Remember that horticultural pumptrack inside a greenhouse that we featured in Dirt a while ago? Well they’ve just held a great race there recently.
High Noon in the Greenhouse
In mid January, Adrian Kiener invited riders to Ostermundigen: Apart from a Pumptrack race and a roller race he hosted a big party, and more than 300 people – riders, friends and visitors – responded to his call.
On Saturday, 14th January a pumptrack race with a top class field was held in Ostermundigen, close to Bern. The scene was a greenhouse, more than 70 years old, in the heart of the Kiener market garden. In the early afternoon, a fine selection of gravity riders from Switzerland and Germany arrived to get a feel of the course for the evening’s race. Amongst the riders invited were some well-known names such as Roger Rinderknecht, Nick Beer, René Wildhaber, Guido Tschugg, Timo Pritzel, David Graf, Rob Jauch and the retired under23-XC world champion Balz Weber. In total, 26 riders signed in for the qualifying.
Pumptrack: Hot duels after an easy-going start
In the afternoon, the mood was decisively laid-back. Things looked more like a casual jam where everyone had a good time. Between their runs, riders found time to relax in the Red Bull Riders Lounge and have a chat with others about next season. But then things turned serious as the seeding runs were being ridden against the clock. Here, David Graf from Winterthur left a first mark by posting a strong fastest time of 12.709 seconds. From 8:30pm, the spectators arrived at the venue to join the party; there were loads of them. The cheering crowd stood tightly packed just inches away from the racecourse in the greenhouse. For all the others who could not squeeze into the greenhouse itself, the race was being shown on big screen in the main party room.
The finals of the fastest 16 qualifiers were raced with a rolling start: Each rider had one lap to build up speed and then trigger the clock for two fast laps. The rider with the faster time proceeded to the next round right to the finals – a pretty straightforward format that produced quite a show. Just before 10pm the scene was set as the two riders who had already posted the fastest seeding times faced off in the thrilling big final. David Graf was the first rider on course and clocked a strong 12.614 seconds, Adrian Kiener then gave it his best in front of a loud home crowd and came close in 12.788 seconds.
David Graf is currently doing his duty in a special athlete’s program of the Swiss army and commented right after winning the finals: “This event shows what our buddy Adrian Kiener has been working on in the past six months. Building a pumptrack in a greenhouse and this whole location in general is just insane. There should be more events like this, as everything is so dialled. And yeah, of course I’m proud to have won this race.”
The small final also offered a fight for fractions of a second: Manuel Rauch edged out Sidney Gerber by 0.241 seconds to take third place.
Fourcross riders rule the roller race.
With only a short break after the pumptrack race, the “Chris King Gold Sprint” was on. Throughout the evening, visitors had the opportunity to give it a try and qualify for the roller race. The fastest 16 riders from this open qualification faced off shortly before midnight in fierce and fast-pedalling men-to-men battles. The 300 metres that had to be covered were being displayed on a big screen, which gave the crowd a measure for their cheers – and the riders an idea of how long they had to keep those pedals spinning and if they were in the lead or not.
Four 4x specialists made good use of their sprinting abilities and took no prisoners on their way to the semi finals. Roger Rinderknecht proved to be the strongest: He got faster from round to round, being the only rider to keep the big screen in check even in the hottest sprint battles and finally beating fastest qualifier Pascal Seydoux in the big final. In the small final, Renato Rufener held the upper hand against Lukas Jäger. After the prize giving, the stage was set for the DJs and the many spectators that had shown up. These kept the mood up and untiringly partied until three o’clock in the morning.
Bottom line: Fully satisfied.
As both the initiator and organiser of the event, Adrian Kiener served over 300 visitors who flocked into Kiener market garden not only with a lot of action but also with some eye and ear candy: “We have kept some elements of the old market garden in on purpose and combined that with modern elements. And we also kept an eye on the details: We have given a fresh touch to the four greenhouses and the attic that used to be a showroom. Thanks to this marvellous location that this event was also a cultural pleasure”, commented Marika Nygren who was in charge of styling and graphic design.
“The DJs kept the moods up high during and after the races with their beats and basses. My crew has done a superb job, and everyone had a good time. So it was definitely worth the effort to go ahead and make this event happen”, said organizer Adrian Kiener in the early morning hours when the party was over. “The special indoor location in this old greenhouse adds a certain extra to this event. All the more as we were lucky with the weather, getting such a starry winter night.”
Photo credits:
www.adriankiener.ch/ Foto Hoshi Yoshida
Result Bergamont Pumptrack Race
1. David Graf
2. Adrian Kiener
3. Manuel Rauch
4. Sidney Gerber
5. Beni Kistner
6. Noel Niederberger
7. Pascal Seydoux
8. Guido Tschugg
9. Timo Pritzel
10. René Wildhaber
11. Werner Muther
12. Lukas Jäger
13. Marcel Beer
14. Basil Weber
15. Roger Rinderknecht
16. Nick Beer
17. Ramon Hunziker
18. Thomas Ryser
19. Rob J Jauch
20. Renato Rufener
21. Adrian Weiss
22. Ludo May
23. Martin Frei
24. Simon Waldburger
25. Freddy Hunziker
26. Balz Weber
Result Chris King Gold Sprint
1. Roger Rinderknecht
2. Pascal Seydoux
3. Renato Rufener
4. Lukas Jäger
