Bremer Stern – Garlstedt Individual Time Trial Training Plan & Preparation

Course & Elevation

The time trial under the Bremer Stern runs along the legendary Panzerstraße of the Garlstedt military training area at Schwanewede, north of Bremen. The course is as simple as it is special: 8.5 kilometres arrow-straight through the forest to a turnaround and back, 17 kilometres in total, on a fully sealed concrete road closed to public traffic — conditions found nowhere else in the region. The profile is flat with a gentle character: 93 metres of gain over the full distance, not a single real climb, only long drawn-out waves between 25 and 51 metres of altitude that rise slightly on the way out and roll back down on the return.

The race is organised by RC Vegesack together with the Bremen cycling federation as part of the Bremer Stern weekend: Saturday's time trial is followed the next day by a criterium on the Mercedes test track in Hemelingen. Starts run across all age categories under German federation rules, complemented by youth races. The combination of closed road, level profile and out-and-back format makes this ideal terrain for personal best times — and a fair contest where output alone decides.

Pacing Strategy

Seventeen flat kilometres on a loop call for an even output just under threshold — there are no categorised climbs, only gentle metre-high rolls (a good five metres of vert per kilometre) over which you hold constant pressure. The rough Panzerstraße surface adds rolling resistance: tyre pressure and position matter more here than on smooth tarmac, and a smooth, slightly lower cadence saves matches. As a loop the course averages out the wind, so no large power swings are needed.

It is decided by aerodynamic consistency across the full 17 kilometres. The trap is a hard start on fresh legs: an overcooked opening bites harder on draggy ground in the final third than on a fast course.

Ease up to your target level and hold it to the line.

12-Week Preparation

Over 17 flat kilometres, a committed age-group racer will be on course for roughly 23 to 28 minutes — a time trial at functional threshold with a small overshoot saved for the closing phase. The closed, dead-straight road strips the race of every technical component: no traffic, no corners, no broken rhythm. What remains is the purest form of the question of how much power can be spread evenly across half an hour.

Two particularities deserve attention. First, the turnaround at km 8.5: braking, turning and re-accelerating from near zero is the single rhythm break of the day — done unpractised in a heavy gear, it costs several seconds and needless matches. Second, the profile's slight asymmetry: the outbound leg rises imperceptibly while the return rolls home — if you are marginally down on plan at the turn, the second half offers a realistic path back.

Preparation is classic time trial work: threshold intervals of two to three times 12 to 20 minutes in the aero position as the core, plus a weekly steady-wattage session to sharpen pacing feel. It is worth adding turnaround drills on an empty car park — brake, tight U-turn, seated acceleration — until the sequence is automatic. Since the course crosses open forest terrain exposed to wind, riding the aero position in crosswinds belongs in the repertoire too. Climbing and sprint work, this course will never ask for.