For the 24th time Krumbach and the Bucklige Welt was the scene of the Bike the Bugles MTB Marathon. Just in time for the race weekend, after weeks of midsummer weather, there was a sudden fall in temperature. On the day before the event there was a lot of rain and on the race day itself the temperatures were clearly in the single digits, in addition there was continuous rain. But the real bikers could not be stopped by that.
Chase-teamrider Manfred started as defending champion on the classic distance. He was part of the leading group from the very beginning and was able to stand out from the rest of the drivers in the first third together with Philipp Wetzelberger and Andreas Waldmann.
On a short uphill running passage towards Hutwisch a first preliminary decision was made. Manfred was able to open up a small gap of a few seconds. Although he didn’t push the pace any further, but kept the rythm, his fellow competitors couldn’t close the hole anymore. On the contrary: Although Manfred didn’t attack and wasn’t at his limit yet, the gap got bigger and bigger.
The experienced athlete didn’t want to miss this chance: When he noticed that his competitors were getting weaker, he used the opportunity accordingly. He increased his speed and continued to extend his lead. At the finish line he could celebrate his third ‘Bike the Bugles’ victory in a row with a time of 3 hours and 13 minutes and was very surprised himself by this fabulous time in these difficult conditions.
In the middle of September of 2018 the popular individual and team trial around the Attersee took place.
Once again there was a direct duel between Wolfgang Hoffmann and Felix Schneider at the King of the Lake. Both riders of Team Chase were optimally prepared for the race. For Wolfgang it was a late highlight of the season with specific training on the TT bike, for Felix it was the end of a long season with many kilometers on his Rams Cycling timekeeper. The weather, as so often in the Attergau, showed its best side. Mild temperatures and a constant tailwind on the second half of the course provided new personal best times for many participants.
With the new “CHASE me” aerorim valuable seconds could be won on the mostly flat course. The optimizations through the Chase armrests and carbon extensions on the white Rams Cycling enabled a significantly more aerodynamic position of the arms and the head in comparison to last year. With just over three minutes ahead of his 2017 time Felix got the 39th place.
Wolfgang was able to distribute his performance really well over the 47 kilometers around the Attersee. He also significantly undercut his 2017 time. The internal duel went to Felix again in 2018.
Just in time for the start of the cross-country season, the weather brought compliant conditions, only the mud was still missing. The fast circuit at the leisure area in Mödling offered all the intricacies that make the heart of a cross-country rider beat faster. There were lots of short, exhausting climbs, fast meadow passages with a lot of headwind and a running passage in a sandpit. The female bikers, around last seasons third in the world championships – Nadja Heigl – were sent to the circuit at the same time as the men. 60 minutes all-out was the name of the game.
I got off to a very good start. I found a good rythm, although the men were determined to hold their ground. My CHASE MUD wheels had an excellent grip, even if they longed for a little mud, ;) For a long time I was ranked third before I ran out of power and was passed onto the fourth place. The short, crisp climbs were really hard for me and so I reached the finish line completely exhausted but happy to be the fourth place.
Thank you to the whole CHASE Team for the great first edition of the CHASE CROSS. It was truly a success!
Last weekend the second run of the austrian cross-country cup took place in Stadl-Paura (Upper Austria). Chase-biker Manfred from the Picher Racing Team was highly motivated to achieve another podium place after his second place in Maria Enzersdorf.
He took the lead right at the start and led the 60 other athletes through the first lap. After that the race was for a long time characterized by tactical gimmicks of the top drivers. The lead changed several times per lap and a lot of athletes fought for their victory and the podium places for a long time. For the spectators it was an extremely exciting race to watch. Two laps before the end there were still 5 drivers at the lead together. But then Manfred started his attack – at a short ascent he went to the first position and sprinted up the hill. Immediately he could open a gap to the other pursuers and from then on there was only “full throttle”. In sovereign manner he could finish the race as the lead.
Next sunday at the thrid cupstation in Langenzersdorf there will already be the next fight for victory of the local cross-country-elite.
On the 14th of October a race for the ÖRV-ZMS-cross-country cup 2018/19 took place in Langenzersdorf on the terrain of the Seeschlacht.After his victory in Stadl-Paura the week before, chase-teamrider Manfred entered the competition as one of the favourites. After a thrilling start phase, a 4-men leading group was soon able to distinguish itself from the rest of the drivers. The group consisted of two hungarian and two austrian bikers, one of them was Manfred!
Again and again the lead changed, but for a long time no driver was able to take a decisive lead. It was not until the second to last lap that an attack was successful – Manfred was able to break away from his remaining rivals by increasing his pace and won for the second time in the cross-country cup season of 2018/19!
Pics (c) by Ernst Teubenbacher
