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Veterans Cup 2020: Corona Edition

2020 is a very special year: the coronavirus crisis has us all in its grip. Who would have thought that you would see people wearing face masks in many public places? And that most sporting and cultural events would be cancelled in late summer and autumn 2020 due to the rising coronavirus figures. But fortunately, the Veterans Cup was able to take place again in 2020, albeit under slightly different conditions. On 10 October 2020, 26 veterans took to the start line to have some fun this time under the motto "No Chain - No Pain".

We had to comply with the usual hygiene and distancing rules, and all visitors had to register. With this concept, the TSV Braunshardt club gave the green light for the 26th Veterans' Cup to take place again this year. And almost 100 old-schoolers turned up who didn't want to miss out on this special event. Because unlike other years, we had something very special planned this year: A no-chain race! As there was no licence race on the course that day, we didn't have any medics on site. We therefore wanted to minimise the risk of falling at all costs, which is why we left the chains off and just pushed along the track like on the pump track. At the beginning, there was a lot of doubt as to whether we would even manage the entire route. At the end of the day, all the old-schoolers thought it was great to ride without chains, so we are seriously considering including this discipline in the Veterans Cup programme in the future.

What was going on at the beauty contest? There were some incredibly beautiful bikes on display again! Rainer S.c.h.a.d.o.w.s.k.i didn't have an easy time choosing the winners in the individual categories of the beauty show. Every year more and more bikes come to the Veteran's Cup and the exhibitors always come up with something new to surprise us with. For example, this time Oli K.i.e.n.z.l.e came with a chromed JMC 20-inch, the matching JMC tent and Darrell Young in life size! A great idea that earned him second place in the "King of Oldschool" discipline, just behind Guido H.a.n.n.i.c.h. Guido came in first place with a Bassett cruiser and the matching Bassett outfit. Unfortunately, Guido was unable to ride himself due to a knee injury, but a loyal old-schooler like him will of course still be taking part in the Veterans' Cup. Hopefully we'll see him at the gate again next year! There were lots of JMCs at the start this time, Mark S.c.h.o.e.l.z.l always has fantastic bikes in his tent, including a JMC this year (with which he won the beauty show in the AA Pro class), as well as a beautiful Skyway (see pictures).

Further impressions of the bike show

The results of the races, the beauty contest and other interesting information can be found below.

The races were a little slower this time, as you can only accelerate a little on the track without a chain. There was a great surprise in the veterans' race: a German champion from the nineties did the honours and was at the start for the first time: Tibor S.i.m.a.i from Munich! Tibor hasn't been on the BMX tracks of the world for a long time, but he hasn't forgotten a thing. He has shown that he can still do it and confidently won the veteran class. Even though he was up against world champions like Alex R.o.c.k.e.n.b.e.r.g, the competition was still no match for him.

Here you can see Tibor at the start with Uwe B.u.r.d.a.c.k and Alex R.o.c.k.e.n.b.e.r.g in one of his heats.

Here are a few more race impressions, including from the pre-start, 1st speed etc

Award ceremony veteran class

Oldie class award ceremony

Unfortunately, the defending champion Udo W.a.g.n.e.r from 2019 was unable to take part in the bunny hop contest due to injury. Nevertheless, the contest was exciting and the new winner Florian B.l.e.y.l.e.r from Munich was able to take the title south with the same 75 cm jump. The prize included an egg liqueur gin from "OriGINal", donated by Patrick V.o.e.l.k.l.

In addition to the many racers, there were also some well-known old-schoolers as spectators, including Patrick V.o.e.l.k.l (with a cool VW Bulli), Markus S.t.o.e.c.k.e.l, Jürgen & Udo W.a.g.n.e.r, Deger C.a.k.i.m, Holger G.o.d.a.u, Nino N.a.g.e.l, Andreas H.o.e.p.p.i.n.g, Andreas E.d.l, Dirk S.i.e.b.e.r.t, and many more. As so often, the weather played along, although the forecast for this weekend was not good for most of Germany. But Weiterstadt has a good microclimate and is therefore often dry, sunny and warm. Thanks to the good weather, people were also in a good mood and the atmosphere was relaxed. Fortunately, there were no crashes and everything else went well.

Finally, I would like to thank my club TSV Braunshardt once again. As so often, they gave us great support, but this year I have to say a special thank you for the support under the special corona conditions!

A special thank you to Oliver R.a.p.p, the president of the BMX department, for making this event possible despite all the circumstances. Then a special thank you to Lutz M.o.h.r.h.a.r.d.t, who designed this year's Corona layout together with Michael W.i.c.h.e.r.t and me (see pictures). Lutz put the finishing touches to it and organised the shirts, stickers, trophies and medals. Last but not least, a big thank you to all the other helpers on race day, who did a great job catering for us with sausages, drinks, coffee and cake.

I'm already looking forward to next year, hopefully without Corona and under better conditions.

Ralf M.a.u.r.i.t.z.

P.S.: Most of the photos in this report are by Ralf M.a.u.r.i.t.z, a few individual ones by Marijus B.u.n.t.i.c.