The Blast 2 2012 – short report
It is Thursday afternoon when Bas ‘ The Gatekeeper’ and Bas ‘ Brick Top’ are the first to arrive at the log cabin for the Blast #2. The organization has just finished marking the trails for the weekend and while and more people arrive the first beers are cracked open. Some people already know each other from The Blast #1, but most riders are new to the game.
Friday morning everyone is up early for breakfast, excited and nervous for the day to come. Fresh coffee and croissants are attacked and after a short briefing it is time to prepare for a day on the mountain. After some bottom bracket changing and other minor maintenence everyone hits the trails around 11h.
The day starts with a climb for the cause, to the top of the 1363m high Hohneck. An amazing view all the way to Switzerland and Germany is the reward for all this suffering, and not to forget the start of an brilliant ridgeline trail that snakes it’s way up and down to SP1.
SP1is short but has a few sneaky hairpins catching people off guard.
Some need to dab a foot to make it round, others get launched off the bike to inspect the local flora.
Big smiles and good stories at the finish line! It seems nobody had an error free run, but that is the beauty of Enduro, you have plenty of time over the weekend to make up for it!
After a quick trailside lunch the groups are off to Yellow Cross! A good 8 minute descent filled with everything you want and more. High speed, low speed, twisty turns and sharp hairpins with an unexpected rock garden thrown in. SP2 is long, and a great place for technical riders to get ahead in the overal ranking.
‘Kaiser Soze’ is the first to do SP3 and finds a fox charging down the trail with him.
The rest of the pack has to do it without this guide, but all find their way down the swooping turns clocking their third time of the day.
Tired and hungry people hit the showers before refuelling on minestrone soup, pasta bolognese and home made dark Rafaello cake for desert. The action of the day is discussed at the camp fire with the well known French friend Mr Kronenbourg keeping everyone company.
Day 2 starts a bit slower, as all riders definately feel they did something the day before. Nevertheless everyone is still excited for the trails to come, and around 11 everyone is geared up and ready to rock.
A bit shorter climb then on day 1 brings everyone to the start of SP 1. A nice test of who is fit and who looks far ahead. The sneaky climbs and technical bits that suck up your speed take everyone to the physical limit.After another nice transfer on the high planes it is time for SP2.
Another long special, with a good mix off high speed and techy bits finished off with switchback after switchback all the way to the finish.All riders arrive at the finish really exhausted. After they catch their breath, the discussion starts which SP was better, Yellow Cross! Or this one.
After all the descending its time for the final climb, back towards the Auberge de Steinwasen. Green-white-green makes up SP3 of the day. This rock strewn trail is a nice test for the arms!
Just a short pedal back to the Chalet, and its BBQ time!
The clouds are packing together in the sky and as the burgers are flipped the rain and hail come from the sky. Sadly, the rain didn’t stop after that, and at breakfast the decision was taken to skip the timed runs for the Sunday.To still get some riding time in, there was a shuttle to the top for the brave riders who like to play in the mud.
Gunther is called out as the winner of The Blast 2! With just 30 seconds off the pace Bas “The Gatekeeper” Rotgans comes in second, followed by Hatori Hanzo (Simon Cauwenberg).
Click here for the full results.
We would like to thank the following people that made this weekend a Blast!
Artur Hommersen, Michiel Rotgans, Bas Rotgans, Teun ‘MC Noia’ vd Kandelaar, Vedrana Hoogland, Andy & Genepi, Lars and Per@Pedro’s, Brian@Fiveten, Jimbo@Kona and Martijn@Dakine.
Next Blast is from 13 – 16 September 2012 on a ‘secret spot’ in the Swiss Valais region.