I had recently had the opportunity of watching the thrills of short track speed skating when the Canadian National Championships were held in Sudbury. The skating was action packed and thrilling with several of the races being won by a trailing racer overcoming his opponent by coming from behind and nipping him at the line.

A cycling equivalent to the speed and thrills of short track speed skating is the Saturday Night Races at the Forest City Velodrome in London, Ontario. On a cold winter night in early February, after 4 hours of track riding earlier in the day on the 138 meter wooden bowl, with 50 degree corners and 17 degree straightaways, Gene Vandal and I returned to the track at 7:00pm for an action packed night of speed and drama. We were not disappointed.

The racing started with a 50 lap Points Race. As the field was nearly 20 racers the race organizers had seated the racers in different heats somewhat related to their speed and experience. One advantage of having an indoor track in southwestern Ontario is that it is fairly accessible for riders and racers from Quebec, Ottawa, Toronto, Winsor and Hamilton regions. Thus the field included several National and Ontario Team racers plus a seasoned group of racers from the London Track League who train and race at the FCV on a weekly basis.

As mentioned the Points Race is 50 laps. Every 10 laps a sprint is held with the winner receiving 5 points and 10 points for the final sprint at the finish line. There appeared to be several strategies at play tonight. The first being to ride in a pack for 2-3 laps and then for a rider to attack at speeds of over 50km/hr in the short straights and hammering for the finish line. Riders coming out of the final turn sprint three abreast with the finish placing being judged by millimeters. The second tactic or strategy was for a racer to attack off the front hoping to gain 50 meters on the chasing pack and to hold on for dear life as the charging racers attempted to catch and pass the rider at the front.

The first heat was won by 27 year old Dave Byer, a former bicycle courier who has converted his bike handling skills from the downtown streets to the track. Byer is ranked 21st nationally in the Track Elite Endurance events. At the Canadian National Track Championships in September 2006 he participated in the 4000m Individual Pursuit, Points Race, Madison, and Scratch races. Second place went to Daniele DeFranceschi, a 28 year old racer who is also nationally ranked in the Track Elite Sprint category in 9th place and in the Track Elite Endurance events ranked in 14th place.

The second heat qualifier was won by Ryan Crawford with 17 points and Keith Thorarison in second place.

The final was a hotly contested affair as Chris Morden attacked off the front to win Group 'A' Points Race Final over a fast charging Stephen Myer. Rob Good won the Group 'B' final edging out Lorne Falkenstein.

In the Olympic Team Sprints there were 7 three man teams where the team of Michael Renneboog, Garnet Abby and Ryan Crawford were the winners in 33:56. This is a cool track event where the three riders charge off the rail with the first two riders each riding a lap and then peeling off allowing the number three man to hammer for the line at the end of the third lap.

In the two man Sprint teammates Dave Byer and Jamie Shankland put on a show with several 'track stands' in their three lap race. Because a track bicycle has no brakes and a fixed gear, the rider can drive both forward and backward and can come to a complete stop with the cranks nearly horizontal and the front wheel turned for balance. Both these riders came to a track stand directly in front of the grandstand. It was very cool watching these racers try and psyche each other out and get an advantage in the sprint. The goal is for one rider to trick the other into taking the lead which provides the trailing rider the opportunity to draft. With a 15% savings in energy by drafting, the trailing rider always has an advantage in the final sprint. Both riders came to a track stand/stop twice and according to UCI regulations are only allowed to stop for 8 seconds before having to move. In the end the Race Commissar had to get the riders going. Dave Byers forced Jamie Shankland to the lead out and won coming around Shankland at the finish line to win by a whisker.

The last race of the evening was an Exhibition Madison where 6 teams of 2 riders participated in a 15 minute Madison. Many of the racers where experiencing their first Madison competition and it was informative as the announcer Bob Schelstraete guided the racers to keep spaced out more to allow for a safer exchange or 'pocket sling'. Given the fact that the Forest City Velodrome is only 138m in length with steep banking of 50 degrees, the Madison exchange has to be tightly regulated to ensure safe exchanges. Riders have a pocket sewn into their bike shorts left rear and a foam block is placed in the pocket that allows the slinging rider to grab this and sling his partner forward. In some cases the riders were using the bum or seat push. In any case, the Madison is always exciting and the mixture of seasoned 'taxi drivers' with the newbie Madison riders provided for some exciting riding. In the end the Orange Team of Dan Lefebre and Rick Former were victorious with Michael Renneboog and Chris Velmmix coming in second.

In speaking with the race organizers, they were a bit disappointed with the racing but from a spectator standpoint the racing was exciting, fast, tight and dramatic. For 2 ½ hours we had witnessed and experienced the thrills track racing.

Arnold Devlin
February 3, 2007