← All eventsBlack Forest ULTRA Bike Marathon
A HERO UCI Marathon World Cup round from Kirchzarten: the ULTRA route is 118km / ~3,509m of mostly non-technical forest-road climbing, high point Schauinsland ~1,239m. Marathon/Speed/Short options too. Date approximate.
One of Germany's biggest MTB marathons, and a HERO UCI Marathon World Cup round. On mostly non-technical forest road, nothing hides a lack of fitness. The climbing is the whole test: around 30m of ascent per kilometre.
The ULTRA loops out of Kirchzarten near Freiburg, working up through the southern Schwarzwald to the Schauinsland, the signature climb of the day, then descending and lumping its way back to a stadium finish.
This is a fitness-and-durability day, not a skills day. And in late July the Black Forest runs hot. Heat, hydration and how well you meter the climbs decide the back half.
Who finishes, and how
Patterns like these, drawn straight from 2024 race data, are baked into how Beina coaches you for this event.
Is Black Forest ULTRA Bike Marathon for you?
- Riders with a strong, steady climbing engine. With little technical terrain, the day rewards sustained seated power over bike-handling flair.
- Anyone eyeing their first big MTB marathon. The 71km Marathon, 54km Speed and 46km Short Track routes are legitimate ways in before committing to the full ULTRA.
- Patient pacers. The climbs stack one after another, so metering the effort beats attacking every ramp and blowing up before the high point.
- Riders who can put in real off-road weekend hours. Durable climbing legs come from time on forest tracks, not the road or the turbo.
Training plan for Black Forest ULTRA Bike Marathon
A training plan for Black Forest ULTRA Bike Marathon isn't a generic base build. Beina reads the event's exact demands, looks at your specific profile and the time you actually have, and maps a highly adapted plan to the start line.
- Five to eight hours of sustained off-road climbing, where power costs more than it would on tarmac
- A relentless climb-then-descend rhythm, and the descents never fully recover the legs
- Late-July heat, often 28 to 32°C, on exposed forest-road sections
- A fast World Cup front end, so it is easy to over-cook the first climb in the crowd
- Sweet Spot Off-Road: 3 to 4 x 12 to 20min at 88 to 94% FTP on a gravel or forest climb, your core ULTRA-pace builder
- Long Climb Rep: one 30 to 45min sustained off-road effort at around 90% FTP, a Schauinsland simulation
- Long MTB days of 5 to 6 hours off-road with 2,000 to 3,000m of climbing, building durability under fatigue
- Heat sessions in the final weeks: warm indoor Z2 rides and post-ride sauna to expand plasma volume
- Built from your current fitness and the time you actually have
- Adapts every week as Beina learns how you respond
- Syncs your sessions straight to Garmin and Wahoo
- One clear next session, never a wall of spreadsheet
