MTB News: Enduro One at the Ochsenkopf. For the fourth time the Ochsenkopf was on 26./27. August Venue of the Enduro One racing series. After my first E1 race in Aschau, which I also reported here So this was the perfect opportunity to travel back to the Fichtelgebirge after many years.
When I arrived at the campsite on Friday evening, it was already full as usual and I was lucky that I was able to get hold of a pitch for my caravan. After setting up my weekend residence and having a BBQ with the camping neighbors, I was glad that I didn't have to sleep in a tent. There was no shortage of rain during the night from Friday to Saturday.
Curious about the track conditions after the rain, we went to training on Saturday. Since two of the three stages that could be trained were in the bike park, most of the starters used the lift. While some of the colleagues had already covered the manageable vertical meters to the summit, I was still in the lift queue with my training group.
After three lift rides and a few self-fought meters in altitude, the training time was over and the prologue was imminent. Most of the tracks were dry again due to the best weather and I was motivated for the first time measurement of the weekend.
Track director and owner of the Bullhead House, Peter Hanke, had worked out five stages for the drivers. The prologue route was also the last stage of the race on Sunday. In the lower part of the bike park, the terrain was rather flat, peppered with a few pedaling passages towards the finish area. The demanding stone fields that had to be overcome here in recent years have been removed from the route layout for this year and bypassed. One's joy is another's sorrow, but more on that later.
After a solid 6th place in the prologue, my first day of racing was history and the good weather wanted to be used as much as possible. So it was a good thing that the official shower facilities could be found in the nearby natural mud bath. With the summer temperatures, the cold water shower was just the thing to cool off. In bad weather, however, that would certainly have caused long faces in the paddock.
Enduro One at Ochsenkopf, the race
On Sunday the first group started. The race time was set at 2,5 hours and thus seemed sufficient for the distance of 18km and 380hm. For the first special test of the day, it was easy to take the lift if you wanted to. Like the prologue, Stage 1 was tamed and so half of the route was ridden on a marked meadow to avoid the stone fields in the upper part of the bike park. Once you had overcome the meadow, which was still very slippery from the morning dew, the last few meters were covered on the bike park trail.
After a short connection transfer, you were already at the start of the second time measurement. This was also allowed to be practiced the day before and so I already knew that this stage would definitely be my weakness. After entering the trail you only had a short time to enjoy the speed before it was only possible to build up speed to a limited extent for the next 3 minutes without pedaling. Shortly after the start it was already running for me. While pedaling, I landed on a root and fell. A flawless race was now necessary to make up for the lost time.
Stage 3 was the complete opposite. This was not allowed to be trained in advance and we went downhill at high speed over a wide trail peppered with larger stones and slabs of rock. Here it was extremely difficult to estimate the right speed and not to lose control on the partly loose surface. I was happy when I reached the timekeeping without making any big mistakes.
After another easy transfer, which my racing colleague Max Dorfer almost completely covered in a wheelie, the shortest stage of the day was imminent. In the lift lane, the route was marked out in muddy ground. This was visible almost to the finish line and so we took some time to observe the competition. It quickly became clear that things are extremely slippery here and with a 40-second stage there was more to lose than to win. Fortunately, Max and I got through very well and were not among the many drivers who had suffered a flat tire here.
From that point on, I was in the best of spirits, because I already knew the last timing from the prologue and the race went well for my standards, except for one fall. One last longer connection stage and we were at the start for the last time. The last stage was tackled with a little more risk than in the prologue and I finished 4th in the Pro class with a total race time of 10:41:07.
After the end of the race I talked to track manager Peter Hanke about the race. Due to the many objections in previous years that the stages were sometimes too demanding for hobby riders, he decided, together with the event management, to avoid the stone fields in particular. After the experiences from this year, you will probably find the golden mean here at the next edition of the Enduro One at the Ochsenkopf, so everyone should get their money's worth here again. One would also like to offer a few additional stages at the Ochsenkopf, but here the organizers simply have a lack of volunteers who can be used as marshals.
The Enduro One at the Ochsenkopf has again confirmed my positive overall impression of this racing series and I think next season I will spend another weekend in the Fichtelgebirge in a relaxed racing atmosphere.
Results of the Enduro One at the Ochsenkopf at a glance
E1 Wild Childs U10: Kilian van de Haterd
E1 Wild Childs U13: Mika Raudies (RC Germania Weißenburg)
E1 Wild Childs U16: Tim Ratajczak (best bike racing)
Special Stage E1 E-Bike: Michael Tiegs (HaibikeEnduroCREW2K17)
Prologue ♀: Raphaela Richter (Radon Factory DH / BSB Bayreuth)
Prologue ♂: Bastian Richter (29er Racing/BSB Bayreuth)
E1 Guest: Willi Lützeler (Cube)
E1 Beginner: Christian Rothenbach (Trailhouse / MSC-Fr.-Switzerland)
E1 Junior: Erik Wetzel (RSV Nordhausen)
E1 Senior: Sebastian Strehl
E1 Super Senior: Harald Krebs
E1 Sport: Maximilian Dorfer (Yeti Cycles DE)
E1 E-Bike: Sven Schreiber (Focus / Compana)
E1 Woman: Raphaela Richter (Radon Factory DH / BSB Bayreuth)
E1 Pro: Andre Kleindienst (Bergamont Hayes Factory Team)
Video of the Enduro One at Ochsenkopf
Text: Thomas Rieger
Photos: Nico Gilles