Looking forward to knocking this one off a few more times in January.
23 December 2010
12erhorn
First time on the 12erhorn this winter and the snow was outrageous. Deep powder, snow falling lightly, very cold - a beautiful evening.
Looking forward to knocking this one off a few more times in January.
Looking forward to knocking this one off a few more times in January.
10 December 2010
7 December 2010
We came, we saw, we cranked
Watching as 15-odd bicycle couriers unpacked their battered bikes from their cars and prepared for an alley cat race in the village square, I began to believe that the night was going to go well.
The 'Radbote' had travelled from Graz, Linz and Vienna to tiny Fuschl for Battle Cranks, a roller racing event I organised which took place on November 27, 2010. I had some doubts: who would bother turning up? Would the first real snow of winter stop people from coming? And would Austrians get into the wild, rawkus frenzy that roller racing needs to be judged a success.
It turned out I had riled the couriers up by claiming this was the first ever roller racing event in Austria. I had researched this, but obviously not hard enough, and in fact a series called Hanky Panky had been going for some time in Vienna, usually tied to alley cat races around the capital.
They decided to come to Battle Cranks to show us who the roller racing kings and queens were. Their Fuschl alley cat race took place two hours before the roller racing was due to start. The temperatures were sub-zero and with snow on the ground, it looked distinctly dodgy to be riding skinny-tyred fixies. But they attracted a small audience, intrigued by this interesting looking bunch of bikers. Even the local plod parked up and watched them take off down the high street.
And so the mood was set. The Mohrenwirt's dining room quickly filled up with assorted cycling types, from ex-pro Gerrit Glomser to seasoned radmarathon roadies, downhill mountain-bikers and, fresh from ripping around the village, the couriers.
Paul and Jake, from Rollapaluza, a company specialising in putting on roller racing events, had driven two days from London to Fuschl with all the equipment to help make Battle Cranks happen. They got things moving with great support from the awesome DJ MKS, and after a few 500m qualifying rounds and it didn't take long for the atmosphere to heat up.
The buzz only increased as the night went on. The couriers were definitely the dominant force, occupying at least half of the top 16 spots that went through to the knockout stages. But there were surprises too, as Chris Sams, 16th fastest in qualifying beat fastest qualifier Random in the first round. Then, in the quarterfinals, Bernhard Steiner, a club soccer player, knocked out pre-race favourite Ralph Pecher with the fastest time of the night, 21.71sec.
The contrast between Bernhard and Ralph was great, the former dressed in smart jeans and shirt ready for a night out, while Ralph wore grungy messenger clothes. But I guess this was for me the best part of the whole evening: all types of cyclists and plenty of non-cyclists coming together for a good time.
By the finals the crowd was pumping. Underdog and fellow zooomie Evelyn Winkler was up against courier-girl PandA in the women's and El Nino was taking on Prolo Radl in the men's. Evelyn nearly scooped an upset, but in the last 150m PandA edged it.
Much to the annoyance of Prolo Radl, the audience was asked if they wanted to double the distance of the men's final to 1000m, which of course they did. Paul counted down "Ready, set.... go!" and off they went. The crowd was screaming in their faces and it was neck and neck at the halfway point. Prolo turned round a couple of times to check out the dial but El Nino kept his head down.
With 200m to go, Prolo knew he was beaten and El Nino blasted to the finish in 52.47sec. I presented him the trophy and he was lifted off into the crowd on the shoulders of ecstatic supporters. I had goosebumps and tingles on the back of my neck. To have helped create a buzz like that was a marvellous feeling.
It goes without saying that people have to be thanked: everyone who turned up to take part or watch, the prize sponsors Fischer Skis, Airstreeem and Suunto, Jaki from the Mohrenwirt and Ulrich, my boss at zooom for supporting the idea and making it happen.
A good time to say the least. Crankage will return in 2011...
Yeah, we made it on TV! Servus TV reported on a "...vollig verrückt Wettkampf.."
The 'Radbote' had travelled from Graz, Linz and Vienna to tiny Fuschl for Battle Cranks, a roller racing event I organised which took place on November 27, 2010. I had some doubts: who would bother turning up? Would the first real snow of winter stop people from coming? And would Austrians get into the wild, rawkus frenzy that roller racing needs to be judged a success.It turned out I had riled the couriers up by claiming this was the first ever roller racing event in Austria. I had researched this, but obviously not hard enough, and in fact a series called Hanky Panky had been going for some time in Vienna, usually tied to alley cat races around the capital.
