Forest City Velodrome

Junior Women Scratch race
1st - Gold medal - Evanie Blondin Evanie, a national ranked speedskater from Ottawa, who has been to the Forest City Velodrome twice, battled two teams of two riders each. She defended against their attacks and finally put in her own attack. Result - Evanie won the gold medal by 50 metres.

Junior Keirin
3rd. - Bronze medal - Joe Veloce. Joe, from St. Catharines, is a 17 year old regular at our velodrome's races. He scored the bronze medal in this nationally prestigious event to do himself and the velodrome proud.
There is an honorable mention to Vince DeJong in this event. He got 6th place in the B final.

Cadet Scratch race
1st - Gold medal - Logan Cornell, Kingston.
3rd - Bronze medal - Trevor Damen, Ottawa.
Both of these fine young riders were in the special Speedskater track camp at the Forest City Velodrome five weeks ago. They had not ridden a track until then. Evanie was in that situation too. Congratulations to all of them for their incredible performances. They are gifted multi-disciplined athletes.

Master B Scratch race
2nd - Silver medal - David Jack. David was in a 3-man break that lapped the field and he came 2nd to national team member Doug Baron.
4th - Garnett Abbey

Master C Scratch race
2nd - Silver medal - Rob Good.
5th - Mike Renneboog.

Madison - Junior
3rd - Bronze medal - Steve Meyer & Ryan Crawford. Local London riders!
4th - Vince DeJong & Joe Veloce - a close 4th too!

Rob Good, while on his cell phone on the 401, counted these medals for FCV riders - 6 gold, 6 silver and 6-8 bronze. Results like these haven’t been seen by Ontario riders at the Nationals in years.

These are incredible results and a major contributing factor is the opening of the Forest City Velodrome. Thanks goes to Rob Good for his dedication and passion in making the velodrome a reality.

There will be many spin-offs to these successes and the following programs will begin immediately to build on this early success:

There will be three track teams formed for our young people and aimed at the future track nationals:

The A-Team - comprised of our current experienced Junior riders. It will consist of 6-10 riders, 17 & 18 years of age.
The D-Team (D for Development!) - consisting of 8-12 riders 15 & 16 years of age.
The Zee-Team (pre-juniors; the fun team!) for new riders of 14 & 15 years.

New Programs:

The Forest City Velodrome plans to host weekend track camps for all under-23 riders every 6-7 weeks from now until the 2007 Junior Track Nationals.

To capitalize on these successes we need riders, riders and more riders in the younger age groups. We need volunteers to help run these camps!

The Forest City Velodrome is here and we have the results to prove it! Climb on board for a wild ride.

Congratulations to all Forest City Velodrome riders who rode their hearts out at the Nationals. We are so proud of you. We can't wait to see what you do next year!

Forest City Velodrome National Championships Results
July 9, 2006

The following results from the National Track Masters and Junior Championships in Bromont, Quebec are not complete and are certainly not official. They also only showcase riders who have come through the Forest City Velodrome’s programs and races. Many of our Juniors and Cadets never saw a track until last August and in a few of situations, not until the Speedskaters' Camps exactly five weeks ago.

Master A Sprint
1st - Brooks Rapley

Master C Sprint
1st - Gord Singleton
4th - Rob Good

Master C 500metre Standing Start
1st - Gord Singleton
3rd - Rob Good

Master B Points Race
1st - Garnett Abbey
2nd or 3rd - David Jack

Master B Sprint
2nd - Garnett Abbey.
1st place in the sprint was taken by non-FCV very impressive rider Doug Baron.

Master C Points race
2nd - Mike Renneboog.
3rd - Rob Good.

Master A Pursuit
3rd - Brooks Rapley

Master A Kilo
3rd - Brooks Rapley with a monster 1:11.5 ride.

On the first day Hayley Roberts (Junior) crashed out of all further competitions.

Junior Pursuit
5th - Vince DeJong - Vince did a monster ride and was 2/10ths outside a bronze.

Junior Kilo
4th - Joe Veloce with a 1:12 ride! Joe held the leader spot until the last two riders and he was pushed out of 3rd by 1/10th of a second.

