Gravmageddon 2024: Type 2 Fun

Blog

August 10, 2024 • ☕️ 6 min read • 17

Route
The Race
Photos

Everybody likes fun. And fun, like anything, can be nuanced. Not all fun is created equal, and so The Fun Scale comes in:

Type 1 fun is enjoyable while it’s happening. Also known as, simply, fun.

Type 2 fun is miserable while it’s happening, but fun in retrospect.

Type 3 fun is not fun at all. Not even in retrospect.

This year’s edition of Gravmageddon promised to be even more challenging, as the weather forecast called for rain and strong wind gusts throughout the day. True to its reputation, Mother Nature didn’t disappoint. Looking back, I can now say that this year’s Gravmageddon falls squarely into the “Type 2 fun” category.

Route

The Race

Start to Pitstop 1 (Polana Jakuszycka)

The first few hours of the race were unexpectedly nice. Despite bad weather forecasts, I was surprised to find that apart from heavy clouds in the sky, the weather was actually very pleasant. It was a super enjoyable ride until around the 30km mark when a piece of glass cut through my front tyre and tubeless sealant started spraying. I was able to quickly fix it and continue even without pumping it up.

I quickly got back to my ride rhythm and things looked good until around the 50km mark. Just as I was telling another rider about my earlier technical difficulties, the rear wheel sealant started spraying. Upon inspection, I found another piece of glass. With 290km still to go, I really started worrying whether I would make it to the finish line given the pace of these issues. I must have been unlucky to ride over shattered glass because even on very technical paths later, my tyres held just fine and kept their pressure till the end of the race.

Fast descents on rocky paths early on in the race tempted some riders to push too much. I passed an unfortunate scene where a rider had overshot a turn on a descent and crashed into a tree. The Czech mountain rescue service, Horska Sluzba, was already on the scene, and not long after, I heard the helicopter coming in to pick them up.

Just after checking in with Ania, who was waiting in Szklarska Poręba near a car as potential support in case of serious issues, and telling her that the weather was actually pretty good, the torrential rain started. Talk about timing!

By the time I reached the first checkpoint at 110km, I was soaked wet, both from the rain and the sweat under my waterproof shell. To make matters worse, the temperature on Polana Jakuszycka plummeted below 10 degrees Celsius. And I still had over 230km and an entire night of riding ahead of me…

Climbing Jested

The next segment of the route took me from Polana Jakuszycka to Liberec in the Czech Republic. This was the furthest point from the start, as the race was a loop, and it featured a long climb to Ještěd. The weather was dull, windy, and rainy. Sky stayed dark all day, thanks to the thick clouds overhead. The one interesting spot along the way, which was also in the 2023 edition, was Josefův Důl, a mountain reservoir with a dam.

Usually, as you cycle through Liberec, you can spot the top of Ještěd hill, with its distinct television mast and the hotel and restaurant just below it. Not that day. The entire mountain was swallowed up by heavy clouds. As I climbed, the road disappeared into a thick fog, with wind gusts growing stronger the higher I went.

When I finally reached the summit, I felt warm but was covered in sweat. With the stormy weather and the sun setting fast, it was clear I needed to change into dry clothes and find some food. My dirty overshoes, soaked bibs, and waterproof jacket contrasted with the white tablecloths and wine bottles at the tables in the Ještěd Restaurant. I found a spot and ordered food, noticing how quickly it was getting dark outside. Through the panoramic windows, I watched the clouds racing by, illuminated by the lights outside. When I stepped outside to my bike to grab my dry clothes, I started shivering. “This is going to be a long night,” I thought.

After changing into dry, warm clothes and eating some proper Czech food, I was ready for the 10km downhill stretch from Ještěd. I’d hoped for some easy kilometers, but the thick fog and darkness made even my 800-lumen front light feel inadequate for a fast descent. Luckily, as I reached the valley, the fog cleared a bit, and the temperature became comfortable enough to keep cycling through the night.

Singltrek pod Smrkem at night

Around the 260km mark, the fun shifted from Type 1 to Type 2 as I entered the singletrack area “Singltrek pod Smrkem”.

The night was pitch black, with no moonlight to guide me. Navigating muddy trails under the stars on a gravel bike with no suspension and bags attached, with only the beam of my lamp, was an interesting experience.

Those singletracks turned out to be the slowest few kilometers of the race. The conditions were so slippery that I ended up walking my bike through several sections. As I finally finished, the sunrise greeted me with a clear, cloudless sky.

Pitstop 2 to the Finish Line

The last section was just 60 kilometers — it looked easy on the map, but it turned out to be mostly rocky paths and what felt like an endless uphill grind. The downhill segment on paved paths in Hala Izerska was the highlight. The weather improved dramatically. The sun came out, and after being soaked and cold yesterday, I ended up getting mildly sunburnt — I really experienced it all.

From there, it was just a few more hills and then the final descent to the finish line.