Day 3: All weather

Day 2: Mammals and mechanicals

Day 1: Trials and Tribulations

Day 0: Family Reunion

Preview: Taunus Bikepacking No. 7

Robin Gemperle

Kristian Buljan

Tobias Vögtlin

Georg Stiebeling

Markus Valentin

Hannah Ghazi-Idrissi

Janek Ben Schwenker

Markus Kraft

Jens Bacher

Marc Schnitzius

Nicolas Falk

Lars Hundscheid

Tom Hudders

Marco Stoermer

Pascal Streng

Nicolai Wolf

Markus Recker

Patrick Das

Johnny Thomsen

Jan Malek

Tom Schumann

Fabian Köhler

Ralf Hanisch

Svenja Koenig

Mark Edward Hughes

Markus Straussner

Thomas Klose

Daniel Schleh

Ross Anderson

Ingo Rheinbay

Francesco Alaimo

Philip Jakoubek

Isabel Hopp

Insa Puchert

Greg Luckos

Vadym Tiroshko

Sara Dicks

Michael Sherman

Carsten Heinz

Röttger Schiffels

Manfred Fleck

Nanke Stein

Nicole Stuber

Filip Bieleszuk

Elke Gutermann

David Jason Innes

Ulrike Glaser

Nathalie Hoogeveen

Rouven Münch

Barry McWilliams

Romain Corvest

Haico Bianchi

Joachim Röhe

Eelco Meuter

Miriam Hamscher

Nicole van Batenburg

Dimitri Franz

Filip Wapelhorst

Christopher Rißmann

Federico Bellomo

Thomas Metz

Lukas Maier

Jeannette Schönbein

Thomas Henry Nylen

Markus Baran

Benedikt Strittmatter

Jeremy Harris

Cem Giorgio Uçan

Stefan Baumgärtner

Carsten Boehm

Manuel Schmid

Bosse Niestlé

Norbert Münch

Heike Sturm

Benno Möser

Dennis Krüger

Knut Faust

Maike Schneider

Moritz Schön

Mario Martins

Andreas Hölderle

Bastian Zwack

Nina Jäcker

Antti Lihavainen

Martin Schmitt

Rüdiger Klingmann

Martin Hülle

Levi Schmidt

Arthur Schreiner

Viktoria Bresser

Jan Kaya Altinbas

Nils

Philipp

Jesko

Gosia

Malte

Svenja

Between getting absolutely drenched in torrential rain and baking in the afternoon sun, day three literally had all the weather in store for our riders.

The leading female rider Hannah Ghazi-Idrissi found another interesting sleeping spot in what seemed to be some kind of public shower. 

Kristian Buljan rode through the night without sleeping. In the early morning he caught Georg, who was having a hard time. Not only did his knee hurt, but his phone was damaged from the water that the morning’s heavy thunderstorms brought. He was spotted in Dachsenhausen trying to find a pharmacy. 

Meanwhile out front, Robin Gemperle has had more sleep than the two chasers combined. The gap he has at this point is substantial and it’s only starting to grow. This goes to show that being able to function on little sleep is not everything.

And so, just a little while after the sun had set on the third day of Taunus Bikepacking No. 7, Robin Gemperle was the first rider to make it around. It took the Swiss rider 2 days, 13 hours and 26 minutes to complete the course. Even though the course changes every year and cannot easily be compared with other editions, it’s more than ten hours faster than anyone has ever finished Taunus Bikepacking. In fact, before this edition, it was only Joseph Thomas in 2021 that managed to do in less than three days.

It was certainly not the easiest edition ever, especially with these weather conditions. 

At that point, Nicole van Batenburg is chasing Hannah Ghazi-Idrissi. She is determined to catch her, but Nicole’s eyes are giving her some trouble. That night, she finds herself in the middle of a bad storm and shelters in a dairy farm. 

Marc Schnitzius washed his shorts on a cemetery, wearing his jacket as pants while doing so. In the evening, he also had to take shelter from the storm, but still got drenched because water flooded his shelter.

The third day’s scratch report is the longest so far. 

