"Welcome to Kollmitz, that is our castle ruin." Our attempted castle conquer seems instantly ridiculous. We crossed the entire country of Austria to prove Eric worthy of becoming a knight. And now we are politely greeted and invited at the gate by the snack-bar lady. No storming the castle for us, it looks like. Only open doors. Although our plan looks to be going down the gully right from the start, we don’t want our crusade to be entirely pointless. Eric is motivated from toe tips right under his iron full face. Austria’s mountain bike freeride number one is immensely keen on going to Nine Knights, the legendary event in Livigno. That’s why we - the Austrian mountain bike magazine
LINES and Eric Walenta - are here, right in the middle of nowhere. In the meadows between Austria and the Czech Republic. Only the most skilled knights are invited to the Italian town of Livigno. That’s why we had to prove Eric worthy of becoming one. You don’t become a knight in a day, they say. That’s why we came up with the idea for Eric of storming a castle. A real castle.
Starting from the PikeWell, it wasn't a real solid castle in the end. Castles are damn difficult to conquer. Especially if you start out as a single pikeman with a single spear, like Eric had to. What we arrived at was a true castle ruin. A pretty impressive one though. Our aim of conquest thrones high high above the Thaya river, protected by steep rock faces on three sides. 120 meters long, 66 meters wide, hosting two imposing towers to overlook the surrounding area. In the North, Kollmitz features the “Bohemian Wall”, an impressive rampart. Its name doesn't leave a doubt who it was built against. Good thing we are approaching from the South.
So we found entrance into the vast complex without any resistance. Lucky, but just walking into a castle ruin doesn't contribute to pikeman Eric’s palmares. We take a spin to find out of what we could make use to prove his Nine Knight’s worthiness. Everything’s in place: moat, gate tower, bergfried and even a wine cellar. Enjoying the view on 300 subjects in the valley below, this was probably a good place to spend the 15th century. Eric, both hands on his 780 handlebar doesn't spare a medieval thought though: “That’s all really beautiful, but seriously tough to ride.” Unlike “The Castle” in Livigno, Kollmitz hasn’t seen a shaping crew like Balzamico, Trail Design in its 800 year history. Lines have to be fought for. If we would have wanted something easy to ride, we wouldn’t had to go all the way to the last corner of Austria. Our rookie knight agrees and drags his bike onto a stone wall for the first drop.
ImpactSlammed into Middle Ages. That’s how you could describe Eric’s landing. Shock at the limit, fork bottomed out and a dislocated chain. The life as a pikeman is certainly no walk in the park. After half a dozen attempts, his ankles call it enough. Eric keeps on bustling through the ruins. He uses anything that seems rideable on two wheels. Stairs, steep as ladders. Walls, rough enough to tear off your skin once you get too close and passageways, so narrow that you wish to be born with a crooked back. Ergonomics was obviously invented after the Middle Ages. As a knight to be you are coping with circumstances like that and our shooting goes on well into the bright lit full moon night until Eric von Kollmitz is apparitional discernible as a castle ghost.
Disadvantages of the High (castle) LifeThe next day the sun is relentlessly doing its thing and we instantly realize what the architects of this castle have forgotten in their plan: trees. Shade providing trees. Our water reserves are nearing the zero millilitre mark and our tan is well beyond healthy brown. Eric goes for another attack attempt through the moat. Then we turn tail, get ourselves out of the barbecue heat and head for the rescuing sun shades at the snack-bar. With an ice cream in our hand we agree: life can only get easier at the castle in Livigno.
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