Rhön Cycle Marathon Bimbach - Whitsun festival in the Rhön: Report from the 2019 cycle marathon

Never before have 2,330 registered marathon participants been so few starters: when the start window for the Classic Marathon opens shortly before seven o'clock, there is no crowd in Bimbach. To celebrate the 30th Rhön Cycle Marathon, the RSC Bimbach has exceptionally offered a 302-kilometre extreme lap and let the riders onto the course at 5.30 am. Most of the participants are already on the road - only around 700 cyclists are still standing in front of the starting arch. Christian Keller from Chemnitz is one of them. He won his starting place through the TOUR and Assos competition (see info box). The 34-year-old is not only competing in the Rhön for the first time, but is also riding a bike marathon for the first time. "I've never ridden 200 kilometres even in training," he reveals in view of the 218 kilometres and 3,800 metres of altitude that lie ahead of him. While the course announcer counts down to zero, Keller starts his speedometer and rolls towards the starting line. Marathon premiere - at the 30th marathon birthday in the Rhön.

The mother of all cycling events and forerunner of the cycle marathon in Bimbach, Hesse, was the Rhön Tour: the first "3-day festival" took place on 8 June 1979: 450 cyclists took part in the first Rhön Tour. The best way to organise the event was to take a look at the RTFs in the surrounding area. Franz Hohmann, the first chairman, also worked hard to promote the event: "I travelled all over Germany in the field and handed out flyers to every bike dealer," he recalls. And the "3-day festival" was about more than just cycling: Friday started with "disco time", on Saturday the biggest teams were honoured with trophies after the RTF, and the band played for dancing in the marquee. The concept of cycling in beautiful countryside, good organisation and a party was a success: In its third year, 1,200 participants came to Bimbach. And when the marathon attracted even more sporty cyclists in 1990, there were 2,100 starters in one fell swoop. "The whole car park was full of Trabants back then," recalls Hohmann of the year when athletes from eastern Germany were able to travel to the event for the first time. Bimbach's central location in Germany, which is easily accessible from all directions, is certainly part of the reason for its success.

Just a few kilometres after the start, Christian Keller has to put his head down to anticipate where the winding uphill road will finally flatten out again. He cranks calmly up the crisp ramps. There is not much time to recover, as the ascent to Milseburg follows immediately afterwards, a steep classic of the cycle marathon. In the elevation profile, the climbs stand out as spikes that taper off towards the top: As steeply as it goes uphill, the road drops abruptly into the valley again. Keller hangs low over the handlebars and hurtles downhill at 70 kilometres an hour. The road is perfectly tarmaced, easy to see and is ridden sensibly. "There are no crazy drivers here who switch off their brains and overtake like in some races," says Axel Schneider from Schneeberg, describing his observations. Bright pink signs visible from afar point out junctions or announce the next climb. Once again, the road is thrown backwards: Keller cycles into the climb to Ellenbogen - the next nasty hurdle in the route plan.

Florian Auth, course planner in the Rhön since 2015, is responsible for these mean things. For this year, he has devised both new and significantly tougher laps - once again; the variety of distances on offer and the constant change of routes are further factors in the event's success. Sometimes it's clockwise, then in the opposite direction, Bimbach 400, Bimbach Extreme - innovation is the permanent motto. This year, the traditional ride over the Wasserkuppe was even cancelled in order to make use of routes with little traffic. Auth rides 15,000 to 20,000 kilometres a year on his racing bike and knows every rideable piece of asphalt within a 70-kilometre radius. Once he has found a new route, his biggest worry is whether the authorities will approve it. The cycle marathon runs through Hesse, Thuringia and Bavaria - and the authorities in Bavaria in particular have announced that they will be keeping a close eye on whether the organisers and participants comply with the regulations and traffic rules.

The Bavarians don't seem to find much to criticise; at the refreshment point in Fladungen, Bavaria, Keller gets off his bike and is greeted by a policewoman and her colleague. There is no threat of conflict - on the contrary: the two officers have sat down at the small table for fun, where they smile and stamp the cyclists' control cards for a while. In the morning, Keller didn't even know what the card was for - now he collects the stamps to get a T-shirt and a racing cap at the finish line. Hundreds of cyclists scurry across a tarmac service yard, while helpers offer cakes, fruit and drinks from behind beer benches. Keller now realises that he could have saved himself the many bars and gels he packed as a precaution. He fills up his bottles and grabs a banana. On the other side of the road, helpers from RSC Bimbach have parked a van and are offering a breakdown service. The men and women in the yellow T-shirts are everywhere.

