Join amateur cyclist Christoph Döttelmayer on an epic journey from winter training in the Austrian Alps to the finish line of one of the world’s toughest gravel bike races—The Rift in Iceland.
“Cycling Through Hell and Heaven” is a gripping cycling documentary that blends raw adventure, emotional storytelling, and stunning cinematography across Iceland’s otherworldly lava fields.
Follow Christoph as he battles unpredictable weather, grueling terrain, and nearly 2000 meters of elevation over 200 km of unforgiving gravel roads. Whether you’re into gravel racing, endurance cycling, or simply love watching human stories unfold in wild landscapes, this film is a must-watch for fans of GCN, EF Pro Cycling, and adventure cycling documentaries.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:12 About The Rift
02:18 Who is Christoph?
03:48 Training hard in Austria
06:22 Arriving to Iceland
09:12 Breaking the Bike
14:51 To the Startline
16:47 The Race
20:50 Race Aftermath
23:44 Final Thoughts
25:24 Credits and BTS
Film Credits:
Director + DOP: Gábor Nagy
Editor: Tomi Szabó
Colourist: Márton Kovács
Sound: Balázs Győri
Graphics: István Csekk
Assistant: Petra Marada
Music in order of appearance:
“A Neverending Beam of Light” – Makeup And Vanity Set I Licensed via Musicbed
“Melt” – Slo Loris I Licensed via Musicbed
“Keep Moving” – Makeup And Vanity Set I Licensed via Musicbed
“Blood in the Soil” – Luke Atencio I Licensed via Musicbed
“Pulsewidths” – Makeup And Vanity Set I Licensed via Musicbed
“Asuntos Primordiales” – Makeup And Vanity Set I Licensed via Musicbed
“Weathering The Storm” – Jo Blakenburg, Lara Ausensi I Licensed via Musicbed
“Long Way Home” – Noah Neiman, Jay Bombay, LACI I Licensed via Musicbed
“sleepatsunrise” – Khrisna Canning, Slo Loris I Licensed via Musicbed
Special thanks:
Manuela Döttelmayer, Tyler Wacker, Jeremy Hutsell, Thrainn Kolbeinsson, Chris Burkard
Supported by:
@SonyAlphaUniverse
@7meshapparel
1OF1 Austrian Bikes
Watch my other adventure and outdoor related short films in a playlist here:
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So now we have January 2023, and the race, THE RIFT is going to be in end of July and it’s going to be 6 months from now and when I think about it I imagine it because I know Iceland to be really brutal. Okay I need some more… …some more air in the inside. Did it fall over? Yeah. Fuck! It did fall over. Fuck I have a problem. I told you not to leave it here in this wind! So, hi my name is Christoph Döttelmayer. I’m a passionate cyclist and we’re going to do an awesome documentation about an adventure to Iceland. Adventure is going to be about two wheels and two legs and pushing as hard as I can. Now finally this summer I’m going to Iceland to race THE RIFT bike race which is a 200k race with 2200 m of elevation and you’re going to cross the river 5 times. It’s going to be muddy and dry and volcano ash and volcano sand and I think it is going to be the hardest thing I will ever have done in my whole life. On a daily basis I’m head of design for Dachstein, an Austrian footwear brand. We’re doing outdoor shoes, mountain shoes, everything that’s really connected to the outdoors and the mountains. And also which is from Austria is the new bike brand that I ride for and they’re also close to Salzburg. The design process is going to be interesting for this new bike that I’m going to race at THE RIFT. It’s going to be a prototype for future seasons… and I have the chance to design the frame, the paint work and the artwork on the bike myself which is of course something super exciting. I went to Italy with my friend to visit the paint job factory. Was able to look at the different colors that they had, the different paint jobs for other brands that they did, some super secret stuff. So I was able to pick a certain colorway, the effects that we did on a paint job, the logos that are going to be on there and it all ended up like with this hugely impressive bike which has a lot of my personality in it. I think this was something that I wanted to transform in this new bike design. Tutto bene! Salzburg is an amazing place to ride the bike all year. You can, because it’s so low of elevation, you can ride the bike most of the year. I always say the summer athlete is made in winter and you have to get yourself ready in winter. And I think especially for getting ready for Iceland, it’s a really good training because I really don’t know what’s going to