Heubacher ‘Bike the Rock’

30/4/12

Held each year, in the south of Germany, the ‘Heubacher Bike the Rock’ mountain bike festival attracts some of the best riders from around Europe and the World.  This year the race had a UCI rating of ‘HC’ meaning there were substantial UCI points on offer and therefore an event well worth racing.  As well as assured quality competition, the Heubacher is also known for its great festival atmosphere and just an all-round awesome event!

So I was excited to be competing in this year’s Heubacher event especially since I had been 2 weeks in Europe now without a race.  Straight after the World Cup in Houffalize, I had come down with a nasty virus and therefore had cancelled last weekend’s scheduled race in Munsingen.  I still had a bit of a snotty nose, but confident that the worst had past, I was determined to get some good racing in over the next month.  After all, I hadn’t come to Europe to sip on latte’s all day and wonder when I might get better!

Ed and I drove down from Kassel to Heubach on Thursday morning and arrived around lunch time.  I was keen to get a few laps of the course in, so after a quick coffee in town we headed out to the forest where race organisers were busy setting things up.  The expo stands had only just started to arrive and the course hadn’t yet been totally marked out properly.  However the beer stand was notably ready to go…nice to see the German’s have priorities right!

Luckily for me, one of the guys from team Merida, Jochen Kass, was also out riding the track and he kindly offered to show me around a lap of the course.  So, we headed up the first main track, which just seemed to keep going up!  Basically it was around a 10min climb with some real steep sections and a few tight switch backs along the way. I’m mighty glad that Jochen had agreed on an “easy” lap as I would have struggled to hold his wheel at any higher intensity!  Eventually the course flattened out over the top with a big gear fire-road section, then straight into the descent.  This downhill was great fun with very fast berm sections a few jumps and some steep rooty sections.  In the dry, it was fast and all ride-able, but I could see that in the wet it could become real technical.  So after, this first warm up lap I watched Jochen ride off into the distance and completed another couple of laps just at my own pace.  Overall I was very happy with the course and looking forward to racing over it in 2 days’ time.

The following day, I did a recovery spin for 1.5hrs along some flatter trails in the surrounding area.  The sun was finally shining and it reached a beautiful 22 degrees. It felt so much warmer though, after having had sub 10 degrees for the previous 2 weeks!  Ed and I were staying in a fairly big town called Aalen.  The centre of town consisted of a maze of cobbled one-way streets and had many coffee shops as well as bakeries to choose from. The Germans are not known for their great coffees but boy do they know how to bake bread!  They also have some fantastic looking ice-cream shops, but considering I had a job to do, I thought it best I avoid these till the end of the trip!

Saturday greeted us with some more sunshine. I went for an easy spin in the morning and tried the coffee at the best looking café in town.  Not too bad once I got through the mound of bubbles on top! I headed out to do my last practice laps at 1pm as I wanted to get the body used to riding at this time.  Being such an early-bird and always having trained in the morning, it is always a bit of a struggle to get the legs going in the afternoon.  I punched out 2 laps and got my lines sorted on the descent, then spun out the legs on the flat road for half an hour.  The arvo then consisted of rest, eat, hydrate and stretching. Nothing too exciting!

I woke up Sunday morning with a headache, snotty nose and not being able to hear out of my left ear.  I knew I was in for a tough day!  In hindsight I probably shouldn’t have even took to the start line, but with no results on the board from this Europe trip, I really wanted to at least give it a go.  I was feeling better after a light recovery spin in the morning.  The legs actually didn’t feel too bad and, although I still couldn’t hear from the left ear, my nose had started to clear. So, I had my usual breakfast and then a small meal 3hrs prior to race start and I felt as prepared as I could be.

Rolling around before the start of the race, I couldn’t help but to stop and take some pics.  The crowds were building and the atmosphere was amazing, with bands, rides for the kids, beer tents, pizza, sausages and more beer.  The commentator was more like a DJ, revving up the crowd and really getting into it.

Race start was 1pm on the dot and we were underway.  I knew as soon as the heart rate lifted that I probably should have remained on the sideline cheering on Anytime Fitness teammate Bec Henderson.  Not wanting to give in too easy, I pushed to the top of the 1^st climb, and got into the single track decent.  By this stage I was at the back of the field, but thought I could work my way through half a dozen at least before race finish.  Into the 2^nd lap, the legs were screaming and the lungs were clogged up. I made the decision to pull the pin when I had to move to the side of the track to empty stomach contents.  I probably could have finished the race, however getting healthy again remains the objective for the next few days and, fingers crossed, I can put in a few good races before the trip is finished.

So the Heubacher ‘Bike the Rock’ event, certainly didn’t “Rock’ so much for me! I’m not sure exactly on results as yet for the women’s race, however I think that Bec Henderson slipped inside the top 20 for another great ride. However, the performance of the day definitely went to Dan McConnell for a 5^th place, podium in the elite men’s race.  It was so fantastic to see Dan pull away up the climb, from some of the best mtbikers in the world, including the current World Champion, Kulhavy.  I’m wrapped that his hard work is paying off in a big way