Veterans Cup 2006 in Ingersheim - The veterans as guests of friends

It's Saturday lunchtime and I'm travelling to the Veterans' Cup. There is no race in Weiterstadt this year, because the track is to be given a new look for the next few years and is being rebuilt. So the Veterans' Cup had to move and one of the first people to offer us an alternative track was Oliver K.i.e.n.z.l.e and the people from the Ingersheim BMX club. Many thanks at this point. I'm looking forward to seeing how the Veterans' Cup goes.

After a few hours on the motorway, I finally arrive in Ingersheim. There's not much going on yet in the early afternoon, but that's about to change ...

Ingersheim 24 June 2006: It's hot, extremely hot. The railway lies sleepily between the Neckar and a vineyard. It's 35 °C on Saturday and there's not a breath of wind to cool things down. The air is stagnant and many people have burnt their fur from the sun. A veteran came from Cologne in his Mercedes SLK, drove the whole way open-top and hadn't applied any sun cream. He set off as a pale white and arrived as an Indian.

Gradually, more and more people arrived. In addition to Dieter S.c.h.a.d.o.w.s.k.i, who is in charge of the King of Oldschool contest and demonstrates his great oldschool knowledge while talking shop, many other oldschoolers are also there. Two from Kassel have travelled here just for today to train and look around. Unfortunately, they can't stay until Sunday to take part in the VetCup. Nevertheless: RESPECT, that's the right attitude!

Henry P.a.w.l.a.k. is also an old-schooler, but no longer a veteran. As in the 80s, he didn't shy away from the long journey from Berlin through the Zone to be here in Ingersheim. This year he is again racing in the cruiser class under licence. He is one of several veterans who have returned to licence racing after having been away for several years. I'm thinking of Alex R.o.c.k.e.n.b.e.r.g, who got back into racing through the VetCup, rode 24'' licence races and later even became world champion at the World Championships in Australia. Will Henry also make such a breakthrough? He's certainly fit; let's wait and see.

Saturday afternoon is World Cup time: Germany versus Sweden in the round of 16. Everyone stands up and sings along to the anthem. Afterwards it was party time. Beer and dry pretzels are consumed and when Oli K.i.e.n.z.l.e and Robert M.o.e.l.l.e.r hand out giant inflatable rubber hands and whistles at half-time, the party really gets going. After the 2:0 and 90 minutes, everyone is happy and it's back out onto the track to train.

A few training laps are the first approach to the Ingersheim track for most veterans. Although the track is very good to drive, it also has a few pitfalls. The big double on the first straight is quite long; only a few of the old-schoolers jump over it. After the first bend comes a small double. Nothing special really, but the surface is slippery here and you approach the double at an angle. There will be a few very unpleasant falls here...! The rest of the course is something to roll through; nice doubles, but the surface is mostly slippery here too and the speed is no longer as high. The miserably long home straight is a tough one, especially for us veterans who are out of shape and in the heat.

An open class race is scheduled for Saturday after training. It will be interesting to see how today's racers master the track. Oli K.i.e.n.z.l.e in particular goes off like a suppository on his home track. His starts are as good as they were 10 years ago: Pull over at the start until the chainring hits the gate :-) (except that today he does it with normal rims, in the past it was the legendary 1 3/8 rims, remember?).

In the evening, many stay along the route and hang out with beer and sausages. Someone lights a campfire and as it gets later, the remaining people gather round the fire. There's a bit of music from the car for background music. The more beer flows, the crazier the ideas become. After we are all no longer able to think clearly, Oli and Robert suddenly get hungry. They quickly find some meat, but there's no barbecue grill. Now one of them comes up with the brilliant idea of inventing a new extreme sport: DEATH GRILLING. Because there is no equipment, the two of them put the meat directly into the embers. After a while, the black piece comes out and, in front of many disbelieving eyes, the two of them actually devour the piece of burnt meat with relish. Because it tastes so bad, the piece of (meat) charcoal is flavoured with mustard. The seasoning is then taken to the next level with the piece of burnt meat: the mustard is thrown directly onto the meat in the fire. Robert splashes it around so wildly that everyone else gets a taste too. It doesn't matter, everyone is already drunk and in a good mood anyway, so nobody really notices what's going on. Much later, it's time for bed, although one or two of us wanted to crash right here on the track. Robert, Oli and I crash on Oli's living room couch. The night is short, but the delicious breakfast with bread rolls gets us going again. Many thanks to Oli's wife for the delicious food. Sunday is much busier at the track than Saturday. Training starts soon, and by the time the veterans sign on, the sun is blazing again. Today is another great day: the weather is perfect and the people are in a good mood. A total of 29 riders register for the Veterans' Cup today, including a few newcomers who have never taken part before.

