Slovenians race in honor of the legendary folding bike
Issued on:
Kranjska Gora (Slovenia) (AFP) – Thousands of Slovenian cycling enthusiasts flocked to the mountain resort of Kranjska Gora on Saturday to celebrate the “pony”, a mighty folding bike with 20-inch bikes, in an uphill race that has little in common with the country’s world cycling champions.
The small town bike was produced in Slovenia – home to Grand Tour winners Tadej Pogačar and Primož Roglič – between 1965 and 1985 with millions sold throughout the former Yugoslavia.
“At the time, it was the only small bike available and everyone had it, everyone over the age of 40 had to have it,” Tomaž Kosir, one of the organizers of the Goni Pony uphill race, told AFP. .
“The idea was to assemble this legendary bike and the legendary Vršič pass,” Košir said.
It is an imaginative idea, although perhaps not an obvious wedding – a bicycle without a gear with small wheels, which asks him to climb the highest mountain pass in Slovenia, indeed the highest across the Julian Alps.
In Slovene, ‘vršič’ means ‘small peak’, but cyclists who take on the challenge on Pony bikes will feel every unevenness and rise when they go up from Kranjska Gora to Vršič, which will cover a distance of 13.5 kilometers. (eight miles) and deal with an altitude difference of 800 meters.
To liven up the carnival and carnival atmosphere of the event, participants are invited to dress or wear clothes from the period when Pony bikes were originally made.
– ‘Best City Bike’ –
“It’s the best city bike of all time, especially for women,” nurses Janja and Barbara told AFP, who were photographed in their old-fashioned polka dot dresses, with black glasses and matching shoes.
This is the first time, but they believe they will “get to the top”.
Nearby is 64-year-old retiree Franci Valas with a pair of old diggers and a ball ready for his seventh race.
“I usually get to the Vršič pass, I may have to push my bike occasionally, but I get there,” he added.
Some riders come dressed as a football team, others as lifeguards or musicians. A group of four Italians from nearby Trieste wear banana clothes.
“We heard about this competition and decided to come,” Sofia and Lara told AFP, who were sweating under cover at more than 30 degrees Celsius before even starting the climb.
Due to the many hills in the hometown, mountain bikes are usually ridden, but the foldable “is good for getting on the elevator!”
Many riders, however, arrived with beautifully decorated bikes without having to adjust them for the hardness of the challenge uphill.
“We had to fix a lot of bikes,” said cycling mechanic Anže Pecar near the start. “Some were in good shape and others were really bad.”
Pecar shakes his head at the possibility of joining the crowd as they make their way up the pass.
“I tried it once, that was enough,” he said firmly, and quickly left to fix the difficult seat at the last minute.
Needless to say, there are some who take the race more seriously, and it was no big surprise to see the Slovenian duo with Laura Šimenc, who won the women’s race, and Luka Kovačič as the first home team in the men’s race.
But the real winner, as every year, was the 20-inch folding bike – the Pony bike.
© 2022 AFP