Junior Sprint
3rd - Joe Veloce. Joe qualified in the Sprint final and was up against two Quebec riders where he gained the bronze. Joe rode them slow up the banking (where did he learn that?) and dictated the race. This is a fantastic Junior Sprint result for Joe and the FVC! Joe is 17 years of age and was new to the track in August at one of the many Trillium Foundation camps that we run, showing that FCV camps work!

There are three more youth camps (for riders under 18 years of age) at the Forest City Velodrome in the next few weeks to continue the development of new and up-and-coming young racers.

Here are also results by riders who first rode a track at the Speedskaters' camps five weeks ago, and who are from the Kingston-Ottawa area:

Logan Cornell - 15 year old Cadet - 1st in Sprint, 1st in Points
Trevor Damen - Cadet - 3rd in Sprint & Points
Evanie Blondin - 2nd in Points, 3rd in Pursuit, 5th in Sprint
Flo Lapointe (sp?) did well but no placing is available

Today Logan and Trevor go for gold and silver in the Scratch Race.

All of these riders have done themselves and the Forest City Velodrome proud. This shows what can be accomplished, as the velodrome is just over a year old and this is the first major competition that FCV riders have attended. Most of these riders had never ridden a track until August 2005. They went though various combinations of Track School, Velo-Kids, race training sessions and Saturday night racing plus many of the specialty camps like sprint and pursuit training. They trained hard, they rode hard, raced even harder and now we see the results.

We are very proud of these athletes. With their results, the Forest City Velodrome has proven that we can produce National Champions!

Forest City Velodrome at the Nationals
July 7, 2006

Team Ontario Juniors had a great opening day at the Canadian Track Championships for Juniors and Masters in Bromont Quebec this weekend.

In the Team Pursuit, the opening event of the Championships, the Junior Men had two false starts which knocked the boys out of the event. Although, disappointed, they "sucked it up," changed over their equipment and all four of the our endurance riders, Joe Veloce, Vince DeJong with London-area riders Ryan Crawford and Steve Meyer qualified for the Scratch Race Final. In the end, Vince DeJong placed 7th with Steve Meyer finishing just outside the top 10.

In the Junior Women's category, the first event of the Championships was an 80 lap points race, with sprints every 10 laps. A crash early in the race took out one of our Ontario junior women, Hayley Roberts, who had to retire with road rash. Ontario had another racer taking part in the event, Ivanie Blondin, who is 15 years old from Ottawa. Ivanie came to the Forest City Velodrome in early June to take a Track 1 session, excelled, attended the Junior Camp in mid-June and qualified to compete in her first sanctioned race here in Bromont. Ivanie had a spectacular ride being able to sprint and recover during the race and accumulated enough points to finish 3rd and take the bronze in a very exciting race. Congratulations Ivanie.... bronze looks good on you.

The final event of the day for the Junior Men was the Team (Olympic) Sprint. Team Ontario sent Joe Veloce (St Catharines CC), Ryan Crawford (London) and Alex Fournier (Belmont) to the line. The team had a great start in the qualifying round to finish 3rd in a time of 54.2 seconds only three-tenths of a second behind the Quebec Team who ultimately finished in the silver position behind the very strong gold medal winning team from Alberta.

In the run off for the bronze medal our team put on their largest gears of the season and set a blistering 50.4 seconds for the 750m to set the fastest time of the meet and take home a very well deserved bronze medal.

Congratulations to all of the riders who are representing the Forest City Velodrome, London and the Province of Ontario at the Nationals.

Yellow Pages Group New Partner for Forest City Velodrome
July 4, 2006

It is with great pleasure that the Forest City Velodrome in London, Ontario has secured the promotional advertising strength of the Yellow Pages Brand to help bring more riders and spectators to the velodrome beginning in the next few weeks.

The package with the Yellow Pages Group includes banners on the infield and around the outside of the track. In addition, in the community pages section of the telephone book, the Velodrome will be have a full page listing information about our recreational and racing programs including our Velo-Kids. This will bring many new faces to the track.

The community pages will be published in London, Godrich, Strathroy and area during the month of November. Additionally tickets for the Yellow Pages Cup will be available throughout the winter to local London businesses. Last but not least is the search banner which will be placed on the home page of the Forest City website to help you find a person or business across Canada.

