Berlin Photos: ECMC 2009

Its taken a week of recuperating, but finally I am ready to start an actual recounting of the Anarchy of Berlin.

Here are some photos of the city.

Travelling Circus: Berlin to Gorzow to Wroclaw to Warsaw

Last week was spent cycling through Poland.

We began the journey with 12 riders representing Polish, Australian, American, Irish, British and Dutch messengers. The journey was incredible. Cycling 150km (not 130km) we made it to Poland in one cohesive unit.

The first night we had an alleycat in Gorzow and approximately 35 people came out for the race. I came in 7th overall, which considering the 150km from earlier in the day, I was quite proud of.

The next day we rode some 40km to a small village town of Podogze. There were literally 6 houses in the entire village. We partied in a barn.

Day three we drove cars 300km South to Wroclaw. This town is simply amazing, beautiful and scenic. This was the first night of the PCMC - Polish Cycle Messenger Championships 2009. The crowd swelled now from our small group of 12 to 150 people.

The accomodations for Wroclaw were in these shitty five person bungalows. The walls would creak and shake if you simply placed your back or hand against it for support.

The main race was held in a park nearby. The checkpoints were in the shape of a fish, with each checkpoint named after a part of the fish - dorsalis, fin, etc.

Harry Potter (David) from London got 3rd place, which considering he was from our original group of 12 was really awesome. That night, the disco monkey (Said) got stoned out of his mind. He was insane (lots of video footage to prove it).

Following this we went to the velodrome for individual sprints and Australian racing. Our very own Aussie in residence, Brian Wagner, stole the show and won a brand new track frame. Stavo won the Australian scratch and took home a frame for himself too.

This was supposed to be the end… or was it?

The Warsaw Car Killers Crew - Kaspio Couriers wanted to take the party home. Seeing that a couple of us still had time to kill and zlati to burn we decided to head further east.

The last two days have been spent exploring Warsaw and its nightlife. Its an awesome city, good food, cheap beer and a nonsensical sylabic language.

te hu ya ya bunny!

Photos and Videos to follow.

The pictures and videos that accompanied this portion and the ensuing mayhem will be made available in short order.

Berlin to Gorzów to Wrocław

Yesterday marked the end of ECMC 2009 in Berlin.

Amidst all the chaos and fun of the race emerges another amazing opportunity, Poland.

There never were any real plans for this trip. It was quite simply done to get a better idea about the European Track Bike/Fixed Gear scene. I wanted to find out about new companies, emerging trends and gain a better ‘global’ perspective on the state of the scene.

Trackstand is in its most raw essence a company devoted towards remaining on the edge in terms of everything track bike related.

So, yesterday I was invited to join a gang of messengers on a 130km group ride/race from Berlin to Gorzów, Poland. From Gorzów we will take a train 200km to Wrocław (Breslau). This weekend marks the 10 year anniversary of the first alleycat in Poland. It will include a 5 day party in three cities. This will culminate in the Polish Bike Messenger Championships. 10-5-3 is their motto.

We will have a support vehicle carrying our bags. There will be tents for us to use and the race entry fee is only 6 Euros.

The expectation for this leg of the trip is to explore the great unknown with a mötley crew of messengers spread from throughout the globe. Supposedly there are some guys from Japan, Germany, maybe some Americans and the Polish messengers.

Hansen Report from Berlin

Its been an amazing, exciting and wet week here in the German Capital City of Berlin.

Over 450 bike messengers from all over the world have come to the 14th Annual ECMCs.

Here are some shots.

More videos and photos to follow. This is just a teaser.

New Intro for Trackstand Daily

My hat goes off to Andrew Herrold for the new Trackstand intro video for the new web series I plan on doing regarding all things track bike related.

What do you think?

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io