Bikester Magazine EN Winter 2021

© FALK WENZEL
It was with this notion that Stephan Geiß,
who was working for VOTEC at the time and
who can confidently be called the father of
Gravel Fondo, met with his colleague Basti
Steinecker at the office’s coffee machine.
Basti had already organised the Critical
Dirt in 2011, the first long-distance race on
German gravel roads. Stephan came away
from the conversation, which lasted only
a few minutes, with a concept for an event:
“To challenge oneself on a long route, like
in a competition, but also be able to take it
easy, drink a coffee and eat a sandwich; you
go all out until the segment is over and then
two corners down there’s a coffee truck with
deck chairs and an epic view over the Black
Forest.” The two also came up with the name
“Gravel Fondo” before their coffee even had a
chance to get cold.
PREMIERE AT
THE BLACK FOREST
Stephan soon found himself immersed in the
hustle and bustle of preparation. He spent
several weekends exploring gravel roads in
the Black Forest before putting together the
perfect gravel route on a specially purchased
27-inch screen. On an October weekend in
2016, the time had come. Around 100 people
met at the Sportkaserne in Freiburg for the
very first Gravel Fondo. Even the weather
smiled on us and rewarded the participants
for their efforts on climbing up the Feldberg
with some welcome sunshine. The meticulous
preparation had more than paid off for
Stephan: “Sunday afternoon went better
than I could’ve ever imagined. Everyone was
chilling, sitting with a beer or coffee in their
hand and a piece of cake in front of them, and
many even asked if they could stay an extra
day. That’s genuinely the best compliment
because at quite a few other events, people do
their race, shower as soon as possible and go
home.”
BIKESTER