First rider Max Gaumnitz through CP1

First rider at CP2 is Philippe Béchet

Linda Farczadi is 1st woman at CP2

First rider at CP3 is Stefan Haehnel

First rider at CP4 is again Max Gaumnitz

CP5 first rider is still Max Gaumnitz

1st woman through CP3 & CP4 is Linda Farczadi

Max Gaumnitz hits CP6 in pre-dawn push ahead of Day 4

CP7 falls, again to Max

🗿Max Gaumnitz first through CP8 Adršpach 🧗

Max Gaumnitz

Stefan Haehnel

Simon Hahnenbruch

Philippe Béchet

Markus Valentin

Christopher Kraus

Richard Frans

Nils Thomsen-Habermann

Benedikt Stratmann

Markus Kraft

Emile Décosterd

Martijn Van Loon

Nico Mausch

Erik Phalet

Dennis Dusseldorp

Vaughan Moseley

Felix Niebhagen

Sebastian Ritter

Michael Krüger

Anno Sebbel

Max Hauer

Linda Farczadi

Julian Loße

Uwe Horn

Bara Pilna

Tjerk Bakker

Elias Holt

Benjamin Langgut

April Marshke

Jörg Pichler

Oliver Gollmitzer

Jan-Kees Pennings

Daniel Kramer

Michaela Frýšarová

Jakub Blaha

Andre Jonson

Annika Vossen

Saskia Martin

David von der Tann

Freek Vander Auwera

Matúš Chmelo

Frank Kirchhoff

Leon Stracke

Stefan Bracht

Susanne Löschke

Georg Molz

Boru McCullagh

Fabian Avenel

Ralf Bettermann

Oliver Lotze

Arian Gentes

Felix Jung

Jan Koller

Martin Moschek

Felix Niemann

Alexander Renkwitz

Jenny Tough

Stephan Trettin

Benjamin Von Polheim

Holly Seear

Steve Davidson

Florian Heilmann

Roland Heilmann

Sarah Rose

Philip Johnson

Benjamin Geissler

Marcus Gutmann

Manuel Guimaraes

Henrik Wiards

Johannes Reese

William Van der Staaij

And they’re off! Six hours ago at dawn, right at the official 5:02 sunrise 71 riders set off from the Bohemian Border Bash Camp on their own 1300km long adventure. 

![BBBR 2021 pre-race jitters](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3dGJfCtjREGNeYu0jY1Dx7/4d819cb8683a5291717a83c7c5e43838/D0854BEB-4DF8-421A-8AFB-221658B7F400.jpeg)

Who will finish first? Who will find their inner self along the way? We’ll have to wait and see. But the racers are already stretching out, as more than 50 riders, including the first 8 women, are half way to the first check point.

photos by [@matypodron](https://instagram.com/matypodron?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)

And they’re off! BBBR 2022 is underway!

Some 9 hours and 195km in and Max Gaumnitz is the first rider through Checkpoint 1... high up in a windswept saddle in the Ore Mountains where riders climb to the ridge from Saxony back into Czechia.

So far in just one long morning of riding, racers have ridden through rain, wind, a bit of hail, and now some sunshine peeking out of the clouds. Always an adventure.

Racer Philippe Béchet (Cap 103) slipped into the lead (briefly) as he passed Max Gaumnitz who led for much of the day to become the first rider at Checkpoint 2 in the literal heart of Europe (*read the stamp*) at 9:20pm, after 329km and passing the westernmost point of the race around Bohemia.

![BBBR 2022 CP2 first riders](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7aPlwexGWRRsslY7cSmtcG/bef0db13940528cd0cbf46cbfb8b3048/76C8AE01-D9D3-44D1-8E12-1C584D2A5723.jpeg)

Gaumnitz came in about 15 minutes later, crossing paths with Béchet before slipping back into the lead with a shorter break. Next up, third place rider on the track (*and last year's 2nd place finisher*) Stefan Haehnel is anticipated at the second checkpoint within the hour.

__Day 1.__ 

In the end 60 courageous riders actually took the sunrise start in good spirits, even if the weather was a bit gloomy with light rain from the get go. Over the first few hours the weather cycled wildly through light rain, heavy rain, some hail, some really strong winds, to a good bit of sunshine peeking through the clouds to occasionally warm & dry the soggy racers.

