Steher Races: A Dying Sport?
The Berlin Six Day is one of the few places you can still see them
Editor’s Note: The Substack outage on Friday derailed my regularly scheduled post. By the time the platform was back up, my mood had shifted and I no longer felt as salty about Deutsche Bahn. I’ll save my rant about the ICE trains for another day. In the meantime, please enjoy this Monday post about track cycling at the Velodrom Berlin.
I fell down an Internet rabbit hole on Saturday after reading a factoid in the latest issue of 20 Percent Berlin.
In his post about the anniversary of the first six-day track cycling race in Europe, Andrew mentioned the steher races - in which cyclists draft behind partners riding motorcycles around a closed track. (The motorcycle riders stand to maximize the draft - giving it the name.)
I had never seen or heard of such a thing. If you watch the video above, it almost looks like the bike is tethered to the motorcycle in front of it. They ride that close together. How does that work? And, who thought of doing it the first time?
I had so many questions.
Cycling at crazy high speeds
Steher races - also known as motor-paced racing - involve two-person teams made up of a cyclist riding a fixed-gear bike paired with a “pacer” riding a motorcycle. The cyclist drafts behind the motorcycle, staying as close as possible. The motorcycles are modified to include extended handlebars that let the rider stand as well as a roller bar extending behind it to prevent the cyclist from hitting the back of the motorcycle.
Pacing behind the motorcycle enables the cyclists to reach speeds much higher than they would achieve through pedal power alone.
“Frenchman José Meiffret, set a record 204.73 km/h (127.21 mph) behind a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL on an Autobahn at Freiburg, Germany, on 16 July 1962. His bicycle had a 130-tooth chainring and wooden rims. Fred Rompelberg, using a dragster with a large shield as pacer, achieved 268.831 km/h (167.044 mph) on the Bonneville Salt Flats on 15 October 1995.”
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Denise Mueller-Korenek claimed a women's bicycle land speed record at 147 mph (237 km/h) at the Bonneville Salt Flats on 12 September 2016. Mueller was coached by former record holder John Howard. It is not clear which authority was supervising the record attempt. On 16 September 2018, again at Bonneville, she took the world record with a top speed of 183.93 mph (296 km/h) behind a converted rail dragster with a fairing.
The sport was a hugely popular part of indoor track cycling in the late 19th and early 20th century, evolving from earlier tandem team races, where teams on bikes drafted together, one behind the other.
With the invention of motorized cars and cycles, the pacing vehicle changed to become either a car or motorcycle, with the sport standardizing behind a kind of pacing motorcycle known as a Derny. According to the sport’s Wikipedia entry, with the addition of motorized pacing, average speeds quickly increased. But, so too, did the danger.
“An American, Harry Elkes, died of his injuries from a crash in front of 10 000 spectators at Boston, Massachusetts, USA. His rear tire exploded at 100 km/h (62 mph) and he was thrown under another rider's pacing machine, which "crushed the prostrate man in a dreadful manner." George Leander of Chicago said, "Only the clumsy get themselves killed" before starting a race at the Parc des Princes in Paris. Leander was thrown five metres (16 ft) into the air after 80 km (50 mi), fell to the track, bounced into the seating and died 36 hours later. A crash in Berlin on 18 July 1909 killed nine when a motorcycle careened into the stands and exploded.”
After the international governing body, Union Cycliste Internationale, issued safety standards in 1920, the rate of fatal injuries declined.
Sadly, the sport has declined in popularity in recent years. In 1994, the UCI dropped steher races from the world championships. The Berlin Six Day, a six-day indoor track cycling event, is one of the few places you can still watch competitive motor-paced cycling. And, this year, the normal six days of cycling was reduced to two.
You can still watch the steher glory days, though, like I did, courtesy of YouTube. I recommend searching for videos in German using the phrase “Deutsch steher rad rennen.” Otherwise, you’re going to either find horse races or marathon cycling events.
I’m also following the Berlin Six Day, now, because I want to be able to watch it live, while I still can.
More About Steher Racing
Animal: Steher - A Short Film About Motor-Paced Bike Racing.
More About Berlin
Here’s what I’ve been reading and watching in Berlin this week.
40 Percent German: For the Love of the Pub
Kreuzberged - Berlin Companion: Vanished Berlin: Köllnischerstraße
Nomad in Love: 7 Tips to Spot Berlin Apartment Scams and Avoid Fraudsters
The Local: Berlin’s Techno Scene Added to UNESCO World Heritage List