Posts

,

KonCrit – Fixed Gear Kriterium

At the end of April, the Ferry Dusika track bike stadium closes its doors for a summer break. The track bikes are transferred from the cabins to the cellars. Only the intrepid Fixie riders are still on the road in Vienna on their city bikes with a rigid transmission.

Both types of cyclists met at the first “KonCrit” Fixed Gear Criterion on May 26th in the popular Cyclodrom. On the 900 m stretch with a wide, flat and a narrow, sloping left turn, road criteria are usually used. A relaxed atmosphere and wonderful summer weather brought many spectators and some courageous participants to the Danube Island.

Chase KonCrit Warm Up

For the Giant Omnium track wheel with Felix’s Chase Track track wheels it was the first contact with real road surface. From the start flag on, the 30 laps were tackled. At first quite restrained, after some rounds getting faster and faster.

The day before the last time trial of the Wienerwald Cup took place, perfect warm up for the 40-minute race. The average speeds in the Cyclodrom were again as expected high – 39.5 km/h Average – Fixed. Repeated attacks and vehement speeding led to a reduction of the field of participants, overlapped drivers were taken out of the race. It came to the finish sprint between Felix and two other drivers. On the home stretch there was a noticeable headwind, the position at the top was a disadvantage. With constant acceleration and the closing of the right line, the target sprint became a matter for the stiff Chase wheels. A victory.

 

photos Martin Granadia

/0 Comments/by
,

Austrian championship Cyclo-cross

The highlight of the cyclo-cross season and the final cross competition was the Austrian championship on January, 7th. The track next to the Traisen river in St.Pölten was quite muddy and due to many narrow curves it turned out being very demanding.

Championship Austria Cyclo-cross St.Pölten, handcrafted in Austria, Carbon, Felge, Grenzgasse 111 9/6/6, St. Gabriel, Felix Schneider, Peter Fröhlich, Chase, Manfred Zöger, Felix Ritzinger

Manfred started with some doubts about his physical condition, he had a bad cold during Christmas holidays and therefore had to pause for nine days. In the beginning he was surprised, but he had a good start into this race. After the first round he was in group fighting for position 5. He managed to hold this position for more than the half of the race, there were a lot of tough battles.

Closer to the finish line, the last three rounds Manfred lost his luck. He suffered all in all three punctured wheels, in the exact same place each time.

Thanks to the great and fast work by the Chase support team he succeeded in finishing the competition. Although the very last race was not what Manfred had hoped for, he can look back to a successful cyclo-cross season. In 10 competition participations, he reached the winner’s rostrum for 6 times and even won 3 races supported by Chase-mud rims!

Results

/0 Comments/by
,

Dual victory for Team Chase at cross-race in Lockenhaus

On 4th and 5th November the MTB Club Lockenhaus organised a cross-country race taking place in Burgenland for the first time in a long time. Just a short distance from the Bucklige Welt, the event was so to speak a home race for Manfred. He used the opportunity and was already on site several times the week before for training.

The knowledge of the track has paid off. Manfred was in the lead during the first race on Saturday. For a long time it was an exciting fight between him, Michael Holland and Gerald Hauer. In the last two laps Manfred had the greater potential and so he could celebrate his second victory in cross-country after the race in Ternitz. Felix also showed a strong performance and finished 13th after 1:06 driving time.

The race on Sunday was similar at the beginning. Manfred was in the lead right from the start, his first pursuers were Tom Mair and Gerald Hauer. But even before the half of the race Manfred was able to put himself in the lead. He expanded his lead slowly and continuously. Every round there were a few more seconds. In the end he won by almost one minute, the Czech Jirí Krivanek and the experienced Tom Mair. Felix had to register a small slip and lost thereby a few places. Nevertheless, he finished 18th again in the top 20.

 

Results

Finally a congratulation to the MTB Club Lockenhaus – it was a more than successful premiere event and the cross-country community would be very happy about a follow-up in the coming year in any case!

Results

/0 Comments/by
,

First Cyclo-cross victory for Chase in Ternitz

The 21st and 22nd of October, two cyclo-cross events in Ternitz took place. Manfred participated in both competetions and showed high performances. From the beginning of the national race at Saturday, he was part of the leading group. This consisted of four cyclists, later reduced to three athletes. Manfred was able to keep this position and maintained all fast acceleration parts. He decided not to cycle in the first position but as second or third cycler. In the round prior to the final round he started to attack – and it was too strong for the opponents. In this round he was the only one who managed to stay on the bike during the uphill part. His combatants had to get off the bike and carry it for some meters. There was a small gap but Manfred did not give away this lead. He strived hard for victory, used all his energie and succeeded to be the first crossing the finish line.

This success was the highlight in this successful season start for the 27-years old cyclist till now. In the first two competitions in Traun and Langenzersdorf, he reached the second place. In his third cross-race he succeeded to win – at the same time it’s the first victory for our Chase Mud-rim.

At Sunday, there was an international race of the C2-world ranking list. Fighting against european elite athletes was a tough challenge for Manfred. Additionally, rain started and conditions got more and more demanding. For his success from the precedent day, Manfred’s legs have already been suffering. He finished as 12th and narrowly missed the Top-10. Nevertheless, with this perfomance he was the best Austrian in the international biker surrounding.

/0 Comments/by