October 31, 2005 – The spectators were entertained for the entire 90 minutes of Madison racing at the Forest City Velodrome on Sunday afternoon. The racing was Clean and Green again, with no spills, just super fast racing from the opening whistle. Team Waterloo came into the day with the race lead and held on for the overall win after six days of racing. Not to be forgotten was the aggressive riding of the Delhi Team of Eric Robertson and Vince DeJong who continually attacked the other teams all night.

How It Unfolded:

Lots of Primes were offered during the entire day, every three or four minutes a cash prize was up for the riders. In addition, the prize for the teams who could lap the field during a Jam was increased from the Saturday night $250 amount.

Early in the first Madison a flat tire to the Waterloo Team had them playing catch-up when the Delhi team attacked and quickly gained half a lap on the field. By the time Waterloo had both riders on the track, Delhi was on the same straight as the four other teams. At the last minute Waterloo countered putting a big gap on the field, as Delhi closed in on the rest of the teams The Waterloo team continued to chase and were able to get on even terms with the aggresive team from Delhi. This was the first laps gained since night two when the same two teams were able to put the other teams in trouble.

As the Madison continued the bell rang every few minutes, Cash primes were making the riders put on quite a sprinting demonstration. The battle in the race itself was full-on lap after lap with no easing of the pace. Leading up to the end of the first Madison the Waterloo Team attacked with ten laps to go and opened a good enough lead that the real sprint was for second with Team London putting on a late charge to come within inches of passing the Delhi team for second in the sprint. Team Hamilton and Team Vancouver rounded out the finish of the first Madison.

The London Track League had some close racing at both intermissions – the Velo-Kids again had some very fast times Each time these kids get on the track they are going faster and faster. In the Junior Division, all the racers put on a couple of very competitive sprints and scratch races.

Cash continued for the Madison Teams during the second and third Madisons. With the teams jockeying for position, their legs burning with a total of 12 sprints in their legs, fatigue was beginning to become evident as the accelerations & reaction times of all the teams were not as crisp as in previous Madisons.

The Miss and Out had another $150 up for grabs. Robertson and Thuss put on a clinic for the sprinters sitting on the infield, having been eliminated by the two young Espoirs.

Entering the last ten laps Team Hamilton caught the other teams sleeping and attacked to solidify their overall third place finish by winning the second Madison and coming in third in the final Madison.

With 30 minutes remaining the riders were all looking forward to the finish of this endurance event after six big nights of racing. In the first of two sprints Jean Bertrand of Team London attacked over the top, gapped the other teams and with the crowd cheering went on for a very exciting win. In the second sprint, Keith Thorarison (Team Vancouver), went to the front and did not look back for a convincing win. Ten laps to go in the bike race, the Delhi team jumped off the front of the train, with Hamilton and Waterloo close behind. Not letting the pace ease at all, Delhi sprinted to a very exciting victory with all three teams finishing the bike race within half a bike length apart.

Team Delhi edged the Waterloo team by one point for the win on the night, one lap down was Hamilton, two laps down were Teams London and Vancouver.

Overall for the entire Six Day race the teams finished in this order:

1. Team Waterloo Adam Thuss & Rob Good
2. Team Delhi Eric Robertson & Vince DeJong
3. Team Hamilton Garnett Abbey & Taylor Martin
4. Team Vancouver Dave St. James & Keith Thorarinson
5. Team London John Craig Jr & Jean Bertand

A special thank you to all the officials, London Track League Racers, Velo-Kids, and most of all the spectators who made the event possible.

The total prize payout to the teams, including primes and the purse for the teams was over $3,100, the largest prize pool in track cycling in Ontario in many years.

The next 6 Day at the Forest City Velodrome is scheduled for mid December. If you would like to enter please send an email to: rob.good@ypg.com before November 23rd.

Racing continues next Saturday night at 7pm with “Night of Speed 2”. Keirins, Sprints, Scratch races & the Velo-Kids will be on the board.