![BBBR day 1 open road](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6t1Fw5GLo8lq2FyhIJATFo/3cba2e278c24373a4eae759612da4a63/74B57334-2474-4A6F-8479-70FEFE1E9648.jpeg)

In both solo & paired categories, 8 women started the race and now sit between Cap 113 [Linda Farczadi](https://www.instagram.com/lindafarczadi) in 10th place and a leisurely 58th place overall.

![BBBR 2022 Day 1 rocks](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5APChhKSZTiuWOQJUh4Rya/7484baf4dc06c325439c1f277158c45b/15F55560-6175-4B8B-B985-ABC4F72574B9.jpeg)

*Checkpoint tracking:*
- At CP1, Max Gaumnitz (#118) was the first to blow through, followed closely by #135 Andre Jonson & #103 Philippe Béchet.
- At CP2, Philippe Béchet was the first rider after just slipping into the lead, followed by #118 Max Gaumnitz and #125 Stefan Haehnel.

![BBBR 2022 Day 1 track](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7tE1ZsOTnWziIWjLrSL7eG/43bc1b575d04a81951b41af6bb5452f3/C2365C0F-D3D5-493C-BFD8-FE23FE18C023.jpeg)

*Trials & Tribulations so far:*
- Cap 126, rider [Simon Hahnenbruch](https://www.instagram.com/simonhahnenbruch/) had a rough start this morning, after riding out from camp to discover that some local squirrel or mouse had chewed through a Di2 wire on his bike. We're not sure if the beautiful rainbow paint job entice the rodent as much as it did us, but Simon wasn't waiting around to find out. He made a quick detour trip to Dresden, got the cable replaced, and was back to the camp to restart by 11:30am. He's since caught and passed many riders - currently around 44th overall - and we'll keep an eye on his progress.
- Cap 152, rider [Boru McCullagh](https://www.instagram.com/marlboru_/) had to withdraw after 243km as a result of an ankle injury, after repeated attempts to adjust his position on the bike to prevent further injury. 
- Cap 101, rider Fabian Avenel is out too after 237km, with sickness taking its toll.

![BBBR Day 1](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3RzpGDsdoYvKuAaHZUVu0/dce2fe343e1e06c2a9220e09f048efbd/74B50A9F-993A-4509-8A15-4BA253CCAA9E.jpeg)

Now the riders are making plans how to get through the first cold, dark & still damp spring night...

![BBBR 2022 CP2 night planning](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/UbbmI3lVMbweFXzDJwFOw/33f16a2178f79f3469c2ee53a8ca7294/0B9805B7-98C9-4C9E-8B9D-0614EEA2DF01.jpeg)

*all photos by [Maty Podroužek](https://www.instagram.com/matypodron/)*

BBBR Day 1 Updates

After a more eventful start than most *(read yesterday's daily about his 6.5 hour delay)* Simon Hahnenbruch pushed through the night without sleep, and just left CP2 this morning around 06:40. No rest for the weary, Cap 126 is currently in 5th place overall!


CP2 Cap 126, no squirrels update 🐿 

Cap 113 Linda Farczadi just rolled through Checkpoint 2, the Geographical Center of Europe at 08:45, sitting in 13th place inamongst all riders.

Stefan Haehnel (Cap 125) is the first racer to come through Checkpoint 3 after more than 31hours and 510km, as riders zig-zag back and forth, up and down between Czechia & Germany in the pines of the Bohemian Forest national parks on both sides of the border. 

*Correction:* Max Gaumnitz #118 slipped into 2nd on the final climbs to CP3 20minutes after Stefan, with Philippe Béchet #103  just 3 minutes behind. 

Max Gaumnitz, Cap 118 has taken back the lead, as the first to roll through Checkpoint 4 in the UNESCO heritage site of Český Krumlov. 625km and 39.5 hours in. Sneaking in just a half hour before sunset at 8:36pm, he likely had just a quick look at the historic city near the southern tip of Bohemia on the Vltava river that flows from here north towards Prague, before joining the Labe river that flows just below the Bohemian Border Bash basecamp.

*No stamp for my passport, as Max got there before our photographer on the ground, but he'd already have found his stamp pouch waiting for the first rider and this 'self-control' checkpoint.*

Max's current rival, Stefan #125 rolled past about 30 minutes back, and isn't letting up in their cat-and-mouse battle.

__Day 2.__

The second full day of racing saw the riders truly spread out across the entire western edge of Bohemia, as the two jostling for the lead have already clocked in over 650km, plus another three having ridden over 500km before Sunday at midnight. The Dotwatching map is now dense with riders heading southwest along the border with Bavaria. 