happen there. You can have super nice weather or it’s going to be really difficult. And I think training in the wintertime is going to be important. I just love going up the mountains. Long descents, long ascents. And this racing is the best training you can do, getting your body ready for the high intensity. And this is also something which the Rift is going to demand because of the surfaces. The different type of riding, it’s going to be like intense and I have to be prepared for it. Why am I doing this? I’m really passionate about endurance, about sports, about cycling and I love to push myself in races. And it’s just an epic adventure for exploring my own body and to see what I can get out of it. Climbing in a storm. Super windy all week. It’s been really crazy. But I guess, good training for Iceland, right? What’s up? I brought you something. It’s Iceland. It’s a new experience. I’ve been here. Now it’s the fourth time. I always wanted to ride my bike here. It’s tough. It feels like a really hostile environment. I know it from running. The weather can change so quickly in seconds from warm to super cold. The terrain makes it so challenging, but that’s the excitement I get because it’s something so new that the experience will be breathtaking. The scenery will be hopefully enjoyable. I will try to soak up as much as I can. For the first time in years, it’s a race where I don’t know what’s going to happen and I don’t know how long I’m going to need. I don’t know how my body will react, especially my arms my upper body from the shaking. So it’s a new adventure. That’s what makes it so exciting. I’m going to push as hard as I can without overgoing my energy, but I know I can go above 8 hours really strong. You don’t have that much recovery in the race, so you need to be careful with how much power you spend, because on road races, you have the long descents. You can recover a bit more. But my goal is to ride under 9 hours and go as fast as I can and… do as much I can. It’s the best invention of mankind. A portable vibrator for the muscles. But the anus is a muscle as well. What’s this? This is 110 grams of rocket fuel, what I call it, Carbohydrates. So 110 grams of powder is 110 grams of carbohydrates, which I take each hour. For the high power energy output. That’s what I’m going to use. I was finishing up getting everything ready having my bags filled up. Just wanted to check the tire pressure. Nope. Must have lost something. 1.6. Okay, I need some more. Some more air in the inside. Did it fall over? And the bike fell over. Fuck, I have a problem. What? Now? That’s it, yeah. Really? Yes. What? The cable just broke. Which cable just broke? Not really! Fuck! We have to go back to the… to the… That’s it. There’s a Shimano station there. They can fix it. I told you not to leave it here in this wind! Shit! We have to go back now! That’s the only thing we can do now. Come on. Not sitting around, packing up stuff and doing this. Come on! Yeah, you can’t change it now. You know, it’s already… Thrainn, are you at Valhalla? Are you at the starting point? Is there any bike mechanics still there? Until 8? Okay, we are going there, because we have some issue with the bike, but… I think… Yeah, we will figure out. We will be there in 10 minutes. Don’t panic! There are bike mechanics. Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that they will figure it out. Gabor needs a jacket! Hi, I need some mechanical help of you guys. My Di2 cable… I don’t have any. Could you try? I’ve never done it. Give it a shot. Yeah, let’s put it on the stand. That’s some bad, bad luck. Yeah, it is bad luck and it falls exactly on the derailleur hanger. I’m going to hold this so the wind doesn’t blow it away. Smart. I can only hope that this would work. But, uh, would you think I should probably not ride through the water tomorrow? It’s probably not a good idea. There is a light! There was a light?! There was, yep. I got a green and then a blue. Fuck yeah! Thank you! What do I owe you? Um, that would be up to him. Okay, I’ll talk to him. Just make sure that you say something nice about us when you’re up on the podium. I try my best! Thank you very much. Thank you so much. That’s crazy. Electrician. Technician. Magician, thank you. And thank you so much. Thank you so much. That’s cool, man. Having the lowest point of the race, and the highest one already, feels like I was winning. Just having a shifting on the bike, which