Scratch report
- Barry McWilliams, health reasons
- Haico Bianchi, fatigue
- Rouven Münch, mechanical
- Carsten Boehm, mechanical
- Cem Giorgio Ucan, achilles heel and wrist pain
- Heike Sturm, fatigue
- Norbert Münch, fatigue
- Romain Corvest, knee pain
- Thomas Metz, broken freehub
- Stefan Baumgärtner, broken freehub
- Markus Baran, technical defect

On the morning of day two, riders all over Taunus woke up to pouring rain. Eventually the sun broke back through and then the rest of the day was characterized by constant weather changes. Spells of sunshine interspersed with all kinds of rain between drizzle and sudden heavy downpours kept riders busy putting layers on and off. 

![Photo by Nils Laengner](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5MkRqBvOX0LZB7HtaDrbHV/4464770d30f3f68917f6b38b1a5380a2/TB-day2-Nils_Laengner-2790.jpg)

Amongst the front runners, cap 5 __Georg Stiebeling__ probably slept the least and made up a lot of ground during the night. The infamous Sauerthal singletrail section through fields of nettles became even more tricky after all the rain. Slippy mud puddles kept everybody on their toes. Georg crashed not once, but twice on this segment. A short while after, his shifter cable snapped, forcing him to detour to a garage where he could get it fixed. After fixing the bike, Georg had to ride back to where he left the track so he could continue his chase.

![Photo by Nils Laengner](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6WDpGl847s4ufvsST1I0nP/ead6734634eee9c1e7966d0cb86942bc/TB-day2-Nils_Laengner-2589.jpg)

Georg was not the only rider with mechanical problems. Cap 74 __Nicole van Batenburg__ was spotted climbing the vineyards in the rain with a smile on her face, exclaiming “*this is just like Dutch weather*”. However, she had to deal with a slipping seat post and a broken tailfin rack, which cost her quite some time. Nicole managed to fix it though. She was later seen at the halfway point of the route and reported feeling fine, so her setbacks were of the mechanical kind only.

![Photo by Nils Laengner](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6MIulRKlQ6H2c8udIeVbiA/935b378601b59af435c65ab53bbf6555/TB-day2-Nils_Laengner-2515.jpg)

Cap 51 __Hannah Ghazi-Idrissi__ spent the night safe and dry in an abandoned elementary school building. She started into the rain. Oblivious to her position, she only seemed to feel a sense of urgency after a friend had made her aware that she was riding in third overall position.

![Photo by Nils Laengner](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/21VCIkzqX3V3RHi4JD5NvB/dafa5968a5820b53e1e37b33aae64d33/TB-day2-Nils_Laengner-2633.jpg)

Cap 41 __Robin Gemperle__ spent three hours of the night sleeping underneath a parked trailer to shelter from the rain. He reported seeing a lot of wild life and almost running into a wild boar at one point. Especially the area around Wispertaunus is known to be very alive at night, something our volunteer Malte can only attest to. On a mission driving to the night, he counted 14 deer, 2 raccoons, four foxes and a huge family of wild boar crossing his way.

![Photo by Malte Burdinski](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/45ycISdmp9xKuATvMA3qrL/d63972368f3e421b1224426acf34c8c2/IMG-20240618-WA0002.jpg)

In other news, cap 29 __Rouven Münch__’s bike fell over during a break, bending his derailleur hanger and forcing him to look for a bike shop. Cap 15 __Marc Schnitzius__ was seen wearing a jacket as shorts, so he could wash his shorts on a cemetery. Cap 59 __Markus Baran__'s original plan was to run a half marathon this weekend after finishing Taunus Bikepacking. That plan is now scrapped. Cap 23 __Nicolai Wolf__'s thru-axle loosened on the downhill from CP2, luckily without leading to a crash.

The second day’s list of abandons is a clear sign of what this course does to rider’s bodies.

__Scratch report__
- Cap 43 Maike Schneider, signs of an oncoming illness
- Cap 17 Andreas Hölderle, knee pain
- Cap 9 Benno Möser, throat pain
- Cap 8 Knut Faust, back pain
- Cap 63 Manuel Schmid, neck pain and headaches
- Cap 64 Bosse Niestlé, saddlesores and mental fatigue
- Cap 34 Dennis Krüger, saddle sores and knee pain

The camp was getting alive early Sunday morning. After breakfast and briefing, riders lined up to start their adventure through the Taunus hills, leaving in one minute intervals.

