.

I arrived on Friday evening about the time as Michael and Kira Cleveland who drove up from München. We had never meet in person before but I felt like I already knew Michael since we’ve corresponded over the internet for the past eight months.

On Friday night it rained and rained, sometime in the wee hours of Saturday morning it stopped. The damage was done though, the course was thoroughly soaked and promised to be a muddy event, oh well, maybe my single would be the best choice for the conditions.

I didn’t sleep very well the night before, uneven ground, shitty ground pad and around five in the morning a screaming baby.

After a quick breakfast and a hectic preparation the race was underway. I started as usual way to fast and tried riding up everything. Lucky for me though I slowed myself down and just rode an even pace. I didn’t think that would last more than four or five hours but I just went on auto pilot and rode and rode. Kind of like a trance, the time just flew by! Then it started to rain and the course went bad, it had almost dried out. Two of the downhills were like mud chutes; it was a controlled (sometimes) downhill slide for the riders. After ten hours the race was called, I don’t think anyone was unhappy about that decision.

Even though the Geax Saguaros are not mud tires they still hooked up good in all but the worst mud, they roll really fast and aren’t not prone to flats like the racing Ralph’s. My Ergon grips kept my hands from going numb after ten hours of riding, very comfortable grips.

I finished the race in sixth place out 32 starters; I think Marty and I were the only single speeders riding solo. It was a great time and I’m looking forward to SIS in August.

Ultracycling, 300km Switzerland

To change for once on the road bike I have tried together with a bike buddy to do a 300km Ultracycling. Since I never have actually done any road event or even used my road bike very often for anything else than training, I had no idea what to expect. I have been at bike races which were 10 and 11 hours, but this time it was distance instead of mountains.

Well, to make long 12.32 hours short, we have done really good in my eyes. The pace without pauses was 28km/h and with the 4 longer pauses we have done finally slightly short of 25km/h overall. This was the plan and it worked out fine, thanks to Napfgeist, who has done that on twice before already and had perfect tips for the go.

Since the weather stayed dry until 1 hour before end of the race (you see the pouring rain on the picture), we had a brilliant, but also long day on the bike.  Finally we made 306km, 2300 clim in 12.32h. The same event was by the way also qulifyer for RAAM. And when you see slim girls and one-armed guys doing the 720km I can only bow my head…

Stöckli Bike Marathon

Well between the early June races at Estavayer or Mendrisio and the bigger marathons to come in July and August, there is always end of june the Stöckli Bike Marathon.  Its no race, no time measurement, but everything else like fun and good times outdoor. This year we had quite some mud, so it was really funny. Overall it was a good shape test for the summer and the first opportunity to wear the new shirts. They are just great!

Here is a picture I have found there: http://vazifars-blog.veloblog.ch/post/14/1248, please just neglect the 26″ bike on the left  My 29er was never that full of dirt…

New Sponsor: Supernova

We are proud to announce a new sponsor: Supernova Lights www.supernova-lights.com

This year we will also try their E3 fantastic Lamp together with Hub Dynamos, either by Shimano or SON to try lightning alternatives for 24h races. As soon as the first sets are installed, you will read more.