The Austrian Salzkammergut Trophy that takes place from July 13-15 is all set to celebrate its 15th anniversary. On Friday 13 the rumble is on again as this event manages year after year to turn the small venue of Bad Goisern into the epicenter of mountainbiking in Europe!
The festival kicks off on Friday, and after the athletes presentation the party goes on with a disco.
That’s of course a no-no for the most toughest among the participants: the riders of the 211 km ‘A strecke’ are better off abstaining from any energy deriving activities prior to the D day, as their travail starts at 5am the next Saturday. For them it begins prior to that with a brand new technical check that would assure the organizer as well as the racers that all is well set and their machines are Salzkammergut proven. This technical approval is also performed at the Grand Raid in Switzerland, and even though it seems unnecessary at the first glance, the parcours and length can be relentless and wears down not only the rider, but bikes as well.
A first class tech support is provided, in case some adjustments are needed. The same is true along the race. Speaking of which, the route will be rife with enthusiastic spectators all day. Both the ‘early-bird-riders’ get cheered on as well as those starting later in the day for the 22 km, 37 km, 53 km, 73 km, 119 km distances.
Salzkammergut has got a couple of extremes and that’s true for the weather, too. Historically it’s either unseasonably chilly and drizzling/raining or tropically hot. Barely anything between. If the former is the case, it isn’t a big deal, since the route leads on mainly gravely alpine tracks, hard packed trails that are greatly ride-able even if it is heavily raining.
The fierce battle for the high scores will be, as every year, given in all distances. That is not only due to the ridiculously high total prize moneys of 6.500 Euro, but Salzkammergut is a high prestigious race where every place in the higher ranks is associated with a great acknowledgment. And not least the illustrious rider field that fights for the coveted trophy.
More details about the side-events, categories, all-week festivities, etc., to be found by clicking on www.trophy.at.
Kindly check back for more reports and my race coverage of the 211km distance I’m tackling yearly from the very get go: 1998.