The next Enduro One race stop took us to E1 Trieb, a district of Lichtenfels in Upper Franconia. The atmosphere was great, and given the weather forecast, it was clear that the weekend’s conditions would keep us on our toes.
This Time, Everything Was Different
A look at the participant information and schedule already revealed that everything would be different at this race stop in Trieb. The training began on Friday (instead of Saturday), pushing the entire event forward by a day. The reason was the additional Franken Bike Marathon taking place on Sunday. Three days of mountain biking action across different disciplines were on the agenda.
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The Schedule in Trieb
After an unusually early arrival, we jumped straight into action on Friday. During training, we were able to really push ourselves on the mostly dry trails. However, the rain on Friday night turned Saturday morning’s prologue into a slippery mudfest. The subsequent race featured a wild mix that made every stage an exciting adventure. Little did we know that two weeks later, we’d face an even more challenging race. But back to Trieb—during the transfer sections, we got a lovely glimpse of the surrounding area and passed by some landmarks, such as the Basilica Vierzehnheiligen near Bad Staffelstein.
Top-Notch Camp and Catering
The event had plenty of parking on three separate fields, along with an adjacent WC container. The shower situation was a bit unclear (whether they were men-only or mixed, as originally indicated on the site plan), but overall, everything needed for a successful event was available. Several food trucks were on-site, offering a good variety of options. I appreciated that they also had bowls and pasta, as many other events often leave vegetarians with only fries as an option. For the hungry early riser, there was even a whole Breakfast that could be booked in advanced.
Pros
- Catering: versatile, with vegetarian/vegan options, healthy choices like bowls and salads alongside grilled specialties, and breakfast offerings.
- Payments for food and drinks could be made by debit card at the cashier’s booth.
- Refreshment stations along the course with plenty of water and electrolyte drinks for refilling, plus fruit, bars, etc.
- Paddock on green grass with toilet facilities.
- Bike wash available.
- Professional organization.
Cons (IMHO)
- Men’s showers in the event area (according to signage/participant info). Women’s showers, according to Google, were 3 km away in the next town (Katzogelhalle/Hochstadt). Since the program stated that these were only open on Saturday (not on Friday after training), I skipped the walk along the already dark country road on Friday evening.
- Prologue on Saturday morning (before the race, probably for organizational reasons), meaning the total course length was not 39 km but 46 km, and the elevation gain was not 900 meters but 1,170 meters—not a big deal, but good to know in advance.
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Summary: Even though there were a few minor drawbacks for me, they didn’t spoil the fun, and it’s clear that with an event of this size, a lot can be considered, but not everything. Overall, it was a great race stop, and I was genuinely impressed by the organization and offerings. The race itself went quite well, and we had fun on the course. Many thanks and congratulations to the FVC Trieb for a successful event!