They decided to come to Battle Cranks to show us who the roller racing kings and queens were. Their Fuschl alley cat race took place two hours before the roller racing was due to start. The temperatures were sub-zero and with snow on the ground, it looked distinctly dodgy to be riding skinny-tyred fixies. But they attracted a small audience, intrigued by this interesting looking bunch of bikers. Even the local plod parked up and watched them take off down the high street.
And so the mood was set. The Mohrenwirt's dining room quickly filled up with assorted cycling types, from ex-pro Gerrit Glomser to seasoned radmarathon roadies, downhill mountain-bikers and, fresh from ripping around the village, the couriers.
Paul and Jake, from Rollapaluza, a company specialising in putting on roller racing events, had driven two days from London to Fuschl with all the equipment to help make Battle Cranks happen. They got things moving with great support from the awesome DJ MKS, and after a few 500m qualifying rounds and it didn't take long for the atmosphere to heat up.
The buzz only increased as the night went on. The couriers were definitely the dominant force, occupying at least half of the top 16 spots that went through to the knockout stages. But there were surprises too, as Chris Sams, 16th fastest in qualifying beat fastest qualifier Random in the first round. Then, in the quarterfinals, Bernhard Steiner, a club soccer player, knocked out pre-race favourite Ralph Pecher with the fastest time of the night, 21.71sec.The contrast between Bernhard and Ralph was great, the former dressed in smart jeans and shirt ready for a night out, while Ralph wore grungy messenger clothes. But I guess this was for me the best part of the whole evening: all types of cyclists and plenty of non-cyclists coming together for a good time.
By the finals the crowd was pumping. Underdog and fellow zooomie Evelyn Winkler was up against courier-girl PandA in the women's and El Nino was taking on Prolo Radl in the men's. Evelyn nearly scooped an upset, but in the last 150m PandA edged it.
Much to the annoyance of Prolo Radl, the audience was asked if they wanted to double the distance of the men's final to 1000m, which of course they did. Paul counted down "Ready, set.... go!" and off they went. The crowd was screaming in their faces and it was neck and neck at the halfway point. Prolo turned round a couple of times to check out the dial but El Nino kept his head down.
With 200m to go, Prolo knew he was beaten and El Nino blasted to the finish in 52.47sec. I presented him the trophy and he was lifted off into the crowd on the shoulders of ecstatic supporters. I had goosebumps and tingles on the back of my neck. To have helped create a buzz like that was a marvellous feeling.
It goes without saying that people have to be thanked: everyone who turned up to take part or watch, the prize sponsors Fischer Skis, Airstreeem and Suunto, Jaki from the Mohrenwirt and Ulrich, my boss at zooom for supporting the idea and making it happen.A good time to say the least. Crankage will return in 2011...
3 December 2010
Letter from Europe: Kenyan Catch-up
Latest column published in the December edition of Vo2max. David Kinjah has one hell of a story to tell. There's way more than what I put down here and hopefully I'll find some time soon to write the rest. Check out his project, www.safarisimbaz.com, he's doing some great work in difficult circumstances.
Following the cycling road events at the recent Commonwealth Games in India reminded me of experiencing the Melbourne Games four years earlier. I was impressed by the sheer doggedness of two relatively unknown Kenyan riders who had played significant roles in the road race’s main break of the day and closing stages.
David Kinjah, 34-years-old at the time, had gone on the attack early with Duncan Urquhart (Scotland) Jeremy Maartens (South Africa), Domenic Perras (Canada) and Robin Sharman (England), staying out in front for 95km until caught with 44km remaining. Soon after his compatriot, 21-year-old Chris Froome, launched a counter attack, unfortunately pulling his foot from the pedal at a crucial moment but nonetheless causing a ferocious chase in the peloton.
Kinjah and Froome had taken the racing to the favourites, making their mark far stronger than many of the well-known and experienced professionals in the pack.
What made the duo’s efforts all the more remarkable was that they both competed in the mountain bike event three days prior and the time trial two days before that. “We were registered to ride the track too,” Froome said at the time, “but couldn’t get hold of enough equipment to race.”
