Erzgebirge Bike Marathon Training Plan & Preparation

Course & Elevation

EBM-Gold combines the 11.3-kilometre introduction loop with three laps of the almost 30-kilometre original EBM course — around 100 kilometres of MTB marathon through the Erzgebirge in early August.

The profile is Erzgebirge in its purest form: no single big mountain but permanent up and down — nearly half the distance points uphill and only 13 percent is flat. Each lap carries as its landmark a three-kilometre climb at close to four percent (at kilometres 31.9, 61.7 and 91.5 of the total distance), plus countless shorter waves on forest and gravel roads.

The lap structure shapes the character: start and finish at the festival area, the field sorts itself on the introduction loop, and after every lap you pass the event site — with feed zone, crowd and the option to time your race against the clock precisely. The EBM is one of the long-standing MTB marathons on the German calendar; the Gold event is its queen distance.

Pacing Strategy

A lap course gives you three identical exams — and the only correct answer is the same performance three times. Practice looks different: lap one is ridden too fast on start adrenaline, lap two feels sticky, lap three becomes damage control. The EBM is won exactly the other way round.

Ride the introduction loop as what it is: a sorting phase, not the race. On the first original lap you find your reference — note the time and the perceived effort on the three-kilometre climb. Ride lap two to the same time; take the feed at the start-finish passage every lap, not just when needed.

The third lap decides the race: the long climb at kilometre 91.5 is the last exam, and the even riders pass people in rows there. Whoever stayed disciplined until then may now spend everything.

The constant short waves are the profile's hidden trap: harmless individually, they add up to nearly half the distance uphill. Keep rhythm rather than attacking there — and use the descents for eating, not for dragging brakes: 30 percent of the course falls, and in August rain there is more to lose than win in those sections.

12-Week Preparation

Plan four to seven hours for EBM-Gold depending on level — an MTB marathon whose demand lies not in single mountains but in density: hundreds of load changes on rolling terrain across the full distance.

The foundation is long MTB rides of three to five hours in hilly terrain with 1,200 to 1,800 metres of climbing, built over eight to ten weeks. Deliberately train the lap character within them: ride the same loop several times and keep the lap times constant — the best school for race-day pacing.

The profile's short waves demand re-acceleration: intervals of one to three minutes slightly above threshold, six to ten per session, mirror exactly that load. The three-kilometre climb of each lap is, at eight to twelve minutes, the longest continuous effort — two to three threshold intervals of that duration per week suffice.

Add MTB craft: fluid riding on forest and gravel roads, confident passing and being passed in lap traffic, grabbing feed from the start-finish zone on the move. 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour over five hours belongs in training first. In race week: halve the volume, keep the sharpness.