May 16, 2004 – The first in a series of track camps took place this past Saturday in Detroit. The camp was to prepare riders for the Ontario Track Championships & Junior Worlds Qualifying on the weekend of June 18-20th.

Six new track racers took to the boards on Saturday morning, each looking to learn as much as possible about the art of track riding & racing. Ontario coaches Steve Karpik & Don Andrews helped out local Detroit instructor Dave Young. After the first five laps the riders came off the track with great big smiles, wondering why they had not given this a try before.

The Ontario riders were part of a group of 14 riders who came out to learn how to ride on the 45 degrees banked turns. Through the Track 101 training, the riders were given a bike to use for the day, (which included racing in the afternoon). The quickest of the new riders was Taylor Martin out of Ancaster who turned some heads with a very fast 12.7 (sec) flying 200m at the end of the Clinic.

In the afternoon, a total of nine Canadians battled the locals, in two ability based divisions. The race events included Tempo, Team Pursuit, Scratch, Bavarian Win & Out ( I lucked into a 4th place finish), & a Points race. Detroit locals Ripp'n Ronnie & Dave Koesel, dominated the afternoon.

The next Track 101 camp will be held on Saturday June 5th. Riders of all ages are welcome. More information will follow.