Updates and Signing Off

Cornelia is in!

First Serpents in Trieste

Quick Bite Overnight Re-Cap

The Serpents are Racing

Bikes of Quick Bite

Quick Bite Riders Preview

Quick Bite Route Preview!

Welcome to Seven Serpents Quick Bite Commentary 

Manuel Rudaz

Donald Campbell

Carlos Mazon

Roy Ebelt

Nick Rotter

Fabian Wurm

Cornelia Hug

Virginia Cancellieri

Santi Val

Justinas Liorentas

Peter Kronberger

Simon Gwiggner

Felix Dellinger

Michael Knottek

Sandra Schuberth

Ada Xinxo Morera

Florian Kraschitzer

Stefan Lind

Manuel Feldbaumer

Tobias Klemet

Hannes Noller

Enrico Scanavin

Daniele Scotton

Gernot Holy

Christian Linder

Stefan  Heinz

Omar Peruzzo

Matteo Sandri

Thomas Laesser

Christian Paulus

Alessandro Grisotto

Jakob Klaer

Andreas Wagner

Karolina Ploessl

Cleo Jensen

Manuel Reichenpfader

Anne Schulze

Jan Christe

Veronica Santandrea

Vid Dolšak

Luca Rocchetti

Nicoló Dissegna

Tristan Elsesser

Vytis Šeštakauskas

Riccardo Cagnin

Stefano Dal Zot

Ilario Caldato

Renzo Gallonetto

Anne Thürnau

Alessia Baggio

Fabio Guarrasi

Matthieu Guillon

Costanza Massolo

Sergi Dueñas Pedrosa

Michael Windisch

Lukas Achleitner

Christian Ott

Arnaud Freyburger

Sam Vanhoutte

Markus Löwen

Kristjan Kozole

Zoltan Keller

Alex Steinbauer

Marlene Voithofer

Christopher Gale

Francesca Eltri

Daniel Seitz

Alvaro Fabian Marino Gonzalez

Sergej Bosnak

Paolo Luigi Soffiantini

Paolo Rossetti

Maya Christofori

Tatiana Myk

Romain Corvest

Tycjan Trzpiola

Dan Speer

KaYin Leung

Tassilo Letzel

Andreas Kriechbaum

Steph King

Peter Farkas

Michael Vrijs

Sascha Moryson

Florian Gläßer

Tim-Christopher Jud

Pavel Krajčík

Agon Ahmeti

Constantin Baki

Andreas Hehme

Nils Jan Ksienzyk

Rocco Palermo

Nicolò Rebellato

Alexandra Riedman

Helen Sharp

Federico Bassis

Sebastian Röhrl

Lorenzo Bartulovich

MEDIA CAR - ENRICA

MEDIA CAR - BRUNO

Ronald Jahnke

Richard Schroeder

Lydia Iglesias

Marti vigo

Stefan Klausen

Alessa Krüll

Lirsch Dominik

Zupak Bernd

Luca Manni

Marco Giuliani

Andrea Becker-Pennrich

Marcus  Gutmann

Riccardo Ferrari

Paolo Calabresi

Renato Veronesi

Fabio Redaelli

Massimo Masetti

Roland Leeb

Francesca Chiara Oliva

Matilde Menon

Christopher Ehrenberg

Thomas Grasl

Beatrice Rossetto

Giuseppe Luca Rizzo

Karina Hoffmann

Jens Frank

Michael Slotta

Daniel Slotta

Roland Bartmuss

Christine Bartmuss

Müller Henrik

Isolde Müller-Hartmann

Martina Giacomin

Gianmarco Rossi

Giulia Perin

Filippo Marchiori

Patrick Lüke

Stella Eggelsmann

Chris Lusetic

Sara Puzar

Laetitia Roux

Stefano Ropele

Anna Marika Cassol

Stefan Hoier

Cathrin Beubler

Tom Heise

Daniel Klos

Mikolaj Zaleski

Daniel Kozaczynski

Adam Zdunek

Grzegorz Zaleski

Dawid Chmielecki

Apologies for the lack of updates over the last days!

