August 13, 2018
Earlier this year, on May 26th, several hundred folk with better legs and smaller bikes than ours took on the Red Bull Goni Pony challenge, riding one of Rog’s iconic little cycles up the road to the Vršič Pass. As we noted at the time, in practice this meant “pedalling 13.5 kilometres to the top of a mountain, a route that includes 24 hairpins turns and rises 801 vertical metres, with an average incline of 10.8%; i.e., not a ride for the faint (or weak) of heart”.
If that sounds like your idea of fun, but you’d rather not wait until next year, then consider the next Slovenian event from the producer of energy drinks and sponsor of extreme sports – the Red Bull 400. This is a race, on foot this time, up the Gorišek Brothers Flying Hill in Planica, and is the most demanding slope of the whole Red Bull 400 circuit, one that takes in 17 locations around the world . The length covered is just 400 metres, but with a height gain of 202 metres (and thus an average incline, if our math is correct, of 30.3°). Anyone who enters is thus looking at a real challenge for their legs, heart and lungs, as seen in these videos
The race is set for noon, Saturday, September 15 (2018), and is open to anyone aged 16 and over on the day of the event, with the full 400m races being run separately for men and women, as well 4x100m relays for men, mixed and “professional” groups. Registration for individuals is €25 until August 15th, and €35 after, with the last day for applications being September 12th. You can register online here, with all the details, in English, on the official site here.
