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Veterans Cup 2022 ... and again it was beautiful!

11 June 2022: Finally, the long wait was over and the Veterans' Cup was back. It had taken a long time, through another Corona winter, some veterans collected bike parts, set up bikes, collected clothes and also trained a bit. The anticipation was coming to an end, it was Sat. 11-Jun-2022, it was the Veterans Cup again!

For the 28th time, the veterans met for the world's oldest OSBMX event of this kind in Weiterstadt/Hessen/Germany! The track was once again in excellent condition, the tents had already been set up on Friday and everything was ready for another old-school event on a historic BMX track in Germany. The shirt layout this year was based on a well-known BMX brand, who wouldn't recognise it...

The previous evening, a group had met in a pub and swapped old BMX stories. They drank, ate, laughed and chatted in the Ebbelwoi pub "Zur Schönen Aussicht" in Weiterstadt. The evening was fun, humid and cheerful and went on for a relatively long time. It was the perfect start to the old-school BMX weekend.

And as so often, the weather was fantastic. In fact, it was extremely hot again in Weiterstadt. Not quite as tropical as in 2021, but the weather gods were kind to the Veterans' Cup again this year and sent plenty of sunshine with temperatures above 30 °C. The atmosphere was exuberant, countless beautiful bikes were on display and many well-known old-schoolers were at the track.

Who was on site as an onlooker: Markus and Michaela S.c.h.a.e.f.e.r (formerly W.e.n.z.e.l), Andreas E.d.l, Abbas H.a.m.d.i, Giovanni V.e.c.c.h.i.o, Uwe R.a.b.e, Kathrin H.o.e.p.p.i.n.g, Kai G.r.e.i.s.s.i.n.g.e.r, Holger K.a.p.p.e.n etc.

The BMX Plus team was a really cool bunch this year. Four regulars from the Veterans' Cup had dedicated themselves entirely to the legendary BMX magazine in the team competition. Stefan "Trinipedia" T.r.i.n.i, Guido "Mastermind" H.a.n.n.i.c.h, Marijus "Hotshot" B.u.n.t.i.c and Oliver "Skinny Wheels" K.i.e.n.z.l.e had special BMX Plus team outfits made for them and looked fantastic in them. Unfortunately, they only came 4th in the race team ranking, but they were definitely number 1 in the style competition.

Unfortunately, we had to do without last year's winner and record holder Guido K.a.p.p.e.n in the bunny hop contest due to illness. So the well-known bunny hop specialists Chris K.e.e.s and Flo B.l.e.y.l.e.r were able to settle the matter between themselves and the new challengers. Flo B.l.e.y.l.e.r won with a height of 80 cm, ahead of Christian K.e.e.s with 70 cm and newcomer Andreas L.a.u.c.k with 60 cm.

The races were once again very busy. As organised for the first time last year, the Chainless class has now established itself alongside the two well-known classes (Oldschool and Veterans). In the veteran class (BMX bikes with 20- and 24-inch wheels, all years allowed, no clothes) there were 6 riders at the start, in the oldie class (BMX bikes with 20- and 24-inch wheels, bikes and clothes from the 80s and 90s, no clipless pedals etc), 15 participants registered, in the Chainless class (BMX bikes with 20- and 24-inch wheels, all years allowed, clothing doesn't matter, only chain removed, everything else on the bike) 14 racers took part. In total, there were 33 riders (with two double starters).

Fortunately, there were (almost) no serious crashes this time, only once did a rider have to be briefly treated in hospital. Kai L.e.h.m.a.n.n was too powerful in his first run-up and crashed on the first straight. He was at the start with a perfectly restored Cycle Craft and a perfectly matching outfit from the 90s. Unfortunately, the material was no longer up to Kai's hard pedalling. The chain jumped off on the start straight, causing him to crash head-on into the last hill. The face brake looked very bad, but luckily he only broke his nose and didn't injure it any worse. A few weeks later, everything was healed and forgotten.

Otherwise, the heats went into the finals without any notable crashes, but with interesting preliminary and intermediate heats. The veterans had a 3rd heat as a final with the following placings: 1st Jens L.i.n.d.e.r, 2nd Stephan W.e.i.s, 3rd Uwe B.u.r.d.a.c.k, 4th Andreas K.o.c.h, 5th Walter W.i.n.t.e.r, 6th Dirk W.a.e.h.l.e.r.

The oldies had a real final, which ended as follows: 1st Oliver K.i.e.n.z.l.e, 2nd Olaf K.l.e.i.n, 3rd Ralf M.a.u.r.i.t.z, 4. Oli K.n.o.l.l, 5. Mark B.a.l.t.r.u.s.c.h, 6. Christian K.e.e.s, 7. Sascha F.r.e.i.t.a.g, 8. Rini W.e.n.d.t.

