Orbit360 is a Gravel event the extra class. 18 Gravel routes spread across Germany, with a route length between 150 km and 200 km. With between 500 hm and 4.200 hm. I've just ridden my first track and I have to say I'm hooked On Fire!
What is Orbit360
Orbit360 is a community event and was born out of necessity. The idea came to the initiators in 2020, in the Corona year. On the Orbit360 website you can read everything again and register for the event.
According to the website of the initiators, the idea behind it is:
Due to the 2020 pandemic, many cycling events have been cancelled. For us, that didn't mean the end of cycling. We saw it more as a new beginning: we wanted to share the best routes in Germany with our cycling community. From that moment, Orbit360 was born, the first unsupported gravel adventure series where riders can compete - safely and in an exciting new format!
orbit360.cc
As a driver, you can drive as many of these 18 tracks as you want. There is a public ranking and a separate point system.
- points for finished orbits
- Points for placement (by time) per orbit
Orbit360 runs until August 15, 2021, so if you feel like being part of Orbit, you still have the opportunity to participate. until August 15, 2021 go the first Eight driven Orbit360 routes into the rating.
What is the Orbit360 for me
I haven't signed up for Orbit360 and I will still ride some of the routes. The initiators of the Orbit360 are so open that they provide all tracks of the Gravel series on Komoot.
The organizers from Orbit have recommended that you only pull the routes onto your navigation device shortly before departure, because the routes are constantly being adjusted over time. Fallen trees, route closures and and and... always mean that the routes have to be adjusted.
I've already ridden one route, the Milky Way Mission, but like I said, it won't be my last Orbit 360. I will here in this article just about my made Orbit360 Gravel Adventure to report.
My Orbit360 adventure
Milky Way Mission
I had just picked up my new Gravel, I had wanted one for a long time and was really looking forward to it. I drove it to work for a week to adjust it. For me, this is always the best way to adjust the saddle and the like. My new Gravel is a Pearl again, as is my racer, the Pearl Legacy. So now I have a Pearl Gravel with a carbon frame and double GRX 2 components.
As you can see, it's pretty dusty here, but that's what a gravel should look like. Of course I'm going to the new one horsey dedicate another article in my stable, here I would like to stay with Orbit for now.
Start in Stellingen
I live not far from the starting point in Stellingen, so of course I cycled there. Due to the construction sites in Hamburg 😩 I didn't find my way to the start 😂 or drove past. It started well!
From the train station we first went to the Volkspark. Criss-cross the forest trails. Just out of the Volkspark we went on the next gravel path and into the next park further west. Even here, all roads were new to me, I rarely crossed well-known roads and paths.
Orbit360 - Elbe beach Orbit360 - Narrow paths Orbit360 - single trails Orbit360 - Dirt roads
I discovered one of my personal highlights shortly after Wedel, the Holmer Sandberge 😍
Orbit360 - Off to the nature reserve Orbit360 - Holmer sand mountains Orbit360 - Holmer sand mountains Orbit360 - Holmer sand mountains Orbit360 - Holmer sand mountains
Super challenging route
Unfortunately, I enjoyed the landscape so much that I didn't turn where I should have 🙈 and had to push my bike a few hundred meters through the sand. But it was worth it, it's really worth pushing at this beautiful spot!
It continued a loop through the northern Klövensteen and then in a northerly direction through Rellingen and a lot of forest to Bad Bramstedt.
Orbit360 - Wonderful scenery Orbit360 - trailer Orbit360 - Incredibly challenging track Orbit360 - Gravel Orbit360 - Break in the shade
I reached Bad Bramstedt after about 115 km, which was a little over half of the Milky Way Mission Orbit. In Bad Bramstedt I stopped for coffee, cake and rolls because the first half of the orbit was really demanding. Lots of MTB single trails, sand passages and lots of ups and downs. If the second half of the track had been just as demanding, it would have been tight in time. Even if the first stretch was so demanding, or maybe because of it, I would like to ride parts of it again.
Heat a lot of Gravel
Now it was the rest of the Milky Way Mission on Gravel through the sun. Today it was over 30°C and I often had to fill up my bottles. So I covered my kilometers until I drove back into the city via the north-west of Hamburg.
Orbit360 - Ride through the forest Orbit360 - Heat Orbit360 - Back through meadows and fields Orbit360 - Always straight ahead Orbit360 - Always straight ahead Orbit360 - Beautiful Schleswig Holstein Orbit360 - In a good mood Orbit360 - In the shadow of the forest
Conclusion Milky Way Mission
My first Orbit360 and it was awesome and definitely not my last Orbit360. My new Pearl Gravel is definitely broken in now and I've tasted orbit blood. I can definitely recommend the tracks (I've only heard good things), check out Komoot and find an orbit near you. Tell me about your experiences, I'm always happy!