8bar Pathfinder 2019 – Just follow the line!
Juliane takes us on a journey with her team Kompass:
Team compass on the trail of the triangle
It was 8bar Pathfinder day: We were standing in the middle of the forest when the still visible part of the path suddenly ended. Uncertain, we looked around? Where do we go now? The only recognizable path led in the direction we had just come from. But turning back? That was not an option at first. That looked like a kind of hiking trail back there, didn’t it? But the line on the navigation device was further west. Should we dare anyway? Two of our group members had a compact Wahoo navigation device attached to the handlebars. They were supposed to help us find the right route to get to the first checkpoint of the day. But there was a problem: there were no maps on the device. We only followed one line, a triangle, which showed our daily route as the crow flies. But no place names or streets were displayed, which could give us a hint. We had to find our own way and it wasn’t always straight. We got on the gravelbikes again and fought our way through the thick, rustling leaves. It became more hilly, more confusing. Branches got stuck in the spokes and rear derailleur. Some trunks were too big to ride over. We got off and finally pushed and lifted from time to time our broad tired bicycles over an obstacle.
Through the middle of the Müritz National Park
Around us, narrow trees rose to the sky, standing close to each other. Their tall crowns provided pleasant shade in the already increasing heat of the day. But in many places bright rays of sunlight broke through the loose canopy of leaves and created small islands of light on the lush green, soft moss. It cracked and rushed as we took a way along the almost imaginary path in the undergrowth. Suddenly a surprised outcry! In front of us some deer ran through the trees. We stopped in delight and watched as the animals finally disappeared again between the trees. We were in the middle of the Müritz National Park on the Mecklenburg Lake District. The beauty of this often lonely spot in the far north of Germany is shown by many little things. But the endless number of clear lakes, dense forests and wide meadows are especially memorable. The perfect region for an extensive adventure with the gravelbike!
8bar Pathfinder 2019 – Three days cross-country with the gravelbike
In early August 2019, 8bar invited to the first Pathfinder Gravel x Road in Berlin. Three days of cross-country adventure in Brandenburg and Mecklenburg Vorpommern were on the agenda. We started on Friday morning at the 8bar bikes showroom in Berlin Kreuzberg. Here we could drop off our weekend luggage, which was then transported directly to the checkpoints and the basecamp. Great, because we could start easily loaded into the 8bar adventure. We also took along an extensive goodie bag with numerous practical accessories: among others from Ortlieb, deliveroo, Berliner Pilsner, Wahoo, Schwalbe and 8bar! The start was in teams of 3-5 people, who had either registered together in advance or were mixed together according to their route preference. The participants could choose different route lengths on all three days.