The Chainless class also had a real final run with the following results: 1. Gido H.i.n.z, 2. Flo B.l.e.y.l.e.r, 3. Thomas K.o.l.l.e.r, 4. Harry E.i.s.e.l.e, 5. Ralf M.a.u.r.i.t.z, 6. Rini W.e.n.d.t, 7. Robert H.o.c.h, 8. Marijus B.u.n.t.i.c.

The team ranking could be counted this year as there were enough teams registered. The ranking after evaluation of all rider points was as follows: 1st team "Rad Daeds" (Rini W.e.n.d.t, Flo B.l.e.y.l.e.r, Thomas K.o.l.l.e.r, Robert H.o.c.h, Thorsten M.a.t.e.r.i, Rey F.o.p.p.e.n), 2nd team "The Holeshotters" (Mark B.a.l.t.r.u.s.c.h, Jens L.i.n.d.e.r, Mark S.c.h.o.e.l.z.l, Ralf M.a.u.r.i.t.z), 3rd team "Bergy" (Olaf K.l.e.i.n, Christian K.e.e.s, Christian F.r.a.n.z, Thorsten R.o.t.h)

At the beauty show, the exhibition and award ceremony for the most beautiful bikes, there was once again a huge range of precious metal. The jury had to inspect, assess and categorise a very large number of beautiful bikes. It is becoming increasingly difficult to select the top bikes from the many beautiful bikes, the quality is increasing every year and the choice is difficult.

Nevertheless, the judges Rainer S.c.h.a.d.o.w.s.k.i, Martin "Brillski" G.l.u.e.c.k and Gianfranco had to decide which bikes would receive the coveted prizes. The following owners reached the podium with their bikes in the individual categories: Best-of-Bike-Show (THE perfect bike incl. presentation) 1st Frank N.o.w.i.t.z.k.i (VDC), 2nd Mark S.c.h.o.e.l.z.l (JMC Patterson), 3rd Christian H.i.m.o.l.i.k (March 1985)

King-of-Oldschool (Bike AND Clothes) 1st Danilo D.o.l.o.v.a.c (Cycle Craft 1985), 2nd Mark T.e.i.c.h.m.a.n.n (Patterson 1983), 3rd Andreas B.e.n.t.h.i.e.n (TNT Pro 1987)

Beauty-Contest - Roots-of-BMX (built before 1981) 1. Oliver K.i.e.n.z.l.e (Panda Pro M), 2. Alex D.e.B.o.u.l.e (Roger DeCoster 1979), 3. Lothar K.a.s.p.r.c.z.y.k (Robinson 1981)

Beauty contest - Pro class (80ies) 1st Christian K.r.i.e.g.e.r (Rickmann 1985), 2nd Holger K.a.p.p.e.n (Diamond Back Turbo), 3rd Thomas K.a.u.f.f.e.l.d (National Pro 1983)

Beauty contest - Expert class (80ies & 90ies) 1. Gianfranco XXX (GJS 1979/1980), 2. Detlef H.o.p.p.e (Redline MX II), 3. Mike T.e.l.l.o.w.i.t.z (GT Long)

Beauty contest - Junior class (80s, 90s & 2000s) 1st Frank U.n.t.e.r.s.t.a.b (Auburn 1987), 2nd Frank K.o.l.b.e (Redline MX II 1984), 3rd Kai G.r.e.i.s.s.i.n.g.e.r (SE Racing Hauler 1985)

Beauty contest - Cruiser (24-inch) 1st Steffen J.a.n.d.e.r, 2nd Stefan T.r.i.n.i (Elf), 3rd Maxim "BBC" (Mongoose)

Beauty-Contest - Freestyler 1st Danilo D.o.l.o.v.a.c (Zeronine Pro XL 1987), 2nd Frank N.o.w.i.t.z.k.i (PTR 1984/85), 3rd Thomas K.a.u.f.f.e.l.d (Schauff 1984)

We ended Saturday evening in the same Ebbelwoi pub as the day before. The atmosphere was exuberant, everyone had once again experienced a cool race, a cheerful old-school event and a great weekend. Every year it's always great to see familiar faces at the Veterans' Cup and to have a weekend of fun. Thank you to everyone who comes every year and makes this event so special! As long as you keep coming back, we will continue to run the Veterans' Cup as a series.

Many thanks again to TSV Braunshardt and to all the volunteers from my long-standing BMX club, who provide the framework for this old-school event every year as a matter of course. Without this support, the Veterans Cup would not be possible. Thanks to Oliver R.a.p.p, Lutz M.o.r.h.a.r.d.t and all the countless helpers in the background! You are great!

Have fun restoring more bikes, preparing OSBMX gear and training for the next race. I look forward to welcoming you again next year in Weiterstadt for the 29th time.

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

P.S.: The photos in this report were taken by Ralf M.a.u.r.i.t.z, Marijus B.u.n.t.i.c and other photographers. Many thanks to all of them for making them available.