The veterans have a separate training session. Unfortunately, a few accidents happen: I fly over the gate myself and bruise my knee (which I'll realise a few months later), but Guido H.a.n.n.i.c.h has a worse experience: he crashes so badly at the end of the starting hill that he breaks his wrist. Sucks, because he has been collecting and building his awesome Torker outfit and his 24 Torker cruiser for months, just like in previous years. And then such a quick end! Unfortunately, he can no longer take part in the race and sets off home before the end of the race. To show you how sharp his Torkerstyle was, here are a few pictures of Guido. Guido also had a real cult object tattooed on his arm a few years ago: A tattoo of Radical Rick. Who doesn't know the comic hero from the BMX Plus magazines of the 80s?

In addition to old-schoolers in cool clothes, there are also wonderfully built bikes from the 80s and 90s. Here are a few impressions of the bikes from GT, Patterson, Diamond Back and Co:

As always, Dieter S.c.h.a.d.o.w.s.k.i also brought along a few of his old jerseys and trousers as well as other old-school items. Take a look at what you could buy

Marco M.u.e.l.l.e.r is extremely well-trained and absolutely focussed on winning. He can not only flex his muscles, but also use them. Take a look at this power start; you can't think of anything else, can you? You can't be at the gate any earlier! Even Oli K.i.e.n.z.l.e looks old ...

Below you can see some race impressions from the Veterans' Cup Race: On the left the big double on the first straight and on the right the last straight with several small doubles

In this year's Best Bike Contest, the Haro Group 1 took first place ahead of Stephan P.r.a.n.t.l with a Torker. Here you can see the lucky winners

The race was fast, but unfortunately also claimed a few crash victims this year. The track was too slippery, especially at the start of the first bend, which was the undoing of a few veterans. In the final, Marco V.a.e.t.h came out on top ahead of Marco M.u.e.l.l.e.r. The two of them were by far the fastest. The following veterans took the other places: 3rd Ralf M.a.u.r.i.t.z, 4th Oliver M.i.t.t.e, 5th Michael G.r.e.l.a.k, 6th Jörg A.r.n.o.l.d (incredibly, after an absence of > 10 years, in his first Veterans' Cup final), 7th Uwe B.u.r.d.a.c.k, 8th Peter H.u.b.e.r.

Finally, Dieter S.c.h.a.d.o.w.s.k.i's King of Oldschool was honoured. This was about the veteran with the best combination of bike and outfit. The winner here was Michael G.r.e.l.a.k (Robinson) ahead of Marijus B.u.n.t.i.c (CW, not pictured). The 3rd place went to 2 riders: Jörg A.r.n.o.l.d (Hutch) and Alexander F.e.y (CW).

All in all, it was another well-rounded event. Even though we were "abroad" this year and not in Weiterstadt, we all felt very much at home in Ingersheim. You could really say that the veterans were visiting friends. Many thanks again for the friendly welcome and the good organisation of the race.

I would also like to thank our sponsors, who have been loyal supporters for many years and have generously helped us with financial support and donations in kind. Without this support, the organisation, the participants' shirts and the prizes would not be possible. My thanks go to the trio Wolfgang F.r.i.t.s.c.h.e.r from Rabbit BMX Bremen, Dieter S.c.h.a.d.o.w.s.k.i from Rainers Bike Shop and Oliver K.i.e.n.z.l.e from Oldschool BMX. Hopefully we'll see just as many oldschoolers at the Veterans' Cup next year as we did this year. But then the Cup will be held in Weiterstadt again. See you again, see you at the 13th VC in 2007, Ralf

Results

12. Veteranencup (2006, Ingersheim)

Veteranenklasse 1. Marko V.a.e.t.h 2. Marco M.u.e.l.l.e.r 3. Ralf M.a.u.r.i.t.z 4. Oliver M.i.t.t.e 5. Michael G.r.e.l.a.k 6. Joerg A.r.n.o.l.d 7. Uwe B.u.r.d.a.c.k 8. Peter H.u.b.e.r
King-of-Old-School 1. Michael G.r.e.l.a.k 2. Marijus B.u.n.t.i.c 3. Joerg A.r.n.o.l.d 3. Alexander F.e.y