was really cool. So, I’m actually happy now and hungry, so we’re going to go for dinner. It’s a strange day. First things first. This is the supporter’s race fuel Gotta make sure they also stay hydrated, right? That’s so sweet. Just go there, keep on drinking, relax, use the toilet if needed to, and try to get a spot on the starting line as forward as I can. All right, let’s go. So, I really want to start with the front pack and the elite, especially for the first 10k here on the road. Because that’s something I can do quite well. Just, you know, follow on the road, at least for the first 10k. And then I think once the gravel starts, everything will be, like, happening as it is anyway, super fast, I guess. During the race, I think about my dad probably. Like, I do on almost every race now. Since he’s not here anymore, it’s at least the reason for me to think about him all the time. And this is definitely giving me some extra energy and motivation. Of course, it’s often sad feelings in the meantime, but I try to turn those around into good feelings and emotions. That’s life. I hope he can give me the best energy, the most power I can hope for. Just relief in a way and grieving and being happy at the same time. And sharing those feelings with my family and my wife. That’s what I’m hoping to get out of it. You know, such a race doesn’t start yesterday. It started almost a year ago. And when I do the race and I don’t feel like I have enough energy anymore, I think about all the sweat and all the training that I made in the winter, in the cold weather, all the heat and everything. All the training rides I did were for this race and the other races. It’s just a long story. And then it’s not just the one training ride, it’s the whole journey to the race. And then to have a day like today, it’s just so amazing. So fucked the rain, man! It’s amazing. But it’s really hard. Up to climbing. For me, the coolest feeling was when I was in the middle of the Highlands. I had this wow moment. I’m riding my bike in Iceland. It’s the coolest place to be. It was amazing. Oh my God, yes! Good job, good job! Chirstopher! Oh my God, that’s my favorite name! When I went through the finish line, I was super excited. And the first thing I saw was Mani screaming, “I’m coming, I’m coming!” And she was running around the whole fence because it’s not so easy to get around. And she was like, “I’m coming, I’m coming!” And then I’m so proud of you and I love you. It’s amazing to have you there always. It’s the best thing. Because she knows all the time I invest and all the hard training I do. And then reach my goal with the time and everything. It’s the best. Fuck it was so hard! It was the hardest race I’ve ever done. My arms are so fucked. Guys, fuck. It was so… I had no idea. You know, you think you’re actually on the road and it has those like, whatever you call them, ribs, washboards, whatever. And it’s just constantly… Like after 60, 70k or so, my arms were already so messed up. And then once the road gets like normal again, like nice gravel, it becomes sand and you have to like… I crashed once in the sand. Really? Yeah, but nothing happened. I was not going… not fast, but nothing happened. But it’s… That sand like takes out all the momentum and it’s so hard to go through and it’s… I’m gonna get some drinks. So, I’ll see you guys. Have a great day. Bye! What a nice guy! Yeah, I finished the race in my goal time of under 9 hours I rode 8 hours and 48 minutes. And it was epic, but the hardest race I’ve ever done. I didn’t really have a lot of fun. I was just… I was just really looking at my Garmin the whole time, counting the kilometers. Something that has never happened to me during a race. Because I knew like, “All right, I got 4 hours left. I need to climb those two mountains in that time and I’m gonna be there and there and I need this time.” But today I was like, after 4 hours, I was like, “4 hours and I’m only at 80k?” Man, it’s at least another 4 and a half to 5 hours. And I don’t know if I can actually make it. I was like, seriously. I mean, I was not considering stopping, but it was so hard on my body, especially my arms. That’s why I said, I don’t know if I want to do this race again. I think the most fun part, to be honest, is all the excitement I had. And to share it with you guys. That’s the coolest experience.
1 Comment
Incredible film — pure gravel racing! Stunning visuals & inpressive landscapes. Well done