__First Pair__
The first pair, Ronald Jahnke and Richard Schroeder, arrived in Trieste early Monday morning (2.23am) !
![Pair](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6U1xb3g6AcdU8zsli9f8Kd/4eaf7dcca44e66f35183028e372a8d45/WhatsApp_Image_2023-05-08_at_12.41.01.jpeg)

With many riders out on the course, we can see that plenty are taking the opportunity to ride at a more relaxed pace and enjoy the amazing scenery that the route offers.

![EP-Quick bite-04435](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6mSMQAdIUr7jlbWsWhCwVv/c6d0c468aa76e3cf551453682b554d26/EP-Quick_bite-04435.jpg)
I'm busy with final preparations for traveling to take part in the 800km edition of the race which kicks off this coming Sunday. Race veteran Till Schenk will be covering the commentary here on Dotwatcher. 

![Capture1](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2tjBDt8OtAvX4z4NhVmxGX/110492feced58de1f6818dfe2ba1c716/Capture1.JPG)
The weather forecast suggests a very wet start to the race on Sunday! Let's hope it improves throughout the week or we could be in for some seriously challenging conditions! I'll be posting some updates over [here](https://www.instagram.com/marcusnicolson/) if you care to follow.  Signing off for now! 

![WhatsApp Image 2023-05-07 at 22.55.02 (1)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6HpfTMhenI0NimbYajktQJ/0711887fe4521ca1fe0149ddc3b023ef/WhatsApp_Image_2023-05-07_at_22.55.02__1_.jpeg)

Cornelia holds on to her lead and finishes first in the women's race and 7th position overall. Virginia pushed hard through the day and came in to Trieste just an hour and a half behind Cornelia. A massive effort from both!

Here are a few more photos from the earlier finishers today:

![WhatsApp Image 2023-05-07 at 17.15.48 (1)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5r3T8fjjtVWib9xlFVE4YG/c7bea6071cd2599afb4dbae51db58856/WhatsApp_Image_2023-05-07_at_17.15.48__1_.jpeg)

![WhatsApp Image 2023-05-07 at 17.15.47 (2)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2PzTy7L7bgDeTxNghGOJoL/a4d4a3f4123fcfb724acf858c5cc3fb3/WhatsApp_Image_2023-05-07_at_17.15.47__2_.jpeg)

We are still waiting on the winners of the pairs race arriving at the finish!

I sure hope the finishers are having a comfortable night's sleep after all that exertion! 


The dots are back!

Well that was a very Quick Bite indeed! __Manuel Rudaz__ held his short lead and arrived back in Trieste first in a time of 27 hours and 12mins. __Donnie Campbell__ came in 2nd just 20 mins later and __Carlos Mazon__ arrived just under the 29 hour mark.
![1](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3oTRpy8WVpyCtrCD0IyVtr/70cd5b649c60b12cfa1cc6f99f3bfe0b/WhatsApp_Image_2023-05-07_at_17.15.47.jpeg)

Bruno was waiting for the riders in Trieste with his flag and a well deserved hug i'm sure!

![Screenshot 2023-05-07 at 17.07.19](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/43mmt044mrtCOnuJftMHKU/39900dbfa273b5b5da45e9c1c32c9031/Screenshot_2023-05-07_at_17.07.19.png)

In the female race just 12km separates Cornelia and Virginia. It looks that Virginia has made up good time throughout the day and it will be interesting to see how they tackle the final 80km or so to Trieste.

Earlier in the day we had a scratch report from Laetitia who had to abandon her partner Ada due to knee pain issues. They were pictured hugging so it looks like no hard feelings there!


It's been a very busy night for the Serpents, with few riders at the head of the race making any stops. 

