Berlin Six Day 2013 – The People Make the Place (0)

Steve Penny has been bringing you the race reports, John Young the action images, so I thought we’d look at the people who make the “Berlin 6 Tage Rennen” such a unique affair. At the start of each evening they have a ‘Vorstellung der Parade der Asse’ – a parade of champions.

This year there was only one bona fide senior rainbow jersey holder – World Madison Champion, Kenny De Ketele. Charlotte Becker was wearing a rainbow jersey, too – initially I couldn’t figure out what for.

Berlin Six Day 2013 – Day Six (0)

Everything is irrelevant on the final night at the Berlin Six Day, except the last chase – and it wasn’t a bad one.

Going in it was Kalz/Bengsch topping the board – great time trial riders and strong in the chases – but a Six is almost always decided in the avalanche of points sprints in the final laps.

Neither rider – for all their power – is a great sprinter.

I had been thinking that maybe Roger Kluge wasn’t quite as smooth and fast as he used to be, but in that last chase he was good, very good.

Hannah Walker – Matrix Fitness Racing’s Young Track Star (1)

So there I was in Berlin and it’s the ladies’ Six Day – well, three days, actually – and I hear one of the lasses waiting to go to the line speaking in a good Lancashire accent.

Check the numbers, #7: Hannah Walker, GB.

At the risk of incurring the wrath of our hard-core readers Viktor, Ivan and Dave , I thought we’d best have a chat with her.

Berlin Six Day 2013 – Final Report (0)

A crowd of around 12,000 filed into the Landsberger Allee Velodrome tonight.

The large numbers continued a trend for the Six Days – with an estimated 70,000 coming through the doors – attendance figures are up rather than down, a good sign going forward.
On the track, following Mondays racing the standings were tighter than they looked on Sunday afternoon with Kalz / Bengsch, Kluge / Schep and Müller / Marvulli all gaining a lap on the weekend leaders De Ketele / Roberts.

So with four teams in the hunt here is how the final night in Berlin went.

Berlin Six Day 2013 – Day Five (0)

There’s no wi-fi in the stadium at Berlin, you have to go up to the press room; it’s quiet up there, there’s hard wired internet which has your pictures flying in a nanosecond and a fridge full of soft drinks and beer – a runner/journalists Nirvana you might say.

Forgive me if I digress, but my mind goes back to the first time I covered the Tour of Flanders – used to cabinets full of lukewarm mineral water at the Grand Tours, imagine my delight when I opened the chiller cabinet in the press room to find it packed with cold tins of beer – that’s one of the reasons it’s the Heartland.

Berlin Six Day 2013 – Sunday Report, “Familientag” (0)

Sundays at German Six Day races have always traditionally been ‘Family Day’ with the programme of sport and entertainment held during the afternoon rather than in the evening / night.

With temperatures outside now (just) above freezing, making it a relatively mild Berlin winter afternoon, local families came along to the Landsberger Allee Velodrome to celebrate the past, present and future in this their 102nd Six Day race.

Berlin Six Day 2013 – Day Four (0)

First up on Sunday was the team picture, like one of those shots of the ‘class of 1955’ or whenever that they take at expensive schools. The only photos the guys I went to primary school with had taken were on an individual basis with the each of them holding up a card bearing their name and number.

Sunday afternoon sessions are always pretty lackadaisical, it’s as if subconsciously we all know it’s the Lord’s Day and we shouldn’t really be drinking beer and arranging who wins the Derny races.

Andreas Müller – Sights are Set Higher These Days (0)

I remember interviewing Andreas Müller a year or two ago and him telling me that he’d be happy to emulate the career of German former Six Day rider Gert Dörich, who was the ‘Taxi Driver’ par excellence during his long career which took in 163 Six Day races. ‘Taxi Driver’ is the term used to describe solid, experienced riders whose job is to partner riders who are new to the world of the ‘races to nowhere.’

But Andreas’ sights are set higher, these days. We spoke to the 33 year-old on the eve of the Berlin Six Day.

Berlin Six Day 2013 – Golden Night (0)

Any talk of decline appears to have been, thankfully, premature as 25,000 people had visited the 102nd Berlin Six over the first two days.

Tonight was ‘Golden Night’ and another massive crowd of around 13,000 trudged through the ice and snow in temperatures of around -13 to cheer and, in Berlin’s inimitable style, whistle the riders around the 250 metre track.

Berlin Six Day 2013 – Day Three (0)

Saturday and the first Madison was a ‘potato chase’ – best expressed as a ‘non-death’ race as the minnows were allowed to pull a lap back here and there. As well as the men who ride behind the big bikes, the crowd’s darlings are the sprinters.

The noise when the crowd roars its’ approval of some fancy bit of speed is deafening – Max Levy was the man turning up the volume with a track record.

Berlin Six Day 2013 – Day Two (0)

Sometimes in January there’s a depressing grey half light, the clouds sit low and the dampness eats into you. But today was beautiful, even though the cold nips at the inside of your nose. And it was good to get off the plane.

I was in the middle of a ‘stag party’ bound for the bars and clubs of Berlin; they were all merry when they boarded and well on the way to be being wasted by the time they we disembarked. They were loud and sweary; but there was no reprimand from the cabin crew – probably due to their healthy consumption of over-priced baby tins of Stella for the Easyjet coffers.

Preview – the Berlin Six Day 2013 (0)

The 102nd Berlin Six Day (Berliner Sechstagerennen) starts in the German Capital on Thursday night. This event is one of the classics of the winter track calendar but despite that unfortunately Six Day racing continues to be in decline.

This is not just something that can be laid at the door of the global economy, rather just a fact of life that times change. As events have left established Six Day cities such as Dortmund, Munich and Stuttgart in recent years due to lack of sponsors and public interest it is left too Berlin, and Bremen, to fly the flag in the country that was once the European home of Six Day racing.

Berlin Six Day 2012 – Day Six (0)

The line of taxi lights stretches back into the darkness like a string of pearls, it’s beautiful in an a big city kind of a way – it could be a scene from a Woody Allen film; but it’s not Manhattan, it’s Berlin at 01:40 am.

The beige Merc cabs get to drive down to the underground Velodrom entrance to pick up ViPs, meanwhile the support staff – that’s us – have to hi-jack a supermarket trolley and use the lift to take our stuff up to the camper.

Berlin Six Day 2012 – Day Five, we go Bike Geek (1)

It’s gone 1:00 am, the Dernys buzz their ‘Ipcress’ noise, Brad eases down off the fence, he takes the sling off Jackie, tucks in behind the little monster and Mr. Simes is done for the night. Brad has 25 laps to go with just a few knots of hardcore fans in the stands to watch him-and the drinkers in the track centre, naturally.

‘That’s the first time this week the driver hasn’t ripped the legs off me!’ says Jackie as he gets ready for the dash to the cabin, a shower and then the peace of the hotel room.

Berlin Six Day 2012 – Familientag (0)

Sundays at German Sixes are and have always been ‘family day’ when the programme of sport and entertainment is held during the afternoon rather than in the evening or night. On a cold wind-chilled winter afternoon, local families came along to the Landsberger Allee Velodrome to enjoy the racing and pass on the tradition from one generation to the next.

The race programme kicked off with a series of Sprints won by Kalz – Bengsch who are looking like the real deal this time around and should continue to challenge for a podium place.