The RTF weekend organised by RSC Bimbach is the largest cycling event in Germany organised by a club. 6,600 participants descend on the community of 2,300 inhabitants, just a few kilometres west of Fulda. How does the club manage to organise so many helping hands for the long Whitsun weekend? Set-up begins on Thursday and continues for five days until Monday. Around 160 volunteers lend a hand, 140 of whom are club members. A reward system has been in place since 1979 that obviously works: Women's outings, a summer party for all helpers, a festive lunch banquet on the day of dismantling, annual cycling trips to Prague, Warsaw or Nice. Lack of helpers? Not in Bimbach. The curious thing is that helpers from Bimbach are now in the minority - the majority have long since come from outside the region, and the popularity of the Rhön Cycle Marathon has brought the organisation new members from all over Germany. "Whitsun is the time to cycle in Bimbach" has been the catchy slogan for years. The date has several advantages: the free Whit Monday and the school holidays make it easier for many participants to relax and take some of the stress out of the return journey. Whitsun can be planned for years in advance. Incidentally, the Limbachers have reversed their slogan for themselves: "No cycling at Whitsun" is the maxim, helping out is mandatory for all members, and Whitsun has advantages in this respect too: There is no need to take holiday for the dismantling on Whit Monday.

Meanwhile, Christian Keller has got back on his bike. He is happy about the "beautiful landscape and the little traffic". An impression shared by Axel Schneider: "Sometimes you feel like you're travelling on closed roads." On the climb to Stirnberg, there are sweeping views of the green hills of the Rhön Biosphere Reserve, which is as beautiful as it is tough for the cyclists: The 400 metres in altitude in one stretch to the Heidelstein make Keller's pedalling visibly flag for the first time - a slump after 130 kilometres? "I realise that my batteries are empty," he says and rolls into the descent. The man from Chemnitz is looking forward to a plate of pasta with goulash at the next refreshment point.

The beer benches there are full and business with the cyclists is booming. The bread rolls come from the bakery in the village, drinks from the regional mineral spring and the goulash from the butcher in the neighbouring village. The hotels all around are fully booked - with around 6,600 participants in the various tours over the weekend, this is an economic factor to be taken seriously. Nevertheless, Bimbach retains its special charm: "The family atmosphere and the organisation is very nice, everything is nowhere near as commercial as at some big events abroad," says Schneider. His own style is evident in the details: because the driver of the route vehicle is an ardent fan of pop singer Andrea Berg, the cyclists are treated to her hits from the loudspeaker. "Too much mountain or too much mountain?" is therefore one of the questions of the day.

Strengthened, Keller rolls back onto the course and cranks through the midday heat in good spirits. The interplay of climbs and descents continues until he joins a small group for the last 20 kilometres and can take it easy in the slipstream. More and more cyclists join him from the shorter routes on the way to the finish and the road fills up. At the town sign for Bimbach, a group of motivated youngsters pass Keller and head through the finishing arch with a flourish. Bikes are parked and leaning everywhere, the beer tent is full to bursting. Club co-founder Franz Hohmann is at the tap and can barely keep up with pouring the beer. The cosy part of the cycling weekend now begins in Bimbach. Keller takes his stamped marathon card and collects his cycling cap and T-shirt as a reward. His marathon premiere was fun and, above all, left him wanting more: "Maybe next time I'll try the 256-kilometre route in Bimbach."

With TOUR and ASSOS to the Rhön Cycle Marathon

In TOUR 3/2019, we announced a competition for the anniversary event in Bimbach in cooperation with cycling clothing manufacturer Assos and were overwhelmed by a flood of entries. Ten lucky winners were drawn - men only, by the way: Assos used the promotion to launch its new Equipe RS Bib Shorts S9 for men. After one winner cancelled at short notice, nine cyclists met at the Hotel Vorderburg in Schlitz in central Hesse on 8 June to get to know each other. All participants received their Assos set, consisting of Bib Shorts S9 and Equipe RS aero jersey. Over dinner together, it quickly became clear that these were passionate racing cyclists among themselves. Thomas Müller from Neustadt took part in the RTF on Saturday and set his sights on the 302-kilometre distance - as did Wolfgang Groner from Illertissen. Christian Repaski from Schwarzach in Pongau opted for the 256-kilometre route. Axel Schneider from Schneeberg, Christian Keller from Chemnitz and Norbert Koch from Bad Lippspringe rode the 218-kilometre route with TOUR editor Kristian Bauer. Eddy Preuß from Uffenheim, Florian Lenz from Leopoldsdorf and Lutz Stamm from Solingen opted for the 180 kilometres. The distinctive Assos outfits were on the road on almost all routes. At the finish line, the 218-kilometre group met Wolfgang Groner, who completed the 302 kilometres with 5,500 metres of climbing in around eleven hours. He was exhausted but satisfied, as were all the other winners of the competition.