There is this wird bike hillclimb race going up Vršič pass from Kranjska Gora. It will be held on June 4th for the second time. It is called Red Bull Goni Pony. Pony is an old school 20-inch bike, usually folding and almost always singlespeed. It was produced in Slovenia from mid 60’ to late 80’s. There are still many around, being kept original or pimped, but you can grab any singlespeed 20-inch bike with breaks and a gear ratio lower than 44-20 and you are meeting the rules. To keep it simple, here are the instructions how the measure if the gear ratio on your bike is ok:

1. Where you bike's front wheel is touching the ground, draw a line with chalk on the floor right under the axle.
2. Push the bike forward by pushing the crank (or backward if you don't have a rear hub brake) so that the crank makes a 360 degree spin (for instance from lowest position to lowest position).
3. Make another mark on the floor where the front wheel stopped, right under the axle.
4. Measure the distance between two marks. If it is not less than 405 cm then your bike's gear ratio is ready for red Bull Goni Pony.

The climb is 13,5km long with 810m evenation gain. Last year about 284 riders entered and the winning time was 47 minutes and 47 seconds. Getting back down the mountain is a story of its own.

Retro 60’s-80’s clothing is a bonus and if you are matching it with an originally kept bike you are in for extra prizes.

Event page www.redbull.si/gonipony

Register here 


Photos by Stanko Gruden/Red Bull Content Pool
