The impact was hard. Like a header into an empty swimming pool. The jump - too short. The landing - a case for YouTube. Broken helmet, grumpy head, a bent bike. Karl Platt grins when he talks about his first bike stunts in the gravel pit near Abenheim. We look down into the pit, where today only motocrossers make illegal tracks. Karl was ten years old when the Platt family moved from Novosibirsk to Osthofen in Rheinhessen. At thirteen, he joined the biker gang in Worms on a bike from the Otto catalogue. The following year, he took part in a downhill race. He had falsified the year of birth on his school ID card: only starters aged 15 and over were allowed.
It has been over 20 years since Karl Platt discovered biking in the vineyards and sand pits of Rheinhessen. As part of the Hometrails series, a visit to the Abenheim pit is of course a must. But for specific bike training, the Osthofener has long travelled to the Palatinate Forest, which is why he has come up with something very special for our story. An epic, two-day loop through his stomping ground, the Palatinate. From Neustadt to Waldfischbach-Burgalben and back. Mate Udo Bölts is along for the ride, plus a few old cycling friends.
From the Neustadt outdoor pool car park, we crank up to Wolfsburg. Then we zigzag through all the hiking hotspots that should be avoided at peak times. The Vorderpfalz is a local recreation area for many people and harbours potential for conflict, as Karl knows. However, the 300 metre descent down to Lambrecht is not much of a hike and pleasantly floods the body with adrenaline. Slalom around sandstones, push away roots, just don't touch a tree. At the first rest stop in Lambrecht, after 1:40 hours of riding, the computer shows just 22 kilometres. The plan is to cover at least 80 kilometres today. If you want to ride single trails, you have to adjust your travel plans. Trails make you slow, even in the Karl Platt tour group. No-one doubts that Karl has what it takes downhill. Even photographer Wolfi, an ambitious downhiller, has to let up on the trail. Karl smiles: "In the marathon, I have to ride gently. 160 mm brake discs are enough, I never lock the rear wheel anyway. The risk of damaging the tyre is too great." The smooth line beats the aggressive one, especially in marathons. Karl advises: "You have to save energy on the downhill, otherwise your pulse will be higher at the bottom than it was when you started the downhill." In the Palatinate, we realise immediately, fat bikes are oversized. A lot of suspension travel means boredom. 100 to 120 millimetres is enough. Karl has chosen his race bike with XTR Di2.
The further west we cycle from Neustadt, the lonelier it gets. There are hardly any people left, not even hikers. A paradise for studded tyres. It makes you wonder why you're travelling far away to cycle at all and why you're doing this in federal states with a 2-metre rule. Deep in the Palatinate, there are said to be places where the public utilities sometimes forget to collect the rubbish. No winter service clears the snow here. In Elmstein there is the Black Cat. A pub where, according to legend, strangers are greeted with a harsh "What are you doing here?". "You get the feeling that people just want to be left in peace," says Karl, as the wind rips the words from his mouth.
The Palatinate Forest trails are firmly linked to German history. We cycle through the "dead city" - the lost place - a spooky-looking former US army base. We pass the former poison gas camp near Clausen. You can still literally feel the Cold War. Not far away, the bunkers of the Westwall are a reminder of the Second World War.
Pit stop at the Naturfreundehaus Heltersberg: a good four hours driving time, but the speedometer still shows less than 80 kilometres. Dusty faces and dark circles under the eyes. Only Karl looks fresh. He orders a salmon sandwich, grins, chews and says: "Many racers weigh their food. That's nothing for me. When I was at my first training camp in Mallorca in the nineties, I ate my way through the buffet like Pacman." Platt no longer plays the buffet grinder. But pleasure is not far from his mind. Biking in South Africa has made him a star. Being in the limelight of the legendary Cape Epic stage race brings comforts: good red wine, ostrich steak, luxury living. The four-time Cape Epic winner is recognised at every coffee stop in Stellenbosch: "When I ride out of Cape Town in my Bulls jersey, people are always waving at me". In South Africa, mountain biking is a sport for the upper classes. Quite a few of Karl's followers there are raking in millions. "I was training with a fan in December. The guy hates headwinds. So we rode 180 kilometres with a tailwind to the coast. Afterwards, the guy flew us back by helicopter." Would South Africa be an option as a centre of life? "No," replies Karl: "I live my life here.
