6 Day Racing

 In the last issue of Paved Magazine they had a small feature on six day track racing. It's pretty rad stuff and in Europe the track racers are legends. They even have t-shirts for the velodromes! Total rock stars all around.

So I thought I'd share a few things with ya'll about six day racing in case you are not familiar:

an overview of Six Day Racing

In some cities, six day racing is more of a winter event,  because they have indoor velodromes this is possible.

In Ghent, Belgium they have an annual six day event

six day race, six minute track stand   (sorry, couldn't help it)

Now lets hope that the weather stays dry so we can get our own track legs a spinnin.

Well It's 5:30...

and if you haven't noticed yet it's wet as hell outside. That being said, the track is too too wet to race on. So see ya'll next week! (it's a shame too, I made chocolate muffins to share with everyone) I hope everyone rests up and has a relaxing rain day.

By now everyone has probably already looked at last Thursday's results, but here they are anyway :

Track: Night 1

Tomorrow racing will resume at 6 p.m. Show up early to warm up and stay late if you can to clean up. Snacks are always a welcomed contribution!

It will be exciting to see how many show up for round two.

3/12/2011

The first night of racing had a great turnout! It was a bigger first night than last year and each category got in three races.

The first race was a scratch race. We followed that with a tempo race and finished with a win and out. It was warm, but the wind was low and the grass freshly cut. Luckily we didn't have any rain so the night ran smoothly. Vicky Nolan did a wonderful job of officiating the races and many stayed to help clean up.

Once again it was really nice to see everyone! Mr. Bumpy Face is by far the friendliest racing environment in St. Louis. Everyone is family, and everyone has a good time. It's very exciting to have the season kicked off in such a nice way.

Oh! and everyone who was in attendance received cloth numbers for this year! They are pretty rad.

Track Clinic

The season has finally started! Last night Mr. Stephen Wilkes hosted a track clinic to kick off the new year and educate any and all new track racers.
Despite the looming grey skies and spotty rain, there was a nice turnout with many old faces and a few new.

The night started with an open track so that everyone could get warmed up and the new additions could get a feel for riding on Mr. Bumpy. Stephen then gave a brief tutorial about racing track (the lines to know, passing, pace lines, etc) while the more seasoned racers demonstrated pace lines. The clinic folks then got to run their own pace line.

We then demonstrated a few different races, starting with a simple scratch race. After each race those in the clinic got the opportunity to try out the same race of their own. A miss and out followed and we ended with an A race (which kind? I don't remember..) It was a fairy windy night and a bit unseasonably cold, but it seems as though everyone enjoyed themselves and we finished up just as the rain came.

-Molly B!

A rainy practice

Last night Soli J. and I decided to head over to dear ole Penrose for a bit of practice before next Thursday's track clinic. Neither of us had been there since the state championships last season.

The sky opened up on the way there, but by the time we got there it was already starting to dry out. The cracks have all definitely expanded! While we waited for the surface to dry up a bit we walked around and weeded between the cracks. Yes, Penrose is both a botanical garden and velodrome! Things dried up and we started getting the bikes ready when it began raining again. We got into the car to wait it out, hoping it would dry as quickly as before. Twenty minutes later the rain had stopped and it was already near dry. Soli believes that the increased cracking works as better drainage. A positive outlook never hurts.
Just as we were about to ride it started sprinkling again but luckily stopped when Emilie arrived to get some practice in on her new bike. We all got to ride for about forty five minutes. I had forgotten just how bumpy Mr. Bumpyface is!

It will be an exciting season and I look forward to the clinic on May 5th!

-Molly B.