If you have always wanted to know what motivates you to take part in such a sleep deprivation program, here is the experience report from my friend Michi:
LLLIIIINNNNKKKKSSSS, I haven't gotten this call out of my ears since the weekend
Here is a brief explanation for it.
After I had once again won a starting place for the 24h MTB race in the Maxhütte - Sulzbach-Rosenberg (team of 4) in my youthful recklessness, I put together a team and was at the start. It has to be said that although 2 members of the team were already at the start in the previous year, the third colleague and I had almost no MTB experience, especially not off-road and single trail. With over 4,000 kilometers of racing bike, I felt well prepared. On the weekend before the race there was a tour of the track and then I quickly noticed that it wasn't going to be fun. Now it was clear to me why the whole world championship is called ...
But nothing helps, the weekend of August 20th was there and the Erdinger alcohol-free team at the start. At first each of us drove 2 laps and then there was a clap and the next one was at the start. I started the race as third of the team. First a flat stretch, in half aero position I hit the gas right away. Then through a hall whose floor was well filled with rubble. Then another relatively fast part of the route before the technical part. The technical part initially went through a hall again, but this time through small rooms where you had to stand briefly and then brake again immediately. From the last room we went steeply up the mountain. Thank goodness only about 20 meters, but that's enough to burn your thighs.
There were 3 of these short, poisonous climbs, some of which still had water on the route (rain on Friday). After a short descent on tar we went into a passage of the motocross track with banked turns and everything that goes with it. Then a really steep descent (and I mean REALLY steep) and then a single trail that was relatively short, but washed up. On the single trail, "LEFT" was my constant companion, that is, the prompt to drive on the right because someone wants to overtake on the left. With experience from the time trial, it is very difficult to get ahead here. After the single trail, a scree passage and back to the Maxhütte. The highlight here was that you drive through a tube to the first floor. Then briefly accelerate, turn 180 degrees and the round is over. Now it's either the second round or the transition area.
During the day everything is still relatively feasible if you concentrate, but a 24-hour race also goes through the night. I got myself a bike lamp with 40 lux. So a really good one (15 lux are required in road traffic). What I then saw partially with other mountain bikers can sometimes fade car headlights. In some cases, complete headlight batteries (self-made) were used here. The head lamps mounted on the helmet usually had a greater radiance than my mounted wheel light. It was really tough, especially down the single trail at night. Most of the time I couldn't hear a left at all because the faster participants shot past me on the left and right. They must have had night vision devices.
After 24 hours with about 2 hours of sleep, the last team lap was done. We were all glad that we survived the whole thing halfway accident-free (3 out of 4 now have abrasions). To imitate this is really only intended for experienced mountain bikers, the "hobby athlete" will quickly see that his league was not at the start here. This thing isn't a World Cup for nothing. A few more dates to conclude:
My fastest lap 19:25 minutes - fastest lap of all participants 15:04 (totally sick!)
Total team laps: 62 - most team laps in a team of 4: 88 - laps of the winner of the individual competition: 71 (madness !!!)
Laps that the best woman has driven more than us: 4
Massages: 1 (free for participants, great thing!)
Erdinger alcohol-free drunk: 9 (0.5 liters)
"Left" calls heard / lap: approx. 10
Falls seen: 5 (thank god there was no bad one)
My overall balance: 16 ridden laps (7.4 km each with about 100 meters of altitude)
If you haven't been deterred by the report, you can register for next year here: http://www.sog-events.de/