![Photo by Nils Laengner](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/PT9fp23xGvBF530jWkLUN/86d84a61c5e8f873d0d488ea9b99cf27/TB-day1-Nils_Laengner-1701.jpg)

It wasn’t long until the first issues were reported. Cap 43 Maike Schneider suffered shifting issues early on. Cap 88 Thomas Nylen lost his phone, which he only noticed after a local mountain biker retrieved and reunited it with the owner. Some trackers were misbehaving, but the team managed to find the respective riders and fix the issues. At the time of writing, only cap 38 Jan Malek still has a patchy tracker. These mishaps seem minor compared to what cap 60 Filip Bieleszuk is up against. He was the last rider to make it to inscription late at night due to two of his trains being cancelled. Only a few hours after the start, dotwatchers noticed that his dot seemed to go back and forth.

![Filip's quest](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5AkDiKgCwiPqwQ2NoTL617/2c407c84866ce48aa7c9ae9d4d9ddd6c/IMG-20240616-WA0028.jpg)

Soon after, a post brought the explanation.

> *If anybody would be curious what's happening with my tracker then everything is fine. It's just that my jockey wheel got broken, I've managed to patch it up, then 15km later my hanger got broken and when I've replaced it I've realized that I've left one piece of my chain breaker a few km back.*

He is now riding single speed. Not an easy thing to do in such hilly terrain. Filip took a hotel for the night and hopes to get his bike fixed in Wiesbaden tomorrow. There is another rider that is riding singlespeed, but completely voluntarily. Cap 93 David Jason Innes was brave enough to bring only one gear to this rollercoaster of a course. He walked the climb out of camp and he probably will have to walk a lot more climbs on the course, but doesn’t seem to mind too much.

![Photo by Nils Laengner](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2cbOyUCumq22sSRsuQIhh6/82290b8b85e8f6f8dd75534a44bb71c6/TB-day1-Nils_Laengner-1834.jpg)

At the front of the field, Robin Gemperle established a healthy lead over the course of the afternoon. He is being chased by many, most closely Tobias Vögtlin, Benno Möser, Kristian Buljan, Nicole van Batenburg and Hannah Ghazi-Idrissi. Progress at the pointy end is astionishingly quick. Nicole and Hannah inspired many dotwatchers today and were cheered especially loudly by the locals. Due to the staggered start, Nicole had started a while before Hannah, but Hannah steadily closed the gap until she finally caught up with Nicole just before Bad Schwalbach, an important resupply point before heading into remote Wisper valley. Both stopped only short. Nicole filled up her water bottles at a local fountain. Bad Schwalbach is a spa town and famous for its springs. Some of them have a rather acquired taste. Meanwhile, Hannah grabbed what she called “the best dinner” at a small kebab store, stored it in her frame bag for later and jumped back on her bike. The two left town only minutes apart. 

![Photo by Nils Laengner](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7xVdeNvrl7HnXgRHPoCExT/44757c584a1ffff07db059ffe0f09017/TB-day1-Nils_Laengner-2381.jpg)

![Photo by Nils Laengner](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5B7ByPvdsWZKhuXqzhPnpO/5efbc1da9dea888eed2d678609a7b81a/TB-day1-Nils_Laengner-2388.jpg)

Just as the sun went down, Robin Gemperle was the first to reach checkpoint 1 at the summit of Kalte Herberge, 278 kilometers from the start.

![Photo by Nils Laengner](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2YKX8jNyKtzYHqtvbQnaRI/258205d78a5d6324461b97d68262918e/TB-day1-Nils_Laengner-2482.jpg)

As the riders laid down to sleep for the night in various places, some positions have been shifting overnight, most noticeably cap 5 Georg Stiebeling who has put in a night shift to get himself up into second place as the morning breaks on day 2. The weather has been taking a turn for the worse though and it's still many hundreds of kilometers to go.

Four riders abandoned the ride on day 1.