The Yellow Pages Group is a tradition in Canada with the company publishing telephone directories across the nation.

If you get a chance please thank your Yellow Pages Business Consultant when arranging your Yellow Pages for the coming year.

Race Report for Saturday, June 17, 2006
June 18, 2006

Jamie Shankland of Waterloo tore up the boards last night posting the 2nd fastest time ever recorded at the Forest City Velodrome, 8.30 seconds. Junior Joe Veloce flew home in an amazing 8.60 setting a new personal best for him as did Chris Vlemmix with his 8.85.

Evanie Blondin of Ottawa and Hamilton cyclist Hayley Roberts finished first and second in the women's flying lap, sprint tournament and scratch race. The women provided a lot of excitement in their close finishes in all their events.

Vince DeJong rode a very strong tactical race in the final scratch race of the night and came home with the win over second place finisher Jamie Shankland.

Full results can be found on the Results page.

Saturday racing continues on July 29, 2006, after a summer break.

All regular weekly riding continues throughout the summer.

Summer Track Update
June 13, 2006

Racing continues Saturday June 17, 2006 at 7:00 pm in London Ontario. Featured races this week will be a Senior vs. Junior Keirin Tournament; Masters will compete in a series of scratch races; and the Velo-Kids will do a modified Keirin. In the Keirin events our derny will be used to pace the riders. Several new additions to the program will also be introduced during the evening.

Come out and watch the races at the velodrome. If you are new to watching bicycle racing we guarantee that you will be on the edge of your seat. Adult admission is $10.00, Seniors $5.00, children are always free.

Other News:

The Forest City Velodrome is pleased to introduce Rod Booth, a marketing student from Fanshaw College, who will be out in the community to help promote the programs at the velodrome. Rod's first activity is to take our programs to the London school system beginning this week. Good luck Rod and we hope you bring many new faces to the track and our programs.

Three one-day Youth Camps will take place Thursday July 13, 2006, Thursday, August 17, 2006 and Thursday, August 31, 2006. All equipment is provided and the cost is minimal, just $10 per day. Thanks to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for making these camps possible. All the information can be found on our website for registration information.

We are planning to hold an individual time trial series on Thursday nights, including 500m, 1000m, 2000m & 3000m. More details will be made available as plans are finalized.

We are offering a velodrome promotion in June and July: any new rider completing the Track 1 (Introduction to the Velodrome) session will be offered a free session (bike included) in our very successful Track 2/3 combo sessions. Talk to the instructors for more details.

We have some sad news to report. Mary Kelly who looks after the concession on race nights, fell on her road bike last week and broke her heel and will be out of action for a month. Riding on the road is obviously scarier than track riding. We hope that Mary gets well soon!

Race Report for Saturday, May 27, 2006
May 28, 2006

What a great night of racing at the Forest City Velodrome on Saturday night, May 27, 2006. Five evenly-matched Madison teams attacked one another in the first 30-minute event. At half time where we usually have a sprint for points, however with the efforts of two of our instructors in our Learn to Ride sessions, Eddy Pol (for the donation) and Magnus Graham (upgrades) we were able to have a Derny on the track to do the pacing for the Keirin events.

The riders were all pumped up as previously the Keirins have been paced by another cyclist on a track. With the added noise of a motor the crowd got into the fun and the first heat was off. Taylor Martin held the first position behind the Derny, with the battle for positions taking place from second on back. With 3 and 1/2 laps to go and a speed of 50 kph the Derny pulled off the track to let the boys open up their legs. Junior Vince DeJong jumped over the top but both Martin on pole and second-wheel Ryan Crawford would not let DeJong complete the pass for the lead. At the line Martin won easily with DeJong just pipping Crawford at the line.

In the second Keirin, Keith Thoranson won easily as the rest of the riders battled out for second place.

In Madison racing the win ultimately comes down to the final sprint. Last night the Yellow Team of DeJong and Steve Meyer (both Juniors) attacked with 5 laps to go and immediately opened a gap on the other teams who were making their last exchange. However the fast combo of Thoranson and Mike Reeneboog closed the gap and with half a lap to go went over the top to claim victory.

