RideReport - Nibelungen Gravel Ride 2020
Posted By Timo Rokitta
On 9 July 2020
Timo Rokitta reports in from the 3rd running of the annual Nibelungen gravel ride, held in Worms, Germany.
The 2020 edition of the Nibelungen gravel ride, held in Worms, Germany, took place under strict control of the corona-instructions on 3rd and 4th July 2020. With the correct precautions in place, we were able to run a complete event, including a children's skills clinic.
For the first time, a “Welcome ride” was provided the day before the event – it was well attended, included many locals. Fortunately, the sun shone all day – lighting up the slopes and trails of the river Pfrimm and around the city of Worms.
The start for the long-distance gravellers, tackling the 140km route was from 8 – 9 am. One hour later, the gravel bikers riding the 100km circuit headed out. There were well over 100 gravel bikers on the demanding off-road slopes. The participants traveled from all of parts of Germany to the Nibelungen gravel ride, which has already become a cult event. Professional CX racer Ellen van Loy came with her husband from Antwerp, Belgium to the Nibelungenstadt on the River Rhine.
The event was authorised to use an old gravel train route heading out from the city. This soon turned into an old cobblestone passage following near Abenheim. The path to the river Pfrimm was on quite challenging dirt roads, and the riders headed deep into the valley of Zell. At the small village of Harxheim, it got rough again, another section with even coarser cobblestones spat out the gravellers onto a windy plateau. In front of the riders was their next objective - the striking mountain of Donnersberg.
After 41 kilometers, everyone was happy to be able to top of their energy reserves at the refreshment point. In addition to freshly baked pretzels, there were granola bars, bananas, apples, peanuts, chocolate rolls and of course water, cola and apple spritzer.
For the riders doing the big lap, the real challenge only started here. After a few cobblestone sections through old farms and horse stud farms, the climb to the highest mountain in the Palatinate began at 687.5 meters. It was 4kmon a gravel road, with an average gradient of 8 percent steadily uphill - the maximum gradients were 12 percent! Once the riders arrived high up on the Königstuhl, a striking rock, the riders headed downhill. Because of some last-minute forestry work, the riders had to improvise and carry their gravel bikes over the felled trees or find a bypass.
Once at the bottom it was time to duck and take on a narrow tunnel passed under an old railway line. After the loop, the participants came back to the refreshment station. The calories for the final attack were then loaded here.
A wonderful single track as a warm-up heralded the path through the stump forest. After an old mysterious place called Stumpfwaldgericht, the riders followed a downhill to the Eiswoog, a romantic lake in the middle of the forest.
The slope now followed the gravelled Barbarossa way, which traced the River Eisbach to the village of Ebertsheim. From here it went up another 150 meters to the model airfield on the mountain of Grünstadt. The subsequent descent back into the valley of Eistal near Mertesheim was bumpy and demanding. At the bottom of the descent came the final challenge - the wall of Asselheim was the last big test for the summiteers.
The fortunately concreted climb led to the plateau near the airport near Quirnheim with an incredible 24% gradient. Anyone who successfully rode the climb had made it. For the last 20 kilometers, the route only went downhill and with a tailwind to Worms. At an old spring in the allotment gardens in Kindenheim, the overheated drivers could cool off and fill up with fresh water.
After a long day in the saddle, the last kilometers along the river Pfrimm then became the "Tour d'honneur". The last trail along the Pfrimm then ended exactly at the start and finish area on the Pit-Pat site on the B9.
At the finish line all exhausted drivers were greeted with an ice-cold and alcohol-free cold beer. To top it off, as every year, riders were invited to try a local delicacy as the post-event meal – locally smoked Salmon – something unique in the gravel scene. A raffle with many valuable prizes rounded off the 3rd Nibelungen Gravel Ride.
After an unforgettable, but hard, day all participants agreed that they would be at the Nibelungen Gravel Ride again next year.