Here's a quick re-cap of how things played out overnight:

Virginia led the women's race until she decided to stop for a sleep, now Cornelia is leading the female race. Virginia's overall stopped time shows as just 1 1/2 hours so it was clearly more of a power map - she is currently on the ferry to Cres and it will be exciting to see if she can make a sprint catch-up with Cornelia riding very strong and in 7th place overall ![VC](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6i2HrHcPdtObp7qtlSAW1k/5e877dda02e2e851009da53d0016b73a/Screenshot_2023-05-07_at_09.56.24.png)

Things are very fast at the front end of the race, with most top-5 riders having an overall stopped time of less than 1 hour. At around 23 hours in to the race that is an incredible effort to sustain! Manuel Rudaz currently sits on a lead at 440km but is closely followed by Donnie Campbell and Carlos Mazon. Any mechanicals would see a change in the formation of the current podium. 

With the overall distance of the course around 535km this will be an interesting last few hours to follow. Some riders have been caught out with ferry times, missing by minutes and having to wait for several hours until the next crossing. The lead image above captures this very well!

The riders are now getting well in to the race after a quick start earlier today. Carlos Mazon was leading the fast-paced assault on the departure from Ljubljana and remains within the top 10. The front pack are now around the 160km mark with Nick Rotter and Fabian Wurm battling 1st and 2nd place at the front. Donnie Campbell is not far behind. 

Virginia Cancellieri is heading up the female race and is only slightly off the front pack, well within the top 10 riders. I would expect many of these top 10 to push through the night without much stopping or sleep. 
![Scratch](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6a4NGJAMTPkEWQWlMeGtxO/dab96f31c20288390283f675569e4ea4/Screenshot_2023-05-06_at_17.54.54.png)
Elsewhere, the first DNF has been claimed by Agon Ball who snapped a gear cable shortly after the start. He's already claimed a mango-flavoured consolation prize, from looking at recent posts!

![Riders are Off!](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/47TAipWeeMD3AnfluM9e8N/cd23efd54cddfcf6682d297622b848e3/Screenshot_2023-05-06_at_17.49.57.png)

![CP1](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5KnKg80RtbgFpq1OZBhNpe/5f35f1e7af58a515106e29aae4c77407/Screenshot_2023-05-06_at_17.53.51.png)

While waiting for the Dots to set off why not check out the [Bikes of Quick Bike feature](https://dotwatcher.cc/feature/bikes-of-quick-bite-2023)

A quick review of the bikepacking setups showing off lots of fast gravel machines lined up to take on the faster and smooth(er) Seven Serpents Quick Bite loop.

I'm a sucker for a steel frame, and spotted a few in the lineup. Overall, it looks like folks are taking sufficient bags and sleep kit for catching a bit of rest in between the racing.

Carlos looks to be going ultra-light. Agon Ahmeti claims to be taking 'no sleeping kit' also. Tatiana Myk appears to have a very custom bike (shown above) and goes in to detail about the components.

I also spotted Donnie Campbell's name in the starter list. He is an experienced ultra-runner, also from Scotland, who has more recently go in to bikepacking. It will be interesting to track his progress in the race. 

Here is a short preview of some riders to look out for in the Quick Bite race! Bruno kindly shared these short bios. As always, we fully expect to be surprised by some of the lesser-known contenders in the field but think some of the below will probably be on our radars over the weekend!

[TRACKER LINK](https://www.followmychallenge.com/live/ss-qb23/)

Ride starting at 7am local time Saturday 6th May. 

[Carlos Mazón](https://instagram.com/biziosona): Carlos is the guy behind Transibérica. He finished most of the bikepacking events such as Trans Am, Transcontinental, Three Peaks. He is experienced and also a very strong rider that will probably give us some thrills during the Quick Bite!

[Agon Ahmeti](https://instagram.com/agon.ball): Agon is young and very strong. Coming from an MTB background, he's a racer and used to pushing very hard. His first ultra experience was Gran Garda and he finished 5th, let's see what will happen in a smoother but longer route!

