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Pirate
BIKE Trans Germany 2012...

Escape the daily grind and exploring the world

BIKE Trans Germany – when we hear this words, our eyes sare shining bright. MTB-stage races are some kind of magical, and call for us. It´s like being somewhere else on this planet. So, we changed the flat country we call home, for some snow covered Alps. Back in the mountain world of Heidi…

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Day one : from Sonthofen to Pfronten
Together with the MTB-marathon world champion Christoph Sauser and more than 800 other participants, we stood at the starting line in Sonthofen, wearing our pink PIRATE Jerseys, at 10:00o´clock in the morning. It´s a very common feeling, standing here. The typical check before the start: helmet, gloves, ISOSTAR nutritions, wind vest and more, everything there. The air pressure of the CONTI-tubes is allright and the CONNEX chain is working properly over the SRAM chain cassette and slowly the heart and the pulse are starting to work. Than, the pack starts to move after the signal. Ahead of us two large and two small ascents and I think Ute´s thoughts are already at the gravel downhill passage.


We got 72,9km spliited into 52,5% gravel and 2715m of altitude to solve. After 14km we reached the first top Now that we are at the mountain station Hornbahn we have to ride downhill to Bad Hindelang, just to ride up the 600m of altitude again up to Höllatsberg. The rest of the course are just abrasive downhill parts, hard ascents, but a wonderful view down to Pfrontwn and after 5:19h we crossed the finish line together, hand in hand. Yes, we did it. Pirate

Day two: from Pfronten to Lermoos
The day starts the same, like the day before, just that the alarm clock wakes us up half an hour earlier. It´s already busy at the breakfast table in our motel “ Gasthof Engel”. After having 2 rolls and really awesome coffee we heading towards the starting block. Ute were allowed to start in block B, I was only in C, but she was so polite, to start with me, from my block. The start is closing, out of the speakers, you can here:  Highway to hell…

Heidi´s mountain world shows itself from ist best side today, high mountains surrounded by a wonderful bright blue sky. After a few km´s we met „ camouflaged“ PIRATE Doro, now we went uninterrupted thru the valley of Tannenheim to the ascent of the „ Adlerhorst“. Later we had a fantastic over the Zugspitze, which attended us for a very long time. When we arrived later at the finish, we had some more time to enjoy these wonderful scenery.
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Day three: from Lermoos to Seefeld
Somehow, we weren´t able today, to park ur supporting cars near the starting area and our faithful soul had to walk very far to support, but sadly he´s not that good in walking. Our daddy, who supported us the whole 4 days, knows everything and can read our minds. He doens´t want to attend us, we just grabbed and packed him.
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Today Ute, stands with me together again in bloch D, everyone else is also already here, smiles for welcoming us, shaking hands and lots of greets. The course is not that long today only 1883m of altitude splitted over 60km with two mountains with each 600m of altitude on wonderful gravel and after 40km with a mix of forest and roots ground with several mean ascents and downhill passages. We needed 131min for the two mountains and  even downhill we didn´t rest and pushed the pedals really hard. Finally the last 20km before Seefeld. The sun came out, only for a short time and now our district started, like our very own Tüschenwald, back home. Lots of small´n short ascents with up to 20%. We saw lots of the other riders becoming vers desperate, but we just had a smile on our faces. And after 3:30h we crossed the finish line, being welcomed by the announcer and ended up on the 28th place. Our daddy almost made it on time, he was just 5min earlier at the finidh line.
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Day four or the last stage - from Seefeld to Garmisch- Partenkirchen.

When we ate breakfast I remarked that Ute and myself studied the roadbook elsewise the other. Ute rememberes the steep downhill parts and the red line single trails and I just can think about the one sentence of a 1km long single trail: here you have to solve more than 200m of altitude over one km on natural stone, downhill of course, maybe the most beautiful downhill section of the last 4 days. For myself, I´m looking forward fort he scenery after km 16, with the Zugspitze in the background. Pirate

The start assembly, felt into the waters. I think our beloved GOD is not a MTB-rider, it rained cats and dogs. Even the famous LAOLA-wave before the start won´t work anymore and we just start. We are really strong at the mountains and weren´t passed at all. It´s likea school lesson, a really good biker, don´t need a “ Fully”. We conquered every rock, stone, root, wet or dry, really savely with our hardtail, first lift the front whel, than with a small jump, following the rear wheel. On the downhill passages, we started to slow down a bit, and just hear from behind: RIGHT, RIGHT. We are being passed and only moments later, we see the “ fast” rider, getting of his bike, not very softly. Because of this, we had to get off our bikes as well, and push them the last 150m downhill.

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After km 18 is a very long downhill passage, very smooth, and we fly with more than30km/h in a group of 8 over ponds and loose gravel. Nothing is dry anymore and even shifting is not really possible, it´s getting really cold, it feels like temperatures with only one digit. We freeze… Than after 62km, we see Garmisch-Patenkirchen. We just roll down the last 12km towards the finish line. Even this sentence: At a race there is only one who is smiling and laughing at the finish: the winner. No way. We don´t think that the World Champion Christoph Sauser cheered more than we did. We also lift our arms and hands, when we cross the finish line. 26th place for Ute.
We had a wonderful time at the BIKE Trans Germany and met a lot of nice people on MTB´s. We´re also really satisfied with our placement: Ute 31st of 74 and myself 141th of 267.
Lots of greetings

 
Ute and Nils
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