Last weekend, the first race in the “German Fixed Crit Series” was held, The Last Man Standing by Rad Race. The German Fixed Crit Series is a coalition of established Fixed Gear Criterium Races in Germany. It was founded in 2017 to support smaller races through more publicity and greater attention. The idea is to have a series where both female and male rider are equally awarded as the champ. We collect €1 from each participant during every race as prize money and give it to the podium at the end of the series. Obviously, the female and male riders get equal prices. The series combines a variety of race formats as well as different types of courses. That way we hope to make it interesting, easily accessible and fair to compete despite weaknesses someone might have. Additionally, the two poorest results (or non-participation) of every rider will be erased from the general standings.
Text by: Hagen
Which organisers are in the race series?
All the races and organizers stay individual with their races. So it’s up to them to look for sponsors, to organize the race and advertise it. Our job is to support them with additional attention through our social media channels and our website which will be online soon. We also rolled out some basic rules for riders. We try to make sure that race organizers follow our understanding of a fair and welcoming race atmosphere as much as possible.
Currently six people from different teams represent the organization behind the GFCS:
Fabian – Dresden
Filip – Waterkant Krit // Suicycle Track Team – Hamburg
Martin – OneWayFixed – Rostock
Flo – Firmly Fixed – Rostock
Hagen & Juliane – Mess Pack Berlin
What changed to last year?
Last year we had the ambitious idea to kick off the series with seven races in total. In the end, only five happened unfortunately and we only had our Facebook page up and running. In 2018 we grew the team of “GFCS” which allows a smoother flow in organisation. We do have online meetups every few weeks to push tasks and we will work closer with race organizers. We already gained more attention for the series with the help of our Instagram profile and we currently working on a website to represent the races, put up general standings and give some background information. All races for 2018 are settled and we are stoked about the upcoming season.
Which races are included?
For 2018 the GFCS features nine races in total:
1. Rad Race Last wo/man standing – Berlin // 24.03.2018
https://www.facebook.com/events/529159304125556/
2. 8 Bar Crit – Berlin // 14.04.2018
www.facebook.com/8barcrit
3. Steuerradtage Crit – Marlow // 22.04.2018
https://www.facebook.com/events/146555192755085/
4. Grizzly Crit – Leipzig // 26.05.2018
https://www.facebook.com/events/135971920410217/
5. Waterkant Krit – Hamburg // 09.06.2018
www.facebook.com/waterkantkrit
6. Hannover FXD – Hannover // 17.06.2018
https://www.facebook.com/HannoverFXD/
7. Standert Bicycle Stone Brewery Crit – Berlin // 25.08.2018
https://www.sbsbcrit.com/
8. This is not Brooklyn Crit – Dresden // tba
https://www.facebook.com/groups/596470573715327/
9. Ullmax Radsporttage Fixed Crit – Loitz // 23.09.2018
https://www.facebook.com/events/127188554607525/
What are the ambitions short term, but also in a longer perspective?
In 2018 we like to establish the “GFCS” as a proper league to represent fixed gear racing in Germany. While most of the races in the series are well established there are some which started quite recently. Ideally we will support all races equally and help smaller events to grow and establish themselves. On the longer run we hope the “fixed crit hype” of the recent years will not just vanish but become a solid racing scene which stays open to new riders.
We also saw a couple of road race organizers did cast an eye on the fixed gear scene and tried new formats within their events to attract a younger and especially bigger crowd of spectators. With the “GFCS” we want to contribute to the process of changing the bike racing culture in Germany for the better and make it more fun for attendees and participants.
