Crashes and injuries sadly are a part of mountainbiking just as beautiful trails and lifelong memories of fantastic days on the bike. After many years it was my turn for an unvoluntary break from mountainbiking.
Maybe you still remember. Last year I was at the start with my buddy Christian at the 3 Länder Enduro Race in the team classification. It was a lot of fun, but as a team you always orientate yourself towards the slower partner. And after my pace was a bit faster than Christian's, the thought somehow stayed with me... What would have been possible as a solo starter?
That's why we decided this year to compete in the individual ranking. And after all, with my 48 years of age I already belong in the Supermaster category and there it should at least be a little easier on paper than with the youngsters and maybe also a top 10 placement in the supermaster category.
Sadly there wasn't much preparation for me this year, though. One or two small enduro races in spring and my usual local training loops. There were no bikes on our three-week family camping holiday in Spain this year, so a weekend in Sölden had to be enough to warm up for Nauders.
The weather actually looked very promising for the weekend and so Friday with the track inspection and the prologue should be a comfortable introduction to the next two days for us.
But unfortunately things started to go wrong as soon as we inspected the track. On the way to the Haideralm, on the "Oberer Spin" Trail, Christian unfortunately had a pretty bad crash at high speed. He had touched a tree stump on the inside of a curve with the end of the handlebars and was suddenly catapulted down the embankment. He only had a few minor scratches, but his self-confidence was pretty bad and so the Haideralm was more of a torture for him.
So we decided to break off our tour after the Haideralm Trail, as we already knew the other stages well from last Year.
By the way, the prologue this year was in Nauders, the finish was in the middle of town and the atmosphere was really great all day. Our times weren't famous, but since we wanted to start early on Saturday anyway, that was totally fine.
Unfortunately, contrary to the forecast, during the night it did pour down quite heavily, which we didn't really notice while sleeping.
That's why the Green Trail was a real challenge at the beginning and for me the most important thing was getting into race mode safely. The rain had stopped, but after the first 50-100 starters a nice slippery mud pack had formed on the countless roots and stones.
Christian had serious problems after the fall the day before and had to get off his bike a few times on the first stage. He actually wanted to give up the race after stage 1. Since we knew the next stage, the bunker trail, quite well, I was able to persuade him to ride Stage 2, mainly because it was supposed to dry out more and more.
But unfortunately it didn't. On the contrary, when we got out of the gondola at Bergkastel, we were standing in the next heavy rain shower. I myself got into race mode pretty nicely on the bunker trail, but Christian decided to give up after the stage. The complete lack of driving fun made it pointless for him to continue.
From then on, I was on my own and my goal was actually to ride consistently fast, but not risky, and to finish the stages without making any big mistakes. That actually worked great on Stage 3. And so, compared to last year, thanks to the much more capable bike, I was able to cruise over to the Haideralm with some reserves and save a few grains.
Lunch would actually have been planned there, but I was just so in the flow that I jumped straight from the gondola onto the stage. I shouldn't have done that, unfortunately the rest is history. But have a look for yourself!
0:00 ... Intro
0:24 ... Rückblick & Prolog
1:58 ... Stage 1 (Green Trail)
6:20 ... Transfer zu Stage 2
7:03 ... Stage 2 (Bunker Trail)
11:04 ... Transfer zu Stage 3
12:42 ... Stage 3 (Spin Trail)
16:04 ... Transfer zu Stage 4
16:40 ... Stage 4 (Haideralm Trail)
21:40 ... Fazit & Ausblick
Негізгі бет The race that ended my season - MTB 3 Länder Enduro Race 2022
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