Scratch report
- Cap 94 Bastian Zwack decided to stop due to lack of inspiration
- Cap 42 Nina Jäcker scratches due to health reasons
- Cap 50 Mario Martins has to abandon for personal reasons
- Cap 25 Moritz Schön feels an oncoming cold and takes the sensible decision to stop

Photos by Nils Laengner

This year the base camp already opened two days before the start, leaving more time for riders to arrive early, relax at the beautiful base camp and most importantly, connect with each other. With over a third of the field consistint of returning riders from previous editions, it was something like a family reunion. After a night of heavy rain, the clouds parted to let the sunshine through just in time for the Saturday inscription window.

![Photo by bite.of.me](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6O5izacTWp6kfeHkcIVhQH/cb831a1ba0575d617c506dcd489786a8/DSC_6824.JPG)

All day there were riders arriving. Volunteers have been busy setting up camp, stamping numbers on rider caps and checking everyone in. Bike checks have been carried out by Moritz from The Inner Cycle bike shop, fixing a lot of last minute problems big and small.

![Photo by bite.of.me](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1TPiqiDiXRi7SYi5uRoY0Q/da1dd4807118f629569e32fd6a511ae1/DSC_7160.JPG)

The camp is brimming with excitement. During the day, the riders chat group was flooded with pictures of bikes on trains on their way to Taunus. Some had a real adventure just trying to get to Eppstein. Cap 60 __Filip Bieleszuk__ was particularly unlucky, as not only one, but two of the trains he was meant to take were cancelled, making it a very long day for him. At the time of writing, the crew is still waiting for Filip to arrive, crossing their fingers he makes it before midnight. It will be a short night.

![Photo by bite.of.me](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7haZgSuLBfUUFpkT68cE2D/ab4e882bf7d9a131723e891bf78ab769/DSC_7122.JPG)

Photography by [bite.of.me](https://www.instagram.com/bite.of.me/)


Already in its seventh year, Taunus Bikepacking is one of the longest-standing events in the bikepacking calendar. Still, over all these years, it has managed to remain relatively small-scale and under many people’s radars. While the small scale is absolutely on purpose, it’s definitely on more and more people’s radars lately.

What began as a pretty casual bike ride amongst a handful of friends in 2018 has grown steadily over the years, but the event has stayed true to its relaxed spirit and atmosphere. Don’t let the laid-back, community-driven spirit fool you though: This one-thousand kilometre roller coaster through the Taunus hills is anything but easy. In fact, after finishing it last year during her preparation for the Transcontinental, [Marei Moldenhauer](https://www.instagram.com/marei.mol/) called it “*at the same time the most beautiful route I have ever ridden and one of the hardest*”.

The mixed-surface course is put together with a lot of love and attention to detail, but it’s still brutal and takes a high toll on riders and machines. Typically, only about 50 to 60 percent of riders make it to the finish line. The climbing is relentless. Blown-up knees and sore achilles heels are testament to the demanding nature of the course. Taunus is just a medium mountain range, so we’re not talking about big mountains here. They are really just small hills. But it’s the sheer amount of them, strung together in close succession, that make it incredibly hard to find any kind of rhythm on this track. Couple that with the unpredictable surface changes and you’re in for a memorable ride. Gravel roads, dirt trails, cobblestone alleys, paved country lanes and the occasional section through high grass – there’s a bit of everything.

At times, riders might feel like they are in the middle of nowhere, just to be spat out in a little village with resupply options a few moments later. After all, we’re in the middle of Germany here, so the next shop or at least vending machine is actually never too far away. In that sense, this event is very much suitable for beginner bikepackers, because the safety of civilization is always near. The track manages to make you forget that at times though. You might not meet a single soul in these forests.

On any long bike ride, especially the ones that veer away from the tarmac ever so often, the weather plays an essential role. If it’s hot and dry like it was the last couple of years, it can be challenging to cool down and find enough shade. Even after a hot summer day, the nights can get surprisingly cold and if it does rain, many of the trails turn muddy and slippery fast. The month of June is no stranger to sudden thunderstorms either, so riders will have to come prepared for any eventualities.