Froome was first off in the time trial, his effort so good that he sat on the top of the leaderboard for over an hour until Kiwi Logan Hutchings came in two minutes quicker. Froome eventually went on to finish 17th.
In an interview he explained to me how difficult it was to get funding from the government and how he was “going to put all his efforts into one day getting hired by a professional team in Europe”. Admittedly I was sceptical about his chances, but now, four years on, Froome has shown himself to be a solid professional cyclist with a promising future ahead of him.
After the 2006 Melbourne Games, he rode for South African development squad Konica Minolta, and then landed a pro contract with Barlowald for 2007 and 2008. He debuted at the Tour in 2008, featuring prominently in a break to Alpe d’Huez and reaching Paris in 84th position overall.
He changed his nationality to British in 2008 – his parents are both originally from England – and now rides for Team Sky, who say on their website that he “has been described as a rough, unpolished diamond with loads of potential.“
At the Delhi Games, Froome, now 25, picked up fifth in the time trial and rode strongly for the English team in the road race, crossing the line 44th. He says he wants to become a general classification rider, aiming for top positions in stage races. This time I am inclined to believe him.
David Kinjah, meanwhile, is still involved in cycling, running Safari Simbaz, a non-governmental organisation devoted to training and coaching young Kenyan cyclists.
“I want to concentrate on the sport,” he says. “I teach them everything: how to fix their bikes, racing tactics, training and so on. I have about 20 boys in my team, and 95% of it is funded through my work as a bike mechanic.”
Unfortunately he has had what can only be described as a massive falling out with the Kenyan Cycling Federation that culminated in him being banned from racing after the Commonwealth Games in 2006.
Kinjah says that the Federation wanted to see him fail, even trying to sabotage his and Froome’s chances in Melbourne. He had to scrounge and buy bicycles and parts as the Federation refused to supply them with the right equipment and, during the road race, he says the Kenyan cycling officials even hid their spare bottles and food.
“We had a cooler box of supplies which they took away from our support area on the course. I only had two half-filled bottles of water with me and had to try and get bottles from other teams to keep going.”
After his epic breakaway, Kinjah was interviewed by the race commentator and let his anger boil over.
“The interviewer asked me what would it take to see a Kenyan rider on the podium in a cycling event and I said that Federation needed to start behaving and acting professionally.”
The comments infuriated the Kenyan Federation officials and by the time he got back to the area where the team was supposed to be recovering, the riders and Federation officials were physically fighting.
For Kinjah it was a sad way to end his international career, but he remains positive about changing the system and producing riders capable of competing at the highest level.
“The Safari Simbaz will strive to find cycling success with whatever opportunities are presented to them and will keep pushing for the realization of the power and the potential of the sport.”
Following the cycling road events at the recent Commonwealth Games in India reminded me of experiencing the Melbourne Games four years earlier. I was impressed by the sheer doggedness of two relatively unknown Kenyan riders who had played significant roles in the road race’s main break of the day and closing stages.
David Kinjah, 34-years-old at the time, had gone on the attack early with Duncan Urquhart (Scotland) Jeremy Maartens (South Africa), Domenic Perras (Canada) and Robin Sharman (England), staying out in front for 95km until caught with 44km remaining. Soon after his compatriot, 21-year-old Chris Froome, launched a counter attack, unfortunately pulling his foot from the pedal at a crucial moment but nonetheless causing a ferocious chase in the peloton.
Kinjah and Froome had taken the racing to the favourites, making their mark far stronger than many of the well-known and experienced professionals in the pack.
What made the duo’s efforts all the more remarkable was that they both competed in the mountain bike event three days prior and the time trial two days before that. “We were registered to ride the track too,” Froome said at the time, “but couldn’t get hold of enough equipment to race.”
Froome was first off in the time trial, his effort so good that he sat on the top of the leaderboard for over an hour until Kiwi Logan Hutchings came in two minutes quicker. Froome eventually went on to finish 17th.
In an interview he explained to me how difficult it was to get funding from the government and how he was “going to put all his efforts into one day getting hired by a professional team in Europe”. Admittedly I was sceptical about his chances, but now, four years on, Froome has shown himself to be a solid professional cyclist with a promising future ahead of him.
