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2000 'Warsteiner' MTB marathon at Riva (Italy)
on my Santana tandem

Original ride report as sent to Tandem@Hobbes, the international email list for tandem enthusiasts, on May 2, 2000:

"A recovery day spent on the road driving to the next event is better than no time to recover at all, isn't it? Just a short night's sleep after the tandem road race in Switzerland, we loaded up the university's van and bike trailer to drive down to Riva at the Lago di Garda in the Italian Alps.

For the last ten years, the German off-road bike magazine "bike" has been organizing an annual large MTB festival there. The festival is rather boring for mature people (I'm not into baggy cycling shorts, ok?), but since the area surrounding the lake offers some of the best off-road cycling anywhere in Europe, the MTB marathon is always among the best. Such long distance off-road events have been all the rage for the last few years in Europe. Unlike many American events, they usually don't run for 24 hours, but can be completed in around 6 hours. The best of these events are run on one long loop instead of consisting of several shorter laps.

Another MTB marathon, time again for my favorite off-road stoker Evelyn. Aside from her excellent power-to-weight ratio and her having become an experienced stoker over the last two years, she was the best stoker I could have found for this event because she works as an MTB tour guide in the area over the summer. I had never been to Riva before, so I didn't even know if there was any chance that the course would be rideable on a tandem. Of course, Evelyn didn't know the whole course either, but we decided to just risk it. We'd survived some pretty gnarly terrain, so why not try it.

I became a bit more cautious when I learned that we would be the only tandem in the event. At other similar events there are usually from five to fifteen tandems, but the only tandem? Did others know something we didn't?

The marathon in Riva is comprised of three loops, the first of which forms the "Ronda Piccola" (48 km), the first two the "Ronda Grande" (88 km), and all three form the "Ronda Extrema" (125 km). Going into the event, Evelyn and I were unsure as to whether we'd ride all three loops. We just wanted to enjoy a great day of cycling. The start was a bit disorganized. They let all 2500 riders go almost at the same time and the village streets were a bit too narrow, but the field stretched out soon on the first long climb.

The course really deserves the name "The singletrack marathon"! There are many old military roads, mostly covered with gravel, surrounding the northern half of the lake. Those were mostly used for the uphill sections, whereas descents and several of the flat stretches were on narrow trails. It was this reputation as singletrack heaven which had worried me a bit before the event, as too many narrow switchbacks can take all the fun out of tandeming, but almost all of the turns were wide enough for us. The terrain was mostly rocky, with only a few muddy sections (it had rained the night before, but most of the course was dry).

Another one of my worries had been the descents: Alpine terrain can be hard on a tandem's brakes, and I had already had our Formula disk lose pressure during a race in the Black Forest last summer. I refilled the brake before the event and decided to view this as another test run. Using a race to test your tandem's brakes is nothing you can be very open about to your stoker. I knew that a brake failure would ruin our ride, but I also knew that the way the Formula failed last time would not lead to a crash so I decided to just keep quiet. Despite the very steep and long descents, the brake was able to stop the bike all the way through the ride. We did lose some hydraulic fluid at the lever during one descent due to overheating, however. See my tech report (below) for more info.

We ended up riding two of the three loops. Our legs might have been able to carry us through the final part, but my upper body certainly would not have been able to control the bike on the descents. Captaining a tandem doesn't require strong arms and shoulders, but everything changes on rough terrain. I'm very glad we didn't try this ride before I added the suspension fork!

We started the ride towards the rear of the field and we spent most of the time passing slower riders. Even in the gnarliest sections we were passed by only a few riders. Of course, the pros stormed ahead to complete the ride in unbelievably short time but we were actually quite good among the "regular" folks: About 2000 of the 2500 riders finished the ride, and while we came in 1:59 h after the winner of the "Ronda Grande" we were 248th out of 857 who did the medium distance. Our time would have earned Evelyn 11th place in the women's field.

Back at the hotel, we feasted for hours to refill our fuel tanks. Another short ride the next morning to enjoy the beautiful vista over the lake and to shake out our legs, and we were back in the van for an eight-hour drive back to Germany. This weekend was some of the most fun I've had on the tandem so far!

Tech Report:

We had originally intended to test the first production version of the Tandem Technology full-suspension tandem this weekend, and the course certainly would have made a great testing ground. However, since we didn't get all the parts for the Rohloff Speedhub in time (which Rohloff had asked us to test), the bike set idle and we were once again back on my trusted Santana.

The stuff we rode and how it held up:

FRAME: '96 Santana Fusion/Cilantro CroMo

Excellent tandem frame. The top tube could be a bit stiffer for tough off-road courses. A larger top tube would also allow better placement of the rear brake cable stop. The rear top tube could be a longer, but Bill already knows that my stokers disagree with him in this respect. Also, poor cable routing to the drum precludes the use of large diameter tires.

Santana has lenghthened the rear cockpit a bit (not enough for us) and increased the diameter of the top tube (haven't ridden their new bikes yet) since they built our bike.

FORK: '99 Votec GS IV OS/S with integral Votec XL stem and Votec bars

Wonderful fork for both tandems and singles! The bolt-on hub greatly increases steering control. I would not want to miss it. I would not have wanted to ride this course without suspension. Others, like Kirchzarten may be fine on a rigid bike, but not Riva! Votec's XL stem allows up to 145mm of extension, making up for the shortish top tube on the Santana.

FRONT WHEEL: 36 DT Competition 2.0/1.8 double-butted spokes, Mount through-axle hub, silver Mavic D521 rim

REAR WHEEL: 40 DT Competition 2.0/1.8 double-butted spokes, EDCO hub, black Mavic D521 rim

The Edco hub (with the reinforced ratchet after we broke the original one) held up on the steep climbs. The D 521 is a wonderful rim for off-road tandems.

TIRES: 26x2.1" IRC Mythos XC foldable

The perfect tire for this event. I had originally intended to run semi-slicks (ontinental DoubleFighter), but the rain the night before convinced me otherwise.

BRAKES: Magura HS 33 Quicksilver with standard black pads front, '99 Formula Open System disk brake with 185mm disk rear

The Magura is a wonderful brake! The Formula stopped the bike well, too. Both brakes were wonderful to modulate, and this certainly helped us survive the rocky sections. The disk lost some brake fluid at the expansion chamber at the lever. This is a common problem that has been reported by several Formula users. It did not lose enough fluid to render the brake unusuable. See http://omnibus.uni-freiburg.de/~timmhc/DiskAdapter.htm on how I fitted the brake to the frame.

DRIVETRAIN: Standard '96 Santana equipment: XTR derailleurs, XT cranks, 12-32 8-speed XTR cassette, 54-44-28 chainrings. Upgrades: LX RapidfirePlus levers, Avid Rollamagic

Held up fine. I might change the rings to 54-42-26 when the old ones wear out. On a 9-speed drivetrain I would certainly choose a 34-tooth cog for the type of terrain we ride.

GRIPS: Biogrip Race front, ODI Attack rear

I love Biogrip for long rides with flat bars, and Evelyn has requested them for the next ride, too. They are too bulky for people with small hands, but since stokers don't have to reach a brake lever they should make her feel more comfortable.

SEATS: Selle Italia Flite front and rear

REAR SEATPOST: Moxey XC with soft elastomer

Evelyn would not have wanted to ride without suspension, and I can see why. This is the next best thing to a full-suspension tandem!

Chris"