Bike choices typically range anywhere between a gravel bike and hard tail MTB, but people have ridden it on cyclocross or even road bikes before. Make sure to check the Bikes of Taunus Bikepacking right here on dotwatcher.cc to see what this year’s riders are bringing.

Talking about riders…

![Riders of 2023](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/8w8EXTSOVM4ppHwN08tqT/37b332c36119ce6211f89afe7c3580f8/TBP23-Day1-Nils_Laengner-0524.jpg)

There are 94 registered riders from 18 different nations. 35 of these riders are returning veterans of previous Taunus Bikepacking editions. This means only 59 are Taunus Bikepacking “rookies”. The youngest rider is 19, the oldest is 68 years old. And even though the application ballot was making a point in favouring underrepresented groups, there are still only 16 female riders, which definitely still leaves lots of room to improve for the future.

So, who to watch? All of them, of course! We don’t want to single anyone out. 
However, this is not supposed to become a super long post and there are some names that experienced dotwatchers might recognize and even expect to see near the top of the leaderboard, so let’s focus on those for now.

Speaking of regular sights at the top of any leaderboard, you cannot look past __Robin Gemperle__. The Swiss rider is probably best known for giving Christoph Strasser something to worry about during their wild chase across Europe in last year’s Transcontinental Race, where he eventually finished second. However, his palmares includes numerous wins at prestigious races such as Atlas Mountain Race and Hope 1000, too.

__Kristian Buljan__ and __Georg Stiebeling__ are two local heroes. Both already proved more than once how fast they can ride on these Taunus tracks. Kristian came in fastest last year and Georg was second fastest for two years in a row. Both live and train in Taunus and know very well what to expect. Even difficult mechanical problems couldn’t stop them last year. No doubt both will be highly motivated.

__Nicole van Batenburg__ has been at the pointy end of pretty much every event she entered so far, including Paris-Brest-Paris, Desertus Bikus and, most recently, the Race around the Netherlands. While Nicole is definitely capable of finishing at the top of the leaderboard, this is her first long off-road ride and the terrain couldn’t be any more different than in the Netherlands. It will be interesting to see how she handles what the Taunus throws at her.

__Hannah Ghazi-Idrissi__ has quickly made a name for herself in the ultra cycling world with very strong performances at difficult events like Three Peaks Bike Race, The Unknown Race, Seven Serpents and others. Hannah lives in the Austrian alps, but is originally from Taunus, with her family still living in the area.

__Benno Möser__ is still the youngest Taunus Bikepacking finisher to date. After riding the event, he switched sides last year to become a crew member and is now back riding. __Christopher Rißmann__ has recently finished the gruelling Accursed Race. __Lars Hundscheid__ brings experience of some of the hardest off-road events like Atlas Mountain Race or Across the 3. __Dimitri Franz__ is originally an accomplished road racer. __Bastian Zwack__ has a number of ultra race finishes under his belt. __Thomas Metz__ is the only rider left to start every single edition of Taunus Bikepacking since 2018. __Fabian Köhler__ has only missed the start once and never failed to finish. __Sara Dicks__ is just returning from an extensive bike trip across the Balkans. __Nathalie Hoogeveen__ finished the Race around the Netherlands and Bright Midnight. __Andreas Hölderle__ is partially paralyzed and rides a special bike with both brake levers on one side, which doesn’t stop him from taking on his third Taunus Bikepacking. __Antti Lihavainen__ is known for riding to the start from Scandinavia. We could go on and on. The rider list is very diverse and the best stories are yet to be written.

The start is on Sunday June 16th. Riders are leaving the base camp in one minute intervals from 8 in the morning. Nils Laengner and Gosia Michalik will provide the photography, so make sure to follow the [Instagram channel](https://www.instagram.com/taunusbikepacking/).


Jesko von Werthern

Taunus Bikepacking 2024 Tracking + Commentary: The challenging 1000 km route takes riders over unbeaten paths along numerous sights of a remote region in the heart of Germany.

Taunus Bikepacking 2024 Tracking

The challenging 1,000 km route takes riders all through the Taunus region over unbeaten paths along numerous sights of a remote and quiet region in the heart of Germany with plenty of small climbs to keep the legs awake!

Taunus Bikepacking 2024

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Taunus Bikepacking 2024

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