![BBBR The struggle is real](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/19pjnKCIhfYAQIlRvAA7rP/542ee9d4be842cfb4483682c97b640a1/2EC12591-3B7C-4A33-9FA8-1BA130C082EC.jpeg)

As the leaders soldiered on throughout the morning almost with no rest, flying from CP2-CP3, they rode through snow and piling up hail this morning at the southwestern edge of the race back in the higher mountains of Šumava - the Bohemian Forest national park. 

![BBBR 2022 mid-route update Cap 135](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7oGBV1XiL5ChTc4o1u8zG2/1df59284875aef390a9c03bde93c7f7b/FEF15D36-EA89-4E10-B764-187231397E74.jpeg)

A bit later in the day over the same western terrain, several riders experienced multiple flat tires, slowing their steady progress. 

The weather seems to have generally been warmer & sunnier than yesterday for many riders. But the sun still isn’t shining so strongly, and it’s still not quite warm enough to keep chills at bay.

![BBBR endless climbs](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6uGas0zVJo2rnTpzjS1PDL/1d4428032c8b08684fa5cc82d37230c3/688A4092-D408-4E12-93DA-E06D39F24643.jpeg)

Oh, and riders are discovering that the elevation numbers that seemed exaggerated are quite real. Super long steep hills are around every turn, some so straight they look like the go one forever. More than a few riders spoke of hour long hiking sections. 

![BBBR all smiles for Cap 117](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2HAPQmzBhNNFWN4NAB7wn6/658ac891f5cfc1a55824275550e6acc3/B1737E9C-C239-48A7-9836-DB7B99729757.jpeg)

While 13% of the riders who started have scratched by the end of day two, all 8 women are still pushing on. Linda Farczadi sits first among the women, now in 10th position overall.

![BBBR current women’s leader Cap 113](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2RSscP3l3cpL0YJO8QPglY/58a3bed95ea48a476a3b4afd07957c3d/FE900F6C-712A-4325-9BDE-AFCC54F68757.jpeg)

*Checkpoint tracking:*
- Linda Farczadi #113 was the 1st woman at CP2 early on Sunday. 
- At CP3, first through was Stefan Haehnel #125 around 2:30pm, followed 20min later by Max Gaumnitz #118 and Philippe Béchet #103 just 3 minutes later. 
- By CP4 Max #118 was back in the lead, clocking in the 625km by Sunday at 8:30pm. Stefan #125 arrived 30min later, while Philippe appears to have paused to rest. 

![BBBR more climbing](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/15OvAd9TJEZEBw6vsqzjmI/e7758cc7661a9f1749e565580a54a223/292887C6-61F3-46EC-B629-11D7B2369EE5.jpeg)

*Trials & Tribulations so far:*
- Cap 104 Ralf Bettermann is out after 225km this morning after too many flat tires, exhausting his supply.
- Cap 147 Oliver Lotze has withdrawn after 146km around midday after realizing he just wasn’t going to make it all the way to the finish at this rate. 
- Cap 193 David von der Tann scratched later this afternoon after 436km with rider-saddle interface problems.
- Cap 108 Matúš Chmelo has also withdrawn after 415km this afternoon with an Achilles tendon injury. 
- The pair of Cap 166 Johannes Reese & Cap 192 Henrik Wiards have scratched together after Henrik crashed near 300km. He is "OK" but cannot continue for another thousand kilometers.

- Cap 152, rider Boru McCullagh updated us today that his ankle issues are suspected to be a ruptured Achilles. And after unbearable pain while riding on it, he scratched to limit the risk of damaging it further.

BBBR Day 2 Updates

Obviously the main link is [@BBB_Race](https://www.instagram.com/bbb_race/), but many of the riders are sharing their stories directly too. Find them all in this live updated [Google Sheet of InstaLinks](https://tinyurl.com/5n6brt5r).


Follow BBBR 2022 on Instagram too, we've got 32 links!

Cory Benson 

Bohemian Border Bash Race 2022 Tracking

The second edition of the Bohemian Border Bash Race follows the ancient borderlands of Bohemia via the remnants of centuries-old road networks that still exist to this day. The riders will compete on an approximately 1300km long journey circumnavigating Bohemia - crossing back-and-forth along national borders - riding through Germany, Austria, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

Bohemian Border Bash Race 2022

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