October 22, 2005 – Night one is in the books for the first night of the London 6 Day bike race at the Forest City Velodrome in London Ontario.

Five teams lined up for introductions before the first Madison of the night. The crowd cheered for the local London team of Jean Bertrand and John Craig Jr. The teams got ready for the first Six Day Team race in Ontario in over 35 years. It seemed that a couple of the teams were a little nervous at the start, however the nerves quickly went away as the Madison began and the speed immediately went to 50 kph.

The first few exchanges were a little messy, but they cleaned up very fast as the first sprint approached. Points are accumulated by each team, with sprint events and Devils mixed into the Madisons throughout the evening.

The finish of the first of three Madisons was won by the Red Team of Adam Thuss and Rob Good to take the points lead.

In the second Madison the teams were starting to get the idea that the Red Team had to be attacked to wear them down. Coming up to the middle of the race the teams prepared for the Devil, the Orange team of Vince Dejong & Eric Robertson attacked with only a few laps to go before the Devil, that strategy did not work as the warning lights came on so the Jam had to stop and the race came back together. At the final sprint of the 2nd Madison it was the Blue team of Taylor Martin and Garnett Abbey who went on the attack only to be reeled in by the fast closing Green team of Keith Thoraranson & Dave St. James. with the Green team taking the honors by a 1/4 of a wheel.

The third and final Madison of the night, had the Red Team in first place with the rest of the teams very close behind. Only a few points separated the 5th place from the 1st place teams.

As it turned out the Teams were very evenly matched throughout the night of racing, with just a few missed exchanges separating the riders.

With 5 laps to go in the final sprint, a major attack was launched by the Orange Team who outdueled the Yellow Team of Jean “Bermuda” Bertrand & John Craig Jr. They caught two teams sleeping and quickly had a gap. In the closing 2 laps the Yellow Team came over the Orange Team to take the final Double Points sprint.

Great night of racing, very close and very fast. The teams will have to recover for Night #2 on Saturday. Full results can be found at ww.ForestCityVelodrome.ca

Racing begins at 7pm on Saturday evening.

Just a reminder that at the end of the 1st Madison on Saturday there will be a “surprise” Birthday celebration for 87 year old Albert Coulier who is responsible for getting the Forest City Velodrome off the ground last January.

First 30 Minute Session 1st Sprint 2nd Sprint Final Sprint Total Points

1. Team Waterloo 3 7 14 24
2. Team Vancouver 7 5 6 18
3. Team Delhi 5 4 10 19
4. Team London 2 3 4 9
5. Team Hamilton 4 2 6 12

Second 30 Minute Session Miss & Out Final Sprint Accum Points

1. Team Waterloo 5 14 43
2. Team Vancouver 3 8 29
3. Team Delhi 7 4 30
4. Team London 2 6 17
5. Team Hamilton 5 10 29

Third 30 Minute Session 1st Sprint 2nd Sprint Final Sprint Accum Points

1. Team Waterloo 7 4 6 60
2. Team Vancouver 4 5 14 52
3. Team Delhi 3 3 8 44
4. Team London 5 7 10 39
5. Team Hamilton 2 2 4 37

Final Results Points
1. Team Waterloo Rob Good/Adam Thuss 60
2. Team Vancouver Keith Thorarison/Dave St James 52
3. Team Delhi Vince Dejong/Eric Robertson 44
4. Team London John Craig/Jean Bertrand 39
5. Team Hamilton Taylor Martin/Garnet Abbey 37