Double Top 10 for the Kona Gduro Team !

Rossbach, a very small village in the Spessart region was the second stop of the german Enduro One series. This was the second time Rossbach hosted a stop of the series and the first one already provided excellent trail riding with technical challenges in every stage.

Although this little town is in the middle of nowhere there is a strong mountain bike community all around and all citizens are keen to make this event a big family-like meeting.Just three of seven stages could be trained including the prolog / stage 7. All other stages had to race blind.

Early Sunday morning we mentioned that it had some heavy rain falls overnight in northern Bayern. That could have some extra salt on all the roots and rocks we ride yesterday. As suspected stage one was all in from the start. Beginning with some rooty corners the trail followed the fall line of the hill with rocks and offcamber sections paired with tight switchbacks and highspeed downhills. I found myself beside my bike a few times and hit a tree somewhere. Nothing serious but that stage was not mine. Matthias had made similar experiences but found the flow all around.

Up to stage two we took the same way but followed the fire road further thru the woods. Same game here – a few corners and down into the steeps with a roadgap and technical challenging lines. This one was much better but still not the race mode my Process an I were capable of. A long uphill took us to stage three, one of the trained stages. Beginning with a flat single track the trail got steep and steeper interrupted by a 400m fireroad section.  I knew I had to put all in and it felt like my speed was spot on. On the upper double double  I hit a cross root and punctured. Thanks to my Tire Trooper I ride this stage save to the bottom. Sometimes it is just not your day. But still four stages to come. Matthias got more and more in the race and improved his single positions from stage to stage. But I was confused for the day. Stage four and five felt really weird with no flow at all.

The last two stages I knew what to do but overall I didn’t found into the race this day.The expected Top 3 turned into a Top 10 in Rossbach. Matthias ended with another Top 10 position in his strong class. Good job, man! Kind of disappointing for me but there are more races ahead. Now I will concentrate on the 12h XC race in Külsheim.

Stay tuned !

Stefan Westerveld