About me …

I, Björn Lenhard, was born in 1977. I was born and grew up in the Upper Ore Mountains. More precisely in Bärenstein. Ever since I was a kid, I loved being outdoors and doing sports. Especially skiing. Later, after the turning point, then Skibob. Although I made it into the senior squad of the national team here. But not only winter sports, I was also on the bike a lot. As a child and adolescent, it was primarily a useful means of transportation. In the country to grandma, friends or to the outdoor pool - it was much too far to walk. So it went through the area on various single-speed bikes until the turning point. There wasn't anything else in the mountains either.

After reunification, I bought an 18-speed Herkules touring Mtb. With that it went further. The first 100 to Karlovy Vary with my cousin. That must have been around the age of 14-15. Or in the holidays to Dresden to my grandmother. At the age of 16. Also that over 100km a distance. A very, very mountainous route. In both directions. After I finished school, I rode a bit of Mtb in the Ore Mountains during my apprenticeship. Whereby the time for this was increasingly lacking. Especially when I worked in London for 1.5 years. Even less when my Mtb was stolen after moving to Dresden.

But the abstinence did not last. At some point I discovered a similar Mtb that had been stolen from me on the internet and I fell in love with it again. I was on the road more or less regularly. Drove various Mtb - marathons in the Ore Mountains. Then in 2010, I had been cycling to work every day for four years, and I wanted to go paddling to Mecklenburg with my now ex-wife. I already had Wednesdays off, you still had to work. I don't remember why or what made me do it back then, but somehow I had the crazy idea that I could ride my bike up there. Without thinking much about it, I put street tires and lights on the Mtb, marked out a route and tried to get the navigation system on the Nokia bone to work.

So prepared, I started my first 300 in the early hours of the morning. It was an unforgettable adventure. The navigation system actually worked until shortly after Berlin. Well, it was just a voice prompt in my headphones, but it was enough. After that, the battery was empty and I had to continue according to the map. Getting through Berlin was a bit difficult at first, as the navigation system constantly wanted to direct me onto the Autobahn. But at some point I was in the middle of the city. Actually drove through the Brandenburg Gate and in front of the Reichstag. Eating and drinking worked surprisingly well. Only in the late afternoon, I had just passed through Berlin, did I fall into a deep hole. But since I couldn't call anyone, I had to continue somehow. So I reached our campsite in Mecklenburg in the evening. Slightly drawn from the tour. But, I had taken a liking to it.

I told this story to my classmates last fall. Who told me that he had recently bought a racing bike. His plan was to ride the Fichkona with it at some point. Fichkona - Fichtelberg - Cape Arkona on Rügen. 600km across the east. From the highest to the sea. Almost unimaginable for those times. But, I was immediately hooked. We signed up and in the winter I bought a racing bike. From spring onwards we did regular, joint training sessions. In preparation for the big event, a 200 and 300 brevet with Olaf in Bennewitz was planned. Friends recommended it to us.

And so, by sheer coincidence, I came into contact with the certification scene for the first time. It was 2011. PBP - year. I hadn't heard anything about that until now. At the time, that sounded incredibly long and exhausting. Somehow it just didn't fit into my head at all.

I drove the 200 with my buddy back then. But I soon noticed that I could actually drive a whole lot faster. We somehow had to skip the 300. Instead we signed up for the 400. Again the start was in Bennewitz. It went to Thuringia. This time I drove alone. Well, start was together in the group. In the evening, however, I found myself in the leading group with four other people. The night ended up being really cold, but it was super fun. At least me. We were back in Bennewitz in the early hours of the morning and I was doing pretty well. Unlike my buddy who arrived a few hours later. Frozen and totally done. He later told me that the 400 would have been significantly harder than the Fichkona.

The big event that year, unfortunately it had to take place later without me. I had just fallen ill and was therefore unable to start. I should never try again. I found new challenges. On the one hand there was the Elbspitze. A cycling marathon that starts in Dresden every year and leads over all sorts of mountains into the Alps. Since of course it culminates in a mostly very difficult final climb. 6 - 800km and over 10000hm. That's the key data. Second, there was kind of PBP 2015 in my head. But that still took a while.

So I started at the Elbspitze in 2012. And was the first to get into the escort vehicle after 150km. I had been ill for too long before and so I didn't have the physical condition. Since there was a very strong wind from the southwest that day, slipstreaming was out of the question. For this I then finished the Elbspitze for the next 4 years. In 2015 even winning the red jersey.

2014. One year before PBP. Up to this point I've actually ridden a few brevets every year. But only up to 400 km. Clear Elbspitze with over 700km. But there was always an accompaniment. But now it should be the first time over 1075km more or less alone to Austria and back. I had a hell of a lot of respect for it. To tell the whole story here would go beyond the scope. There was a lot to experience and even more to learn on such a long journey.

2015 then the PBP year. From a sporting point of view, it was my most successful. You can read the whole story here. It can be read under "Reports" on this website.

After that, a lot changed for me. Privately and at work no stone was left unturned. There were quite a few lows and only the occasional high. The only thing that kept me constantly on track and made me happy was riding my bike. Thanks to many business trips, I was able to travel far from Brevet's homeland and get to know other areas and people. But also the way brevets are set up and driven. But not only certifications. I also found pleasure in self-supported ultra races. Here the distances have become significantly longer again.

Over the years I kept coming up with ideas for events and routes. I wanted to give something back to the scene, show people my homeland. There aren't any other organizers nearby. Neither in Germany nor in the Czech Republic. An excellent location with Dresden as the starting point and a wide low mountain range as a playing field was given. The question was: Brevets or races? The ideas had to mature a bit before I applied to ARA-Germany as an organizer. In the end I decided on brevets. For me, the “brevet style” is simply the most beautiful way of exploring areas.