The Otway Odyssey 100km Mountain Marathon returned last weekend and Rapid Ascents Naantali Marshall caught up post race with the women's winner Judith Arndt for an interview.

When it comes to road riding there isn’t much that Judith Arndt hasn’t accomplished with a formidable career of three Olympics, medaling at two of them in both the Road Race and Individual Pursuit.  She’s one of the lucky few that have made a career from the past-time they love. The 33-year-old German spends the Australian summer in Melbourne with her long-time partner that she met 10 years ago when they were in the same professional team and the rest of the year touring with HTC Columbia based in Germany.  Last weekend she demonstrated her versatility by winning the Otway Odyssey mountain bike marathon.

With the focus on road events she really only dabbles in mountain biking and has competed in a few races spread out over a couple of years.  Mainly team events such as the Anaconda Adventure Race in Lorne, which is a short non-technical 20km mountain bike leg, she decided to step it up over the weekend to the tough 100km race. 

So, what is a German champion like Arndt doing hanging out in Heidelberg and why is she risking her season with mountain bike events? “I like adventure”, is the honest response from Arndt.  She’d been back only days after competing in the Tour of Qatar and only managed a handful of mountain bike sessions in the lead-up to the race, Arndt stated that, “mountain biking is a totally different sport from road riding”.  The skills and the way the bike handles is completely different plus the type of fitness, “but it’s great because it helps with my power”. 

Of the Odyssey she says, “it was a great race, but my skills suck”.  She was of course comparing herself to the best men in the country as she’d already developed a 5 minute lead over the other very accomplished women in the race. The women had a half hour head start so Judith who shot to the front in the early hill climbs was being passed by the likes of World Champions Craig Gordon, James Williamson and Jason English.  In all she was only passed by 20 men, but to someone who is used to being in the lead it must have felt like hundreds.  She did say, “I like mountain biking because of the people. They are so nice when they go passed”. She certainly deserves respect and I’m sure the boys knew that as they went by.

Judith says that she gets really nervous during mountain bike events because she’s so used to having a support vehicle behind her to help with any mechanicals.  In the end on Saturday she didn’t need any assistance and won in a time of 5 hours 48 minutes, just minutes behind the women’s race record held by Katherine O’Shea who came second this year. Injury free but with a very sore upper body from gripping tightly and managing the bike, she said she loved the race and will hopefully be back again next year.

Her ultimate goal this year is to race at the World Champs in Geelong later in the year but unfortunately she’ll be riding for native Germany.  I’m sure we’ll be able to

Report and photo by Rapid Ascent.