Steve Meyer, a Junior from Dorchester out sprinted Dave St James in the final of the Miss & Out. This was Steve's first victory at the velodrome in a Senior event. Well done, Steve!

Racing in the London Track league was fast and furious as 10 year old Brianne Rupay won all three heats of the VeloKids' Keirin, and newcomer John Hueston from Aylmer won all three scratch races for the "A" group.

Full results from the entire night are available on our Results page.

Racing continues Saturday, June 3, 2006. On that date the velodrome is hosting an Open House for family, friends, and interested spectators beginning at noon. All proceeds from the event will go to our programs for the fall and winter 2006-2007 at the Forest City Velodrome.

Track Youth Camp on Saturday, June 3, 2006
May 14, 2006; revised June 1, 2006

The Forest City Velodrome in London, Ontario is pleased to offer a Learn-to-Ride Camp for Ontario youth ages 12 to 17. This camp is open to both girls and boys. No riding experience is necessary. The session will be offered on Saturday, June 3, 2006 from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm.

The Ontario Trillium Foundation has made this program available for the youth of Ontario.

The intent of the Youth Camp is to evaluate youth for our Velo-Kids Program which is a feeder system to the Ontario Cycling Association's High Performance Programs. Attendees will be provided with a track-specific bicycle to use for the session. Professional instruction will be given on the fundamentals of how to ride the velodrome and is the first step to being able to better control a bicycle safely.

The Camp fee is $25 which includes everything the riders will require to participate in the session. Please bring helmets, gloves, shorts and running shoes. If you have your own pedal systems you are encouraged to bring them as well.

Ideal candidates for the Camp include hockey players, runners, speed skaters, soccer players and skiers, and any other young person with athletic aspirations.

Please preregister by filling out the registration form and contacting Rob Good by email at Rob.Good@ForestCityVelodrome.ca or by phone at (519) 883-7849.

The Forest City Velodrome Association looks forward to offering even more of these programs in the months to come.

Night of Speed
May 11, 2006

The sprinters are featured this Saturday, May 13, 2006 at the Forest City Velodrome.

Lightening fast, these athletes will reach speeds of over 60 kph this Saturday night. The Elite Tournament will test the top eight qualifying riders, with each rider having to advance through the three rounds of sprint action to win our third Night of Speed at the velodrome.

Racing begins at 7:00 p.m. In addition to the sprinters the London Track League & Nas-Track Madison League will be racing in the program.

In addition, the Forest City Velodrome is honoured to have two of our young up-and-coming Espoire riders racing this weekend, both of whom will be attending a selection camp next week for the Pan-Am Championships. Adam Thuss (Stratford) and Eric Robertson (Brantford) have a very good opportunity of making the team which will compete in South America early in June.

The velodrome will have a presentation early in the program for these two talented riders. These are the first of many riders from the Forest City Velodrome to go to camps leading to the opportunity to represent Canada on the international stage.

Both Adam and Eric will be racing on Saturday night as a final tune-up for the selection camp next week.

Provincial Track Championships and Other Velodrome News
April 20, 2006

The Ontario Provincial Track Championships will be run this weekend, April 21-23, 2006, at the Forest City Velodrome in London, Ontario. This event will bring together the best track and road racers in the province and northern United States to compete for the right to represent Ontario at Track Nationals later in the summer. With 50-60 riders competing in the many events over the weekend, this will be the largest Ontario track event held in the province in over 15 years. Rider entry fees are $35 which covers all races for the weekend.

The program will run over three days beginning on Friday night at 7:00 pm with what some consider the toughest race in cycling: the time trial. The Senior Men and Juniors will compete in the 1,000 metre time trial (also known as the "Kill-o-Metre") while Masters, Velo-Kids and Women will contest the 500 metre time trial.

Racing will continue all day Saturday with preliminary round action in the sprints and pursuits at 9:00 am. Event finals will begin at 7:00 pm. On Sunday, the Japanese-style Keirin racing will begin in the morning, with the Points race scheduled for early afternoon in all categories.

A full race schedule can be found here.

Spectator admission is $10. Weekend passes covering all three days of racing are also available for only $15.

The success of this