Report by Jost Litzen .
During the first part of the season in 2013 I learned 3 things:
1st: Never start full throttle a 24h race. My first seasonal climax was the 24h race of the German Championships at the Alfsee. Last year we won the race with out team of 8 and our team of 4 in Wittenborn. This year I tried myself as a single starter. The support and the supply was good as ever. Thank you…
The race started as I excepted, really fast and soon after 4h I made myself comfortable on the 2nd place overall.
The course was flat and soft, and became deeper and deeper with the hours of riding on it, which was really bad for myself, which I got to know much later. I rode my rounds and than it started to rain. I wanted to ride for 3h, than rest, eat, drink, everything else I wanted to do on my bike. The rain became more and the temperatures fall. I wanted to ride my usual marathon speed. Even of the fact, that after 9h my bike was covered with mud and my shifting gear didn´t work proper, but I still remained on the 3rd place and I was in sight with the 2nd place and 2 rounds in advance for the one behind me. But…But, my moral appeal was almost gone…
All wet and muddy, I gave up in the night at 1:30o´clock. I wanted, but I wasn´t able to motivate myself anymore. The course was just a mud desert. It was cold and dark. Than half an hour later, the whole race was cancelled. I still was on the 3rd place but already under the shower. The race was started again at 8:00o´clock in the morning but I didn´t want to see anything more of the muddy course. After all it was enough for the 12th overall. New German Champion became Michael Knochendörfer. It was a good experience and I learned a lot. Next year i´ll start another try.
2nd. The Alps are brutal hard but ridable…
In July I travelled with the two guys of the Empower Team of Lübeck, Markus and Stefan Weinknecht to the Salzkammergut Trophy. A race with 211km and more than 7050m of altitude. Our main goal for the time was to finish with in the time limit of 16h. Nothing else, but this is really as well.
We arrived 3 days earlier in Zell am See, to hike a bit and to recover before the race and to free our minds. We went up the hills, to the Gleiwitzer hut and back down to Fusch. It is an unbelievable wonderful nature there. Hiking is a wonderful adjustment for riding. In future I´ll do it some more.
Than on Saturday everything started at 5:00o´clock. We were comfortable within the time limit and I had some time to talk a little bit with Michael Zanone, who came up from behind like a rocket because of a defect.
Than my two guys began to slow down and we remarked that we were out of border. Because I still felt like I´m in a good shape, we decided that I should accelerate, that I would stay within the limits. Our advance was only half an hour after 100km.
Before the last mountain my gap was only 15minutes. The last km´s I tried to push really hard, chain most right and full throttle and than, finally after 15:39h, I crossed the finish totally exhausted, like I never been before.
And I was really happy about the black finisher shirt for this long distance. Next year, for sure…Please, anyone who wants to ride this, please exercise really good. It´s awesome hard and beautiful.
3rd. Triathlon is not bad at all
My very first triathlon ever I did last Sunday at the Wannsee of Berlin. Only a few days before Ron sent me my tri-suit. Thank you for the fast delivery.
It was the first cross triathlon of the SV Friesen, one of the largest swim clubs of Berlin. 1km of swimming in the Wannsee, 26km bike and 6km cross country run. With the starting signal all my excitement was gone, when I jumped together with 42 girls and boys in the water.
The swimming was splitted into two halfs with one small walk in between, I didn´t know it before, I just wondered when I was still within the first group after 500m.
After the 1km of swimming when I reached the transition area I was 2min behind the leader. Than I started to took over the bike course.
The bike course was fast and the hills not that high, it was perfect conditions for the CC-bike. When I came back to thr transition area again, I started with three other guys together the running course, 4 rounds to run. I watched two of them, and on a hilly section I got away from them and suddenly I was 2nd with 1:30min behind the leader. I thought about” Candid Camera” or something…
It was like this, first of all, I thought about trying to catch the guy ahead of me, but at least I finished at my first triathlon on the podium.
I even received a medal for my 1st place in my AG.
Always be yourself – unless you can be a Pirate – then be a Pirate.
Jost
