Sep 27, 2026

Last Saturday I raced the Alb-Gold Trophy, the 60 km / 700 hm loop on the Swabian Alb, right on my doorstep in Trochtelfingen. Two laps, mostly double track, some trail and grass sections, one proper climb per lap. Going in I was actually a bit worried. Since early August my longest ride had been under 30 km, most weeks only 40-60 km total, and a two week trip to Malaysia in between that was more hiking than riding. My own prediction, done from Strava data a couple of days before, put me somewhere around 2:55-3:10 on a good day, with a real chance of fading hard in the final 15 km.

The track

Once we got going I also realized the route itself was pretty boring, if I’m honest. Mountainbike marathon the old fashioned way: a lot of double track, some grass sections, almost no actual singletrack. Fast and efficient, but not much to look at or play with technically. Good for pacing, bad for entertainment.

The plan

Nothing fancy: don’t chase surges in the first 10 km, ride the climbs steady instead of hard, fuel from minute 20 onward, and stay out of the wind whenever I could get away with it. Basically the opposite of how I usually race, where I tend to just follow whoever attacks and pay for it later.

The start

We started rather at the back of the group, and I was genuinely surprised how chill the first kilometers were. I overtook a lot of riders early on, and even once I was clearly further up in the bunch everyone was still taking it easy on the first climb. Coming from my last races - the Biscuit Cup cross rounds especially - I think I’m a bit spoiled with very ambitious competition. This felt more like a proper hobby race, and I mean that in a good way. It’s great to be motivated, but in the end we’re all amateurs. Doesn’t matter if you finish 37th or 41st.

Lap one

For once the plan actually worked. I sat in, let others do the work on the flat and fast sections, and only went to the front when I needed to bridge back to a group. Splits confirmed it later: my power on the “eine Runde” lap segment was dead even with what I’d normally call comfortable, and heart rate stayed mostly in what I’d call zone 4, not redlining anywhere. On the climbs I found a group of similarly paced riders and just held position instead of trying to drop anyone.

Lap two - the rival

Somewhere into lap two I ended up glued to the wheel of one guy who was clearly around my level. We rode basically the whole second half of the lap together, taking turns, neither of us willing to be the one who gets gapped. My numbers tell me I was fading a bit by then - about 7% less power for 4% more time on the same segment compared to lap one, heart rate creeping up while power dropped, which is decoupling in disguise for “you’re getting tired.” But so was he, presumably, because neither of us pulled away until the very last climb of the lap. That’s where I found something extra and finally dropped him for good.

The finish

2:39:21 moving time, 58.5 km, 1069 hm - more climbing than the 700 hm the organizers advertised, which made the result even better than it looked on paper. That’s inside my “good day” band and about 6 minutes faster than my most optimistic prediction, despite around 50% more elevation than I’d planned for. Average power was 192 W, about 81% of my FTP, for two and a half hours, and average heart rate 163 bpm. First time in a while that a race went almost exactly according to plan instead of me just surviving it.

Fueling

Given my track record I actually paid attention this time. In one liter of water I mixed 140 g of MNSTRY POWER CARB Sour Cherry (1:0.8), plus one MNSTRY GEL 40 Neutral and two Clif Bloks over the race, and a small cup of iso at the aid station. I also carried 1.5 liters of plain water in my Evoc backpack, but only drank about half of it in the end. Not a disaster, but probably a bit light on fluids for 2:40 h and rising temperatures on lap two.

What did I learn

• Tactics and pacing can make up for a lot of missing base miles. I went in expecting to blow up from an endurance gap that never really showed up.
• The fade was real but small and isolated to the steep climbs in lap two, not a general collapse. Power/HR decoupling of around 10% lap to lap is a decent number to watch for next time - and given I only drank half my water, dehydration is a decent suspect alongside plain fatigue.
• My 20 minute best power on the day was still a bit below my current FTP number, which makes me want to actually retest it properly instead of trusting Strava’s estimate.
• Racing against people close to my own level, instead of either running away from everyone or getting dropped by everyone, is just a lot more fun and a lot more useful for learning race tactics. I want to seek out more races like this - chill start and all.

Good one to have close to home. Let’s see what’s next on the calendar.

racemtb