[Virginia Cancellieri](https://instagram.com/virginiacancellieri): Italian rider with a professional background. She's now enjoying the off-road vibes riding some of the most important events such as Badlands, Basajaun, Gran Guanche and The Traka. We expect her to give us a great dotwatching show!

[Ada](https://instagram.com/adanonstop) and [Laetitia](https://instagram.com/laetitiaroux_bethechange): strong pair, with Ada being a veteran of Seven Serpents (she finished top 10 last year) and Laetitia who is a great multidisciplinary athlete. They are close friends and used to ride together…it will be interesting to see their progress on the map! 

[Sandra Schuberth](https://instagram.com/sandra.schuberth): another top rider from Seven Serpents 2022. We remember her riding with great efficiency and a minimum stopping time, delivering us a great dotwatching show!


OK! Here is some route information straight from the Seven Serpents page!

[TRACKER LINK](https://www.followmychallenge.com/live/ss-qb23/)

Seven Serpents: Quick Bite! is the smoother and “shorter” version of Seven Serpents! From Ljubljana to Trieste, May 6th 2023.

It’s a route for riders who want a good warm-up for the season, with a mostly smooth gravel and almost no hike-a-bike sections. 500km x 9000m in order to have a great bikepacking experience!

__Route Highlights__
Starting from Ljubljana the route heads south-west crossing some amazing natural and cultural highlights such as Bistra Monastery, Predjama Castle and Postojna. Right after the famous village (due to its caves) you’ll climb one of the toughest climbs of the route, the Sveta Trojica hill right before descending to Cerkniško Jezero, a nice lake not far from the Croatian border. You will cross two more castles Grad Snežnik and Grad Mašun before entering Croatia.

Now another hilly section before heading to the island of Krk. You’ll enter the island by riding the Krčki Most, the huge bridge that connects the two pieces (actually three) of land. Krk island will be lovely, riding close to the seaside and reaching some very nice viewpoints. Passing by the village of Vrbnik you’ll head to the beautiful village of Krk, right before getting the ferry boat that connects Valbiska to Merag.

After a short ferry boat trip you’ll finally arrive at Cres island. Here you will encounter some paved sections before heading north, where you can spot griffins flying around you! A gravel path close to Beli will lead you to the next ferry boat, the one from Porozina to Brestova, in the Istrian peninsula. Right after Brestova you’ll head to Vojak but without reaching the very top, you’ll be riding in the Učka Natural Park. From here you will head to the small village of Hum. After this beautiful village you will climb few small hills until you’ll slowly downhill to Trieste direction finally arriving at the end of this amazing journey.


Hi folks and welcome to the commentary of the [Seven Serpents](https://www.instagram.com/sevenserpents.cc/) Quick Bite race 2023. My name is [Marcus Nicolson](https://www.instagram.com/marcusnicolson/) and I'll be covering the race for Dotwatcher this year. I've completed quite a few bikepacking races (Hungarian Divide, Italy Divide, Atlas Mountain Race) and will take part in the longer 800km edition of the race in just over 1-week's time. 

This is the inaugral year of the Quick Bite 500km edition of the race and I'm looking forward to dotwatching the route! 

Link to route information: [https://www.seven-serpents.com/quick-bite/](https://www.seven-serpents.com/quick-bite/) 

Here is the tracking link for the race: [https://www.followmychallenge.com/live/ss-qb23/](https://www.followmychallenge.com/live/ss-qb23/) 

Marcus Nicolson

Quick Bite! 2023 Tracking Commentary gravel bikepacking route through Slovenia to Italy

Quick Bite! 2023 Tracking

The smoother and shorter little sibling to the Seven Serpents, riders on this more digestible route tackle smooth gravel, mountain climbs and pass the wondrous caves and lakes of Slovenia, Croatia and head north for their final course in Trieste, Italy.

Quick Bite! 2023

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Quick Bite! 2023

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