You simply can’t beat a good old fashioned street jam. No matter how much money you throw into a BMX contest, the feeling of cruising a city on your bike together with hundreds of your brothers is something you can’t replicate very easily. When I first made the move over to Germany a little over 2 years ago, the People’s Store Summer Games served as my first introduction to the German BMX scene. The winning combination of a mass of riders mobbing through one of the most historic BMX cities in Europe, mixed with some wild riding from some of Germany’s finest young talent, and of course a healthy amount of humor and Kolsch, made for one of the best jams I think I’ve ever been to. Since then it’s held a special place in my heart as one of my favorite events of the year over here, and year on year it only gets better. 

Starting at one of Cologne’s many flat rail spots situated a stones throw from the shop, Mo Nussbaumer, Eddie Baum and Carlo Hoffman put on a show, and a good example of proper peg usage in 2016. The jam then moved on to the University, and then the the infamous Chemischen Institute where Bruno Hoffmann laced one of the wildest ledge moves I’ve ever seen, and nailed it with typical Bruno precision. Special mention goes to BSD’s Felix Donat who pushed himself and his bike to the limit all day long and managed to blow out his back wheel 3 times trying to 540 the stairs. Despite having to give up because his bike couldn’t take it anymore, Felix won a crate of beer for his efforts, which to me is everything a street jam is about. The jam finished at the Stadium ledges where some additional rails and ledges had been setup, allowing everyone to session and drink some beers in the sunshine to round off a successful day.

With riders coming from all around Germany and neighboring countries, the level of riding was high, and despite an A-list attendance from some of the best riders in the country, there was one clear winner. Constantly killing it at every stop with his signature effortless style, Mo Nussbaumer deservingly took the win for the day, with Felix Prangenberg and Bruno Hoffmann rounding up 2nd and 3rd place respectively. After the traditional post-jam BBQ at the People’s Store, the beers were flowing, and with Merlin and team Frankfurt in the house, it wasn’t going to be a quiet night. Huge thanks to everyone who came along and made the day the success is was, as long as Jams like these keep going on, BMX is in safe hands. - DP

Watch the Peoples Store Summer Games video here.