October 10/05 6:35 am - London Velodrome, Evening of Champions, Victoria Wheelers Standings

Posted by Editor on 10/10/05
 

London Velodrome Has Special Guest Competitor
Courtesy Rob Good

1982 World Keirin Champion Gord Singleton from Niagara Falls put on quite a show on Saturday night. Gord wanted to keep a low profile at the event, as it was his first time at our 138M Velodrome. That being said, he entered the Madison and did a couple of sprints to round out the night. In the end, he was very happy with his performance, winning both sprints, with the leg speed and power of 20 years ago. In the Madison his team finished in 4th place; quite a thrill for his partner Martin Gledhill from Hamilton.

In sprinting you not only have to be able to think to outsmart your rival, you also have to have fast legs. On the evening Singleton had both. Being able to turn the pedals at 150 - 165 rpm's means that you can hit speeds above 60kph.

In unofficial timing the sprint heat that had Gord Singleton against Jeff Bakal from Kingston, riding for Multi-Laser (2005 Ontario Sprint Champion), was clocked at 8.25 seconds - a top speed of 60.352 Kph. This was just slower than our Lap Record of 8.17 seconds or 60.821Kph set by 2005 Canadian Pursuit Champion Zach Bell (Jet Fuel / Sympatico). The sprint between Bakal & Singleton was very tactical with the riders jockeying for position for 3 of the 5 laps. With 2 laps remaining Bakal tried to come over the top of Singleton ( mistake ). Going down the back stretch with Bakal 1/2 a wheel in front, Singleton turned up the Leg Speed (afterburners) and powered his way to 1/2 wheel victory in the Sprint event. Very exciting and the crowd loved it.

Complete race results are now up on our website: www.ForestCityVelodrome.ca

The evening was cut short with a nasty crash which happened after the finish of the Handicap Final. As the riders were coming across the finish line (under a blanket), the rider on the bottom of the track was bumped onto the apron, as the riders went through corners 1 & 2. The rider on the apron having run out of real estate moved up the track into the path of the rider directly over him. This caused a chain reaction that caused 5 riders to go down. At the time Piers Davidge seemed to be the rider in the most discomfort. Emergency staff tended to Davidge ( a track regular). He went to Hospital fearing a shoulder injury.

I spoke to Piers on Sunday night, He said it was a long night, he is bruised with soft tissue damage in his shoulder, nothing broken, just 4 weeks on the shelf. His bike did not fair as well, as he shortened up the bike by 5 inches (destroyed it).

In light of the nasty crash, we are reworking both Friday night sessions & the Saturday night programs. Please watch the website later in the week for more details.

Velodrome News:

2 weeks until the first 6 Day Race in Ontario in 35 years. The 6 Teams are almost complete, I'm waiting to hear from 2 riders to confirm the 12 "A" riders that will be participating in the London 6 Day Festival. We are also going to offer a "AA" division to race during the 6 Day, please email me to confirm your entry - rob.good@ypg.com.

Velo-Kids Saturday Noon - 2pm (must have taken a Learn to Ride course)

Madison Training on Wednesday night, 7pm - 9pm. Racers "A" & "AA" welcome

Race Skills & Learn to Madison Team Race
All sessions at the Velodrome are running this week starting Monday at 5 -
7pm with Beginner Recreational Riding, LTR at 7pm

Racing: London Track League training races Friday night after the Instructional session, 6pm - 9pm. "Admission Free" donations welcome

Racing Skills & High Speed Race Simulations
Nas-Track Madison Team Racing (pocket slings)
Saturday Night at 7pm. Admission $10.00, Seniors $5.00

"A" & "AA" Madison Team Races & Devils, Sprints - additional support from Velo-Kids

Bicycle Swap Meet, T.B.A.
I'm thinking November 5th, someone needs to step forward to organize the event.


Evening of Champions Sold Out

"An Evening Of Champions" Now Sold Out!
Raffle is now the only ticket as BC Cancer Foundation fundraiser exceeds expectations.

"An Evening Of Champions" with Eddy & Axel Merckx is now completely sold out and the only chance of attending this event if you do not have tickets is by purchasing raffle tickets in the hope of winning the two tickets that are on offer in the early bird draw.

"We are delighted with the response from the cycling community" said Philip Meyer, General Manager of the Wedgewood Hotel in Vancouver & Director of the Wedgewood Cycling Team, "guests will be coming into town from California, Toronto, Seattle, Calgary, Kelowna and across the Lower Mainland to support this event which is great for the city, cycling and of course the BC Cancer Foundation" continued Meyer. Early indications suggest that over $65'000 Cdn could be raised in support of Cancer research, 50% of funds raised will be directed to the Cancer Center of the Southern Interior in Kelowna and 50% to Vancouver.

"People have shown a real passion and enthusiasm for this event, Eddy Merckx is a legend and Axel Merckx is a Champion and to have them both in the same room is a once in a lifetime opportunity for most of us" explained Meyer.

Raffle tickets are available by mailing a cheque made out to the BC Cancer Foundation to Philip Meyer, Wedgewood Hotel, 845, Hornby Street, Vancouver, V6Z 1V1, the early bird draw for the two gala tickets will be made on Friday October 21st so act now as there are only a limited amount of raffle tickets available.

A full list of great raffle prizes can be found at www.teamwedgewood.com there will also be some extra "live auction" prizes announced on the night.

To be added to the waiting list please contact Philip Meyer at pmeyer@teamwedgewood.com


2005 Victoria Cycling League Standings
Courtesy Victoria Wheelers / Schwalbe Cycling Club