Chemnitz has a lot to offer, which many people in Chemnitz don't realise

Alexander Liebers

In 24 hours, mountain bike enthusiasts will once again populate the Chemnitz reservoir for the 8th Heavy24 mountain bike race. From 12 noon on Saturday to
12 noon on Sunday, 295 teams and 1137 riders will be racing day and night over hill and dale, through forest and meadow. East Germany's biggest 24-hour race has been held in Chemnitz for eight years and has become an integral part of the mountain bike calendar. The organisers "Die Rennmacher" André Gläß and Alexander Liebers have been fighting for this success for nine years. The event is their baby, as you can clearly tell from Alexander Liebers' wildly romantic sunrise tales, for example. Between mobile phone ringing, signing contracts and coordinating the set-up team, the maker of the week gives an insight into the world of the 24-hour mountain bike race, how the idea was born and why selling the "Heavy24" was never an option.

How did you come up with the idea of organising a 24-hour mountain bike race?
Alexander Liebers: Friends and I witnessed one of the biggest 24-hour races in Germany in Duisburg and got to know and love it. There was no such event in the new federal states. So we came up with the idea that Chemnitz would have the starters for a 24-hour race. Especially as the Ore Mountains are just around the corner, a region that is very crazy about cycling and has the oldest marathon in Germany, Seiffen. So nine years ago, after six months of preparation, the help of "DC" and "Biker und Boarder", many personal contacts and 375 riders, we organised the first event. It was a shot in the dark, so to speak. In the years that followed, we grew so much that we had to say at the beginning of this year: "We're fully booked. We have no more space."

What is the appeal of this event for participants?
I think that, on the one hand, it's the thrill of competing. With the size of this year's starting field of 295 teams and 1137 riders, there is an opponent for every performance class. Secondly, it's the team feeling. You can start alone, in pairs, in fours or in eights. The team experience of mastering it together is a great incentive for many teams. And it's the thrill of competing with professionals. We have everything here, from lost regulars' table bets to truly semi-professional teams.

The Heavy24 starters must be a little crazy. What can the drivers expect on the course at the Rabenstein reservoir?
We have a course with a lot of greenery, 8.75 kilometres in length and 125 metres in altitude - that's the issue for most of them. It's not so much the sheer length, but the metres in altitude that have to be mastered. And the difficulty of the route sections: We have a relatively large number of forest paths that can still be ridden reasonably well. But there are also four descents that really go over hill, dale and root - the kind of thing that a hiker would almost leave behind as a beaten track. And completing the loop there is quite a statement.

With these difficulties, hand on heart, have there been any serious injuries during the race?
You always have to put it into perspective. Last year, we drove a total of 15,239 laps with all the teams, that's 133,341 kilometres. That's 3.5 times around the equator. If you put that into perspective, then it all adds up. Every year we have two or three broken collarbones and abrasions, which are somehow part of it. But fortunately we've only had one really serious injury in the last seven years and we hope it stays that way. In addition, four paramedics and our emergency doctor Kristian Schaper will be on site throughout the race.

The riders who are completely in the saddle for 24 hours crawl up the steps to the podium for the award ceremony at the end. Can you understand why they do the race alone and would you do the same?
I myself once competed in a team of two. That was very tough. I don't know if I would have the confidence to do it on my own. The nice thing is that you don't have any responsibility for your partner. On the other hand, you don't have the ambition to say: "My partner has just had a good fight, now you have to do it too." Last year, the winner of the men's singles was actually unable to compete at the award ceremony. He rode 59 laps alone - 516 kilometres. His carer had to come to the trophy presentation ceremony because he couldn't make it. In comparison, the winner of the individual race completed 49 laps and 428 kilometres. That is also a statement. The boys and the girls are not far apart. If you compare this with one of the strongest teams in the four-man race, which managed 76 laps, a remarkable 656 kilometres, but divide it by the number of starters, then you have an estimate of how fit the individual starters are.

Do the riders come from all over Germany or are there also riders from abroad?
We also have riders from neighbouring countries, from the Czech Republic, Poland and this year also a rider from Luxembourg. We've had French riders and even a rider from Australia who flew over especially for the race. Through an exchange with a company from Limbach-Oberfrohna, he was here three months earlier and said: "Wow, this is a great event. I'll be back." But of course, around 90 per cent of our drivers come from Germany, 80 per cent of them from Saxony, but from all corners of the country. Then there are the Thuringians and the Bavarians, who make up ten per cent. The rest are from other federal states and abroad. Some of them also take a week's holiday after the run and visit Chemnitz, where we are asked in the organisation office what they can see.

Professional teams also take part in the Heavy24. That speaks for the quality of the event.
That's right. One of our partners - Haibike - has put together a team of professional riders. Or Biehler, our support sponsor, has signed up licence riders. Lots of guys who attack really hard and regularly finish on the podium. Or Udo Stein, last year's winner in the eight, you can see him on at least every start list at every race event where a mountain bike is involved. They are also regularly represented on the podium.

