I don’t have many pictures of the first edition of the RACA Gravel Race 300k, simply because it was too intense. For an ultra race, 300k are quite short and there is not much time to mess around. But even if this distance is relatively short, you should be careful not to blow it all out in the beginning. Three weeks before, I went on a 190km ride for my longest training for this event (mixed surface, lots of gravel). I realized how badly you can get wrecked in the end if you’re not careful with your energy levels. For this reason I planned on not going over the threshold and having no peaks in wattage. Reducing air pressure also proved to be important because the vibration had killed my hands during the last key workout. This is a type of exhaustion you do not see in TSS points.

The organizers had to change the start time to 5am due to issues with communities about riding in the night in the forest. I was actually quite happy about that, because it meant less time riding in the dark. At 5 in the morning it was still cool as we climbed up the Donau Trail from Linz into Mühlviertel. Within the first 4 hours we would complete a quarter of the 5000m of elevation. My biggest concern was water resupply. After about 66km we crossed the border to the Czech Republic and cycled mostly through forest without any infrastructure. Here the route followed a great part of the Iron Curtain Trail with rough gravel roads or “paved” military roads without traffic. To call these roads paved is misleading. They are mostly covered in concrete slabs and the gaps in between make riding very uncomfortable. For Central Europe, the wilderness in these forests is exceptional. You are right on the “death strip” of the Cold War, a 20km wide band where no one was allowed to go and nature was therefore preserved. The Warsaw Pact forced villages to relocate, built barbed wire fences and made it almost impossible to escape to the West. The military roads in the woods were built for border patrols in order to drive quickly to refugees to catch them. The fact that this area is so lonely and has such a moving history was one of the reasons I wanted to do this race.

Luckily, I found water before I crossed the border. The landscape was absolutely beautiful and I enjoyed this adventurous part of the route, but the surface took its toll. After 160km my hands and my butt were shot and I felt overwhelmed. I could not imagine being able to do another 140km. Also, the heat was wearing me down. I had entered Austria again and was heading towards Gate 1 in Litschau (RACA races have “gates” where you can deposit your stuff, take a nap and get food and drinks. Litschau was the only one for the 300k races). I had a bag deposited with food and, above all, some cola — my weapon against all ultracycling evils like low energy, low motivation, DNF cravings and literal pains in the ass. The cola actually helped and it was good to get out of the sun for a while. The crew also motivated me by reminding me that there was an ice cold “finish line” beer waiting for me in Linz. For the last part of the race, I utilized my visualisation techniques. I spent no more than 20 minutes at the gate and continued on to the Waldviertel part of the route that I had been looking forward to. I just love this region with its lonely roads and beautiful forests with hidden magic stone formations that have names.

As the sun was setting, the track got a little easier and the gravel on the roads became finer. It was still exceptionally warm for the Waldviertel, which is known for being the coldest part of Austria. I started to feel better, but it was also clear my calculation that I would be back in Linz before midnight was totally unrealistic. I would have to ride much longer in the dark than I had originally thought, which does not bother me on the road, but I had not yet done this offroad. After so many hours in the saddle, it cost me a lot of concentration to navigate the offroad parts and not bump into forest furniture. The last 50km was less offroad than in the beginning of the race, but there were still parts were you had to ride over meadows or on short forest paths. The night air and the lower temperatures had awakened in me a new life force and I felt a lot better than in Litschau, when I was in that hole. After around 265km saddle soreness set in and I had a stomache ache. After three packages, I refused to eat the remaining gummy bears, so I had to rely on fat metabolism for the last 35km. The thought of Iso also made me sick, so I just drank water with salt tablets.

The ride back into Linz was smooth and I reached the finish line at around 2am after 20:48h and 309km with 5072m elevation (the actual finish time was taken 4k before Linz). My moving time was 19:35h. The training load amounted to 500 TSS.

A short word about the bike. For this event I took my Canyon Grail CF SLX with Sram Force 1×12 (38t in front and 11-44t in the back). I would have prefered a lighter gear for steep hills to keep the cadence up. The bike which I had purchased in 2025 came with Pirelli Cinturato Tires in 40mm with inner tubes. I normally prefer Continental and a tubeless setup, but I did not want to change a running system. 42 or 45mm would have been more comfortable, but not necessary. The Grail was the perfect bike for this event, fast on road surfaces and comfortable for a long stretch off road. The rear of the frame and seat post have good shock absorption. The gravel aero cockpit discharges the hands due to its flat form, but a second handlebar tape would have also protected the hands better. I put no bags on the bike and instead carried a vest for supplies.

The second female rider never started, which I did not know during the race, so I was the only one. I am sure this will be different next year and more women will show up. I can definitely recommend the event and encourage women to choose the solo category. It is a satisfying experience when you are on your own, relying on your own abilities and being solely responsible for all decisions you make on and off the road.