Timo Rokitta heads out into the semi-frozen forests of Odenwald in search of ancient stones, fresh spring water and perfect gravel riding. He wasn’t disappointed.
The 12 participants of the first ride of the Odenwaldseries 2023 met punctually at 8 a.m. in Heidelberg. In the vicinity of the Neckar, temperatures were around freezing point at the set off time. Organiser Ricardo said a few words of explanation about the event beforehand.
Ricardo comes from Portugal and he has lived in Heidelberg for the last 13 years. He came here to do a masters degree in Biology and now he works as a researcher at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory.
The inspiration for the Odenwald series are the original gravel races in the USA, from riders to riders, no sponsors or goodie bags, sourcing food and water in supermarkets and gas stations on the way. Inspiration also comes from the wonderful Odenwald forest with its dense network of forest roads, perfect to be explored with the adequate bike.
Ricardo likes to explore the more remote areas of the Odenwald. As he explored around Heidelberg and started to connect the nice segments that are around, these routes logically emerged. During the covid pandemic, in the months before his son was born, he rode the first version of the routes by himself. The year after he made some changes and rode them again alone. This year he wanted to share it, especially with the local riders that enjoy long, hard rides and like to be in contact with nature.
The participants of the colorful group consisted of riders from Germany, Portugal, USA, Mexico and Venezuela. Unfortunately, there was only one woman at the start, but she was not deterred by the challenges ahead. The well-known Philosophenweg, a 7-kilometre steep climb to the white stone, was our "warm-up". On the ascent there were great views of the old town of Heidelberg, the Neckar and the old, world-famous castle.
The white stone welcomed the summiteers with even icier temperatures of just under 0 degrees. From the highest point, there was a fast descent down to Schönau. From there we headed directly onto a steady and easy to climb up to 430 meters. After crossing a road, a fallen tree blocked the way. The next fast gravel descent to Unterschönmattenwag, also known as "Schimmeldewog", was a real gravel dream.
The "Direttissima" then followed in the village - a steep climb with 22 percent gradients, fortunately on a bad asphalt road. The track led back into the forest over a plateau. A sandy and muddy passage provided a short adrenaline rush. In the next valley we picked up a road under construction on hard-rolled gravel.
The downhill fun only ended at a water source. A friendly man with a dog filled up many empty bottles there. In a short conversation, he said that this was the best water in the area and that people came many kilometers to the source to bottle their water here. Next we had a piece of asphalt to relax our legs, which did us good after already riding half of the route, before turning right again into the forest. We arrived at the top after 5 kilometers of climbing, but again the way was blocked in places with fallen trees. A small detour past the Michelbuch forester's lodge then led back down to the Neckar.
At the castle high above Neckarsteinach our route got quite a bit more technical. High above the Neckar, sharp stones protruded from the surface and constantly forced us to dodge them. However, the gradients in this section were limited and the view down into the Neckar Valley was simply fantastic. The last third of the track led over the Ziegelhäuser Bridge to the other side of the Neckar. The final climb up to the Königstuhl began at a cemetery. Eight long kilometers with an average of 6 percent were easy to ride on perfect gravel trails and ended at an altitude of 568 meters, high above Heidelberg.
A quick look at the Rhine plain compensated for the exertion. A fast descent then led down to Heidelberg on perfect trails. Many mountain bikers meet here and literally struggle up the mountain. The area around the Königstuhl is a true paradise for downhill riders. As we arrived back down in Heidelberg, people enjoyed the sun in the outdoor area of the cafes. After almost 110 kilometers and gaining more than 2,700 meters in altitude, the first of six rides of the Odenwaldseries 2023 had been completed.
The anticipation for the second event in April had been awakened. Aqui vamos nós Ricardo.
If you would like to find out more about the Odenwald series, you should head over to their website