As a completely inexperienced mountain biker who wants to take part in the Heavy24, how often should you train beforehand?
I needed three months of preparation before my first Heavy24. During this time, you should try to pedal 300 kilometres per week. But it's not just the preparation time that's important. Timely registration is even more important. Registration opens on 01 October at 12.00 noon. As I said: "Two months later we are fully booked."

When you say that Heavy24 has been fully booked since the beginning of the year, can the event still grow?
In principle, it is possible. But the length of the route restricts us to a certain extent. And since we said we would limit it to a maximum of 300 teams - we don't think it would be any more fun for the drivers - we have deliberately set our own limits for growth. We want to keep the event at a high level for the drivers, because we get positive feedback from a lot of them. They are all exhausted after crossing the finish line and say: "Never again." But when they pack up three hours later, they say: "Yeah, of course we'll be back next year."

When you're not organising the Heavy24, what do you do for a living?
I work in the housing industry as a housing consultant.

How much preparation time does it take to organise such a big event? That sounds like a full-time job.
After the event is before the event. We take a two-month break after Heavy24 and then start the intensive planning for next year's event.

Where do you get the motivation to get so involved in the event alongside your job?
Fortunately, we have grown with the race. If we had started in our current size, it would have been too much for us. Over time, our experience, our partners and our cooperation have developed a momentum of their own in a positive sense.
But there have also been a few moments when we have looked at each other and asked ourselves: "What are we actually doing this for?" The race isn't about making money now, it's a no-win game for us. With so much passion and time invested in this event, you don't want to give it away so easily. There have already been requests from major organisers to buy the Heavy24 from us. But we said no, because they would make it purely commercial. That would ruin the race.

It would be easy to say: we'll go and find a bigger venue. What makes Chemnitz so attractive?
The advantage in Chemnitz is of course the reservoir with its marvellous location. It is also located at a motorway junction and is easy to reach from all directions. The infrastructure at the reservoir, which we have built up in the meantime, is also good. And the racing atmosphere is a highlight for many drivers, as we are also the "greenest" 24-hour race. When it slowly gets light around half past four in the morning, you drive over the dam wall on the lake, see how the sun is reflected in it or drive down into Grüna, from a hard to a softer section of the track, look at the sunrise, that has its appeal. And for us, it's a lot of local patriotism. We were able to organise the Heavy24 in Chemnitz with the support of the city because we were given a lot of trust when we started out as completely inexperienced sports organisers. We want to give a little of that back.

Would Heavy24 have worked in another city or is Chemnitz a city where it's easier to organise an event like this with a lot of enthusiasm?
I can't say for sure. There were of course teething problems here in Chemnitz too - of course, when you come in fresh and say: "I'm going to let them do something crazy and drive round in circles for 24 hours." There are locations where it would be much more difficult. But there are certainly also places where it is at least logistically easier. If you look at the two major 24-hour races in Munich in the Olympic Park and Duisburg in a disused mine shaft, they open the power socket and there's electricity running. Whereas here we are in the middle of the field, without electricity and without water. But after our event in 2013, we also had a very positive conversation with the city, who asked us how they could help. There were also other organisers at the table, e.g. of music events. We were allowed to simply submit a wish list of what would be good for us. And we said that we needed power connections out here on the field. We feel a very positive tailwind from the city.

Is Chemnitz a sports city for you?
Definitely yes, not just the cycling enthusiasts. You can see it very clearly, for example with the construction of the new stadium. We think that's great, or if you look at the athletics centre. These are just two examples of the sports city of Chemnitz.

You could be described as a Chemnitz native. You've always stayed here. What is special about this city for you?
It's simply my home town. I grew up here, so you know every corner by now. And I think that Chemnitz offers something for everyone over time. Thanks to a very strong technical university, we have a huge influx of foreign students who say: Chemnitz is a good location, I deliberately chose it. I could also have gone to England, but I decided in favour of Chemnitz.
In terms of housing locations, if you look at Kaßberg or Gablenz as a family-friendly neighbourhood, there are many renovated old buildings. We also have a modern city centre. These are the kinds of stories that make Chemnitz so appealing to me.

Chemnitz residents always have a somewhat negative and reserved view of their own city. Do you have to encourage the people of Chemnitz?
Yes, I also think that people from Chemnitz don't realise enough about what the city has to offer. You notice that in yourself. I try to go on a city tour with my family every two years. There are really nice tours to rediscover new corners of Chemnitz, because you lose sight of it a bit. You also realise that when you have someone new in the city and are asked where you can go and you have to think about it. And Chemnitz and the surrounding area have so much to offer that I think many people in Chemnitz don't realise just how diverse and beautiful Chemnitz actually is.