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.."