Ride Report: Odenwald Odyssey - Heidelberg 2020
Posted By Gravel Union
On 22 September 2020
Timo Rokitta reports back from the inaugural running of the Odenwald Odyssey in Germany
One of the few gravel events that took place in Germany in 2020 was the Odenwald Odyssey – put on by the Flare Bike Festival team from Heidelberg. Around 100 gravellistas checked into the Cafe Fahrstil clubhouse on a sunny Saturday morning in mid-September. For each participant there was a bag with many useful goodies from the sponsors.
The start was promptly at 9 a.m. After crossing the Neckar river, the route climbed steeply uphill on the old Philosophenweg. From here there were wonderful views of the old town of Heidelberg and the old picturesque castle.
The first gravel section was soon afterwards and passed by the Heidelberger Thingstätte - an open-air theater ostensibly based on the model of ancient Greek theaters, built during the German Nazi era and opened in June 22, 1935 by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels under the new name “Feierstätte Heiligenberg”.
The route included a great mix of alternately wide forest trails and singletrack up to the white stone at 548 meters above sea level. Here the first refreshment point awaited the participants. From here, the route headed east, further into the Odenwald. This was once the hunting ground of the Nibelungs - an old German legend. According to legend, the dragon “Fafnir”, who was defeated by Siegfried the dragon slayer, and who bathed in his blood, lived near here.
After Heiligkreuzsteinach, the route took us down a fast descent towards the River Neckar. The river was crossed via a mighty lock. The second refreshment point was waiting for the gravel bikers here. After the rest stop, the route followed the course of a former railway line and climbed up to the Königstuhl. Initially the gradient was a challenging 21 % and was mainly on rough gravel. Fortunately, afterwards it levelled out again and at 568 meters above sea level it became the highest point of the route. From here there was a beautiful view of Heidelberg with the Neckar River and the Rhine Valley.
On fast trails with a lot of singletrack, next we headed in the direction of the northern mountain road. The last 10 kilometers were then flat, back to the clubhouse in Heidelberg. After 111 kilometers and almost 2000 meters of climbing, all the gravellistas were unanimous in their feeling that there should be more “Flare Bike Festivals” again in the future – the location and the trails around Heidelberg were just perfect.
Hope to see you at the next one!
Text and photos @Timo Rokitta