A short race, but intense from start to finish – and here is how it went – with all the key moments. Beat the Cogwheel covers just 3.8 km, but packs in 320 meters of elevation. For comparison: the Sunday stage of the Tour de Mátra, from Gyöngyös to Kékestető, climbs 835 meters over 16 km. That’s already a pretty steep. There, the average gradient is 5.21%. Here? A leg-burning 8.42%.
In 2025, 90 riders lined up at the start. The rules are simple: the historic cogwheel railway departs the lower station, the starting pistol fires, and the cyclists launch into action. No neutral rollout. It’s full gas from the first pedal stroke. The goal? To beat the train – known to many as the “Number 60” – to the top of the serpentine climb, using only human power. It’s not an even fight, but it’s not hopeless either. It’s been done before.
This year was the 20th edition of the race, and APPSolute Sport BTS SE had every reason to be proud. Our coach and teammate, Szilárd Buruczki, still holds the all-time course record. It’s not just something just anyone can do. Many big names have tried to break it over the years, all without success.
What makes this story special is the fact that it comes with full video coverage. Huge thanks to Balázs Gérnyi, who recorded the entire race with a 360° helmet cam, and streamed it live too. More about him later, but first, big thanks for letting us post it here!
At exactly 9:46, the starting pistol fired. I didn’t have the best position at the line – you’ll see in the video that I was a few meters to the left, near the front of the bunch. But I quickly made my way up to the lead group, and soon I was right at the front. By the end of the first minute, I’d made up for the poor starting position without any problem. I joined up with Szilárd and Bali, and for once, none of us had to solo, we could actually ride as a team. I took the locomotive role at the front of the BTS train, and we were rolling. Bali had number 70, Szilárd wore 14, and I had 52.
After the third minute, we were still right at the front. Close behind us: Balázs Gérnyi with the 360 camera, so every second of this effort is right there on screen. And since it’s a 360° video, you can pan forward, back, or side-to-side whenever you want. Once we hit the front, two more riders came up to push the pace, and one of them jumped ahead of us. A minute later, I picked up the pace, and it worked. At 4:20, we passed him.
If you look behind at that moment in the video, you’ll see we were already down to about 20 riders, split into two groups.
You absolutely HAVE to watch the footage – it’s incredible to be able to look in every direction!
At the 5-minute mark, rider #47, Jácint Gábor Cseke, joined us and went to the front. Right behind him, Bálint Kárpáti from Karcag, #65, bridged up and also moved ahead. They picked up the pace and tried to break away. We thought about jumping across, but chose instead to hold our own pace, not letting them get too far. We stayed as a unit. I kept driving the BTS train from the front.
Balázs, the rider with the camera, came around briefly and rode ahead, but we stayed glued to his wheel, and by 7:33, we settled back into our usual formation.
Around the 8-minute mark, we swapped places again, and this time Szilárd decided we couldn’t afford to let the breakaway go any further – so he lkicked hard and went for it. We followed. I took the final wheel in our paxce line and stayed tight. We were closing the gap. At 9:00, Bali hit the front. The teamwork was smooth – we were really enjoying the ride. Balázs, still filming, stayed with us the entire way. At 10:02, you can see the Cogwheel train on our right. We were still neck-and-neck. But the breakaway was ahead, and appeared to be increasing their gap.
Szilárd kept pushing. I moved back up to the front and pushed hard. At 11:04, the Cogwheel caught us again. So be it. At 11:35, we caught and passed Bálint Kárpáti. That left just one rider ahead – the guy number 47.
We hit the second-to-ladst corner side-by-side with Bali. That’s when he launched his move – and just before the bridge, he passed the final breakaway rider. He was first into the last corner. I hesitated, missed the moment. Gérnyi Balázs passed me. I sprinted, just enough to overtake #47, but Balázs was faster than me. I crossed the line 2nd in my category, 3rd overall. Szilárd arrived seconds later, 3rd in category, 5th overall. It was a brilliant win from Bali – fully deserved.
Csiki Marci finished 6th in our category, Gere Roland 7th.
Congrats to Bali and Balázs, and to all the finishers! I’m especially happy with the team’s performance. We had a fantastic day. We raced like a true team. And with some time to kill before the podium ceremony, we went out for an easy 90-minute spin, because hey, when the legs are good, why not keep rolling?
A great result for the team: APPSolute Sport BTS SE took three of the first five places overall, and Szilárd’s course record from 2011 still unbeaten.
Huge thanks again to Balázs Gérnyi for the amazing video. Many of you may know him from the YouTube channel A Courier’s Life – Egy Futár Élete. I’ve been following his channel for a long time now. If you care about urban cycling in Hungary, you should definitely subscribe. Balázs practically lives on his bike, and documents what it’s really like to ride in Budapest. His videos offer insight into how we can all treat each other a little better out on the roads. He believes – and I agree – that it’s not cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians. It’s just people out there, and there’s room for all of us. If you hear a “ring-ring” in the city, chances are it’s Balázs.
Lately, he’s also lining up more and more often at races – and doing pretty damn well.
Thanks again for letting me share your video here!
