What does my face tell you? I would say, 57 degrees F/14 C and pouring rain in August, the day before the race. Awesome.

As I had already noticed in Neuhaus at the Rennsteig, these people seem to have their own mentality, as one can see by this sign ("Our girls are nice. Our beer is good. So come and be merry."). I'm guessing that it has been hung up again and again for a very long time.

We just missed the sled dog world championship.

While I was pondering about the appropriate beverage, the night before the race, I couldn't help but give my respect to the Raubritter ("robber knights"), since they go so well with Pirates.

We were given some legal doping for the race.

Due to the weather conditions and the evidence at hand, I switched from the middle to the short distance, which turned out to be the right thing to do. Luckily, the weather was pleasant on the day of the race. All of the tracks had to be shortened, because of the heavy rainfall, since some parts were impassable. They also let us know that they had forgone putting up the signs pointing out dangerous downhill passages, since all of them were now dangerous because of the weather. Before the start we held a moment of silence for a biker, who had taken part in this series of races and had gotten into fatal accident. His team took the lead together during the lead-in lap. His roommates stood alongside. Overall, the atmosphere was pretty subdued, since a lot of us knew Jan, who had died, at least by sight.

Then, the race began. I just have to say that I have never before seen that much mud and in these dimensions. I even managed to get stuck in some of the even passages. I wiped out so many times that some of my colleagues and I had to slow down. We did manage to make up a few places going uphill though. But, like I said, we tackled almost all other parts at a leisurely pace. It wasn't about placing anymore. It was about making it alive.
In conclusion, I can say, one Fango for nothing.
Bye,
Elvis