During the 10th edition of the Bike-Marathon all the starters were exceptionally honored with perfect weather conditions, which are an absolute rarity in Furtwangen. That's how 430 other bikers and I felt at 9:15am on the 37m/60km marathon that was quite technically challenging.

I was able to stay with the head of the pack for the first 6m/10km, but at some point my legs didn't want to work anymore and cramps made their presence known, so I had to slow down. I joined a group of 4 and rode through the heights of the Black Forest, under, what had become, summery conditions.
Due to some problems with concentration that I was having, I really had to fight to stay with the group, which grew to 8 riders 12m/20km before the end. So, we moved along quite well, even if not everybody worked for it (Freeloaders ;-)).
So, the 8 of us turned onto the home stretch and started sprinting, during which one of us was deployed on a fence.

I was only moderately content with my 16th place (age division 6), since I had hoped for a ranking in the top 10. I guess I'm not in top condition anymore.
Oh well, life goes on...

by jonas