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Forest City Velodrome
London, Ontario, May 14, 2005
Another Saturday with rain - that's four weeks in a row it has been raining; thank goodness our track has a roof over it!
The racing was very competitive on this night of thrills and spills at the Velodrome. The lap record was broken early in the program by B.C racer Keith Thorarinson. Thorarinson showed his leg speed by banging the boards in 8.51 seconds, shattering the mark set by Brooks Rapley (Toronto).
Although Keith had the fast time on the night, his record was short lived, as seven year old Harry Gledhill from Hamilton laid down an impressive quick lap on the apron of 15.47 seconds; the crowd was cheering and Harry got off his 24" bike and saluted them (another roar from the spectators) a night Harry Gledhill will not forget.
On the heels of the seven year old's performance, the race promoter with the help of another competitor came up with the idea that to help introduce kids under 10 to the Velodrome we will be inviting BMX kids (Tiny Mights) to this week's Saturday Night racing program. They will race on the infield with their BMX bikes - should be interesting.
In London track league action, Simon Dearing (London) over came a spill early in the evening to outsprint, Keith Gauld (Simcoe) to win the 15 lap Scratch race. Toronto racer Ernesto Alverez came around Amy Maher ( London) in their 15 Lap scratch race. In other action Chris Hauk (Strathroy) dominated the 3 races he entered ,10 lap sprint, scratch race & the mass start event. In the Points race to end the night of racing for the League Kevin Black (Toronto) out dueled Gauld & Dearing in the hotly contested race that tested the speed and endurance of the racers. The London Track League will be training at the Velodrome on Wednesday night. Race fans can come out to watch the riders beginning at 6pm there is no charge on the night.
In the NasTrack Madison action, three riders were racing in the team race for the first time. This could have been a little out of control; however, the two Juniors Richard Bell (Burlington) & Vince DeLong (Brantford) who had been practicing their Handsling exchanges on Wednesday were ready for in excess of one hour's racing action. The other new rider Maogosha Pryor was the second woman to enter this very gruelling event. The only mishap occurred just before the first sprint for points in the first 25-minute Madison, when Bell tried to split, two riders misjudged how much room he had and cleaned the boards in turn 3.
The racing was fast and furious from the start for the first Madison with the Gold London Team of 18 year old Eric Robertson (Brantford) & Comeback King John Craig Jr (London) dominating the first event of the night putting several teams in trouble and down a couple laps before the first sprint of the night. The only team to stay on equal terms were the Blue Hamilton Team of Taylor Martin (Hamilton) and Richard Bell (Burlington). Both teams continued to attack and drained the legs of the other three teams. The Gold Team took the first sprint at the 12 minute mark and continued to pressure the field. With 10 laps to go in the race the Orange Brantford Team of Keith Thorarinson and rookie Junior racer Vince DeLong, jumped the field and won the sprint from the hard charging Robertson.
In the Miss and Out (devil), again it was the Gold Team who dominated the race, scoring the most points with the Team of Kurt Schreider and Marc Goveia coming around Thorarinson for second. In the second Madison, Schreider & Goveia attacked off the front many times putting the pressure on all of the teams. In the end they had to settle for third on the night. In second, the Blue team of Martin and Bell. Winning the toughest Madison of the young season was the Gold team of Craig and Robertson. Rounding out the top five were the Red Team of Good and Pryor and Thorarinson-DeLong.
Racing continues Saturday May 21st at 7pm. The sprinters will have centre stage with a "Night of Speed". In addition, the London Track League and The Nastrack Madison Teams will be taking to the Boards. checkout all the updated information at www.ForestCityVelodrome.ca
