The sun had not yet really risen over the tranquil town of schondra when almost 70 athletes set off on the not quite 300-kilometer course of the rhon300 cycling marathon, which was being staged again after a one-year break. The open distances are a visual delight. Wide vistas and a varied landscape. But the constant up and down with steep ramps is a very special challenge. "The hills can demand a lot from you. One must divide the forces", female ingeborg joa, who knows rough parts of the route well as a regular guest of the rhoner kuppenritt or the whitsun event in and around bimbach. "This knowledge helps, but everyone has to fight for himself up the mountains. Of course, there will also be casual small talk in the group, traffic permitting", says the elfershauser, who actually drove through her home town at exactly kilometer 200. "At the finish i was just happy to have made it through. The exertions then fade into the background", says ingeborg joa, who is about 19.30 o’clock was back in schondra. And who, in view of the many positive impressions, hopes for even rougher starting fields in the future.
An early first agony
For the first time, the participants had to struggle in the early hours of the morning, when they set off from oberbach in the direction of gefall. Totnansberg is almost 840 meters high. On the more than three kilometer long ascent from oberbach in the direction of the iron cross, almost 300 meters of altitude had to be conquered. On the long straight in the area of the iron cross the cyclists always have the highest point in front of their eyes. What could be a curse and a blessing at the same time. As a reward, there is the more than five-kilometer-long descent to gefall with a difference in altitude of about 370 meters.