After the 2006 Melbourne Games, he rode for South African development squad Konica Minolta, and then landed a pro contract with Barlowald for 2007 and 2008. He debuted at the Tour in 2008, featuring prominently in a break to Alpe d’Huez and reaching Paris in 84th position overall.He changed his nationality to British in 2008 – his parents are both originally from England – and now rides for Team Sky, who say on their website that he “has been described as a rough, unpolished diamond with loads of potential.“
At the Delhi Games, Froome, now 25, picked up fifth in the time trial and rode strongly for the English team in the road race, crossing the line 44th. He says he wants to become a general classification rider, aiming for top positions in stage races. This time I am inclined to believe him.
David Kinjah, meanwhile, is still involved in cycling, running Safari Simbaz, a non-governmental organisation devoted to training and coaching young Kenyan cyclists.
“I want to concentrate on the sport,” he says. “I teach them everything: how to fix their bikes, racing tactics, training and so on. I have about 20 boys in my team, and 95% of it is funded through my work as a bike mechanic.”
Unfortunately he has had what can only be described as a massive falling out with the Kenyan Cycling Federation that culminated in him being banned from racing after the Commonwealth Games in 2006.
Kinjah says that the Federation wanted to see him fail, even trying to sabotage his and Froome’s chances in Melbourne. He had to scrounge and buy bicycles and parts as the Federation refused to supply them with the right equipment and, during the road race, he says the Kenyan cycling officials even hid their spare bottles and food.
“We had a cooler box of supplies which they took away from our support area on the course. I only had two half-filled bottles of water with me and had to try and get bottles from other teams to keep going.”
After his epic breakaway, Kinjah was interviewed by the race commentator and let his anger boil over.
“The interviewer asked me what would it take to see a Kenyan rider on the podium in a cycling event and I said that Federation needed to start behaving and acting professionally.”
The comments infuriated the Kenyan Federation officials and by the time he got back to the area where the team was supposed to be recovering, the riders and Federation officials were physically fighting.For Kinjah it was a sad way to end his international career, but he remains positive about changing the system and producing riders capable of competing at the highest level.
“The Safari Simbaz will strive to find cycling success with whatever opportunities are presented to them and will keep pushing for the realization of the power and the potential of the sport.”
2 December 2010
El Nino Storms to Battle Cranks Victory, PandA Wins Women's Race
Daniel ‘El Nino’ Kofler and Andie ‘PandA’ Strießnig were crowned Battle Cranks bicycle roller racing champions on Saturday November 27 at the Hotel Mohrenwirt in Fuschl am See, sprinting to victory in front of a roaring crowd.Kofler beat over 60 competitors including former professional rider Gerrit Glomser, top endurance athlete Gerhard Gulewicz and Red Bull Air Race pilot Hannes Arch at the high-adrenaline event organised by zooom productions.
After a qualifying session, the fastest 16 men and four women went head to head in knockout rounds over 500m. Quickest in qualifying was Jakub "Random" Velikovsky with 22.39sec, but he suffered an upset in the first round when Chris Sams, 16th in qualifying beat him by 0.07sec.
Surprise package was soccer player Bernhard Steiner. In the quarterfinals he knocked out one of the pre-race favourites, Ralph Pecher with the fastest time of the night, 21.71sec. In the semi-final he came up against Kofler and pushed him all the way, leading until the last 100m.
In the other half of the draw, Prolo Radl made steady progress, beating Sams, then Benjamin ‘Zappa’ Duh to come up against Kolfer in a highly anticipated final.
The distance was cruelly upped to 1000m and the crowd at fever pitch as the duo, both bicycle couriers from Graz, battled it out for the title. There was nothing in it for the first 500m, but Kolfer managed to keep his momentum going to the end, fighting against the burn in his legs and spinning to a well deserved win in 52.27sec.
Strießnig was favourite to take out the women’s prize, but had to work hard to beat rapidly improving Evelyn Winkler, who scraped through the semi-final just 0.04sec ahead of Lisa Pleyer.
In the final, Strießnig and Winkler were neck and neck, Strießnig just finding a final shred of energy to pull ahead with a time of 27.78sec ahead of Winkler’s 27.89sec.
As well as top-notch racing, a tombola was held in aid of Wings for Life with prizes from Airstreeem, Suunto and Fischer Skis.
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