The Palatinate plays a decisive role as a training area for Platt. His school days at the Heinrich Heine Sports Boarding School in Kaiserslautern left their mark on him: "The trails automatically make you a better biker. When I ride in the forest here, it always gets intense. You just can't go uphill slowly." Nevertheless, high-intensity training and intervals are rarely on Karl's training plan. Training scientists recently confirmed that he needs long distances to get in shape. "I have to be diligent. Other guys achieve the same performance with less effort. That's annoying because it costs me a lot of time." Time that the father of three lacks in other areas. "Sure, I have good physical abilities for sport. But I'm more of a workhorse than a super talent." Karl's youth in Novosibirsk has toughened him up. He rarely gets sick. That is an advantage. But his lifestyle could be interpreted as a disadvantage. While his competitors are uncompromisingly focussed on the sport, Karl's attention wanders again and again: with the GT3 on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. To events where he loves to make new contacts. To the building site of his family home, to sponsor appointments and meetings. Platt regularly advises his employer's development department. And then there's also a tax audit to deal with. He occasionally seems a little impatient when travelling. Our story costs him valuable days. He has cancelled a race for it. Karl knows that he has lacked top results in recent years. However, he doesn't believe that there are people who have already written him off. "The last three years have cost me a lot of energy, I've had to pay the price. But I've reorganised my life. When the house is finished, things will be calmer. Now I need some real success again." And that goes like this: "If you have a good race, it's like a surfer catching a wave. Then you surf the next one, going from success to success. If it doesn't go well, you take the crowbar and nothing works out." It's a truism that too many races are detrimental to form. "It's not that I'm weak," says Karl. "You can't cheat your way through a race like the Cape Epic. I'm technically top, and if my head is right, anything goes. I've learnt: I ride hard in the spring and then only ride again from mid-July for the Transalp."
Are the twenty years in racing an advantage, or does fatigue prevail? "I was already at the point where I wanted to stop. I didn't feel like doing anything anymore, I was burnt out. After a three-month break, I was fine again. My body still has energy for a few more years. I can develop enormous strength when a project appeals to me." Such was the attraction of The Munga Race last December. 750000 dollars in prize money - the perfect exit strategy. But the race was cancelled due to funding problems.
In the evening at the hotel in Waldfischbach, it's not just a glass of red wine. Old stories are brought to the table: how a teacher's door was bricked up at Heinrich-Heine-Gymnasium. How the cleaning ladies refused to clean the room because it was wallpapered with pin-ups. How you went out at night - the classic pranks. "I already had my driving licence in tenth grade," chats Karl and follows it up with a rascally prank: "We filled spare hoses with buttermilk, slipped them under the door of classmates' rooms and then inflated them with a gas cartridge. Until they burst."
A little bent out of shape from the red wine, we get into the saddle in the morning for the next stage. The way back to Neustadt is a good 60 kilometres long. First we take a short stretch along the rocky path. Later, the "Eternal Path" winds along the slope for four kilometres towards Johanniskreuz. Fisherman's rock, dead whale, Eschkopf tower. "If you want to ride all the trails here, you'll have to add a second biking life," muses Karl. After 35 kilometres, we finally take a cake break at Forsthaus Taubensuhl. We have some generous slices of cheesecake, and photographer Wolfi has his coffee stop motifs in the can. But the many breaks disrupt the flow. Stopping again and again to take photos - at some point it gets too colourful for Karl. He takes the lead and just drives. This creates the facts: No more photos are taken. We follow the signposting with the red cross. The Palatinate Forest is perfectly marked for hikers. Travelling is practically impossible. Karl is a racehorse, needs a pull on the chain, "preferably always around 280 watts". Easy for a professional to say. The dusty faces and bags under the eyes of his friends say: it's time to cross the finish line.
