Black Forest Bike Marathon 2025 – Johannes Keller

After the Black Forest Bike Marathon was canceled last year, I was all the more excited for this year's edition. But instead of sunshine like on Saturday, Sunday brought continuous rain – and it was to last until the finish.
The starting gun fired ten seconds too early, and since I still had a small gear shifting problem, I couldn't properly warm up. The route initially led several kilometers downstream, so I just rode at the front of the group. I did a few intervals to warm up, as no one else wanted to take the lead.

On the first climb, a very high pace was set. I initially had to let about 15 riders go, but soon managed to catch up with some again and eventually found myself in the chasing group. Due to the rain, the trails and meadows were completely soaked, making rolling difficult. However, my legs felt good.
After 34 km and 1,100 meters of elevation, we entered the second 60 km loop with another 1,100 meters of elevation. By then, the short-distance riders were also on the course, which often turned into a slalom ride despite shouts and pleas. At Katharinenhöhe, we caught up with three more riders – only three riders were now ahead. Up to that point, the group worked well, but from then on, not everyone contributed to the pace.

On the last trail descent, we managed to break away and continue as a trio. However, Roman and I felt we still had reserves. When a gap opened up after a bend, we decided to push through the last seven kilometers along the Breg together against the headwind.

In the final kilometer, everyone attempted a few more attacks on the short ramps, but all efforts were nullified by the traffic. So it came down to a sprint finish, which Roman narrowly won.

After 3 hours and 43 minutes, I crossed the finish line as the fifth overall – satisfied, exhausted, and completely covered in mud.