"The downhill floods your body with adrenalin. Slalom around sandstones. Pushing away the roots. And don't touch a tree!"
We wind our way further east towards civilisation. More and more hikers cross our path and racing cyclists whizz past on the Totenkopfstraße. Carsten Bresser accompanies us for the last one and a half hours. Karl won his first Transalp Challenge with Carsten in 2002. The first of seven - a record to this day. For Karl, Carsten is as much a part of the Palatinate as the white wine spritzer. They have both spent countless hours training here. Carsten steers us away from the Kalmit hiking hotspot onto the trail towards the Kaltenbrunner Valley. A fast, sandy descent leads through sparse forest. Then the showdown at the Teufelstisch: everyone fails the trial passage - except Karl. We rumble down the last few metres of altitude via steps to Neustadt. Karl grins. A finale without a head - this time the helmet stays on.
Karl Platt profile
From Novosibirsk to Osthofen, his first DIY bike at 13, his first races. Karl Platt's career began in the early 90s. When he moved to the Heinrich Heine boarding school in Kaiserslautern, top-class sport was on the timetable. The 37-year-old has won the Transalp seven times and the Cape Epic four times. Curious fact: Platt won his first DM title as a junior in the downhill. After the production of this story, he celebrated the success he had longed for: two stage wins and 2nd place at the Transalp.
Information about the Palatinate Forest MTB region
Character and trails
While the Vorderpfalz region around Neustadt a. d. Weinstraße has the most challenging trails, but also the most hikers (avoid weekends!), it quickly gets very lonely deep in the Palatinate Forest. As a professional, Karl Platt prefers to do his laps in the mornings and on weekdays. Advantage of the region: you can eat and stay cheaply. All information about the area and the extensive route network can be found at www.mountainbikepark-pfaelzerwald.de
Organised trail biking in the Palatinate
1st Wasgau Bike Marathon
Legendary event (without timekeeping!) in Lviv, three routes between 45 and 95 kilometres to choose from. Date: 10 October 2015. www.wasgaubike.de
2nd Sigma Sport Bike Marathon
The popular single trail marathon always starts in Neustadt on the second weekend in August. Around 90 kilometres and 2800 metres in altitude. www.radsportakademie.de
Karl Platt's home trails
The Palatinate Forest is bursting with single trails. Here are the two stages of the tour plus a very challenging dream circuit.
Palatinate crossing 1
85 km 2087 hm
From Neustadt an der Weinstraße across the Palatinate Forest to Waldfischbach-Burgalben. This physically demanding route integrates the best trails and therefore also includes a few extra loops. It is not the direct route to the west, but a very beautiful one. Palatinate legend Udo Bölts was involved in the route planning and also acted as guide for the most part. You should take a break in Lambrecht after 22 kilometres and in the Naturfreundehaus Heltersberg after a good 70 kilometres.
Palatinate crossing 2
63 km 1470 hm
The way back from Waldfischbach to Neustadt is somewhat more direct and therefore shorter, but no less attractive. Behind Merzalben, for example, the "eternal path" flows narrowly along the slope for four kilometres. Shortly before the end of the stage, the descent into Kaltenbrunner is a treat for trail fans. During the week (when there are few hikers), you could extend the loop around Neustadt endlessly and spice it up with many more climbs and descents.
Single trail dream
66 km 2300 hm
This is what you get when Karl Platt puts together a perfectly happy route. Even at a forced pace, you'll be on the road for well over four hours and whizz over the most beautiful passages of the Vorderpfalz - an estimated 55 of 66 kilometres lead over narrow paths. Caution: Very demanding in terms of fitness and therefore not to be underestimated in terms of cycling technique. The bakery stop in Lambrecht is a must.
The GPS data for Karl Platt's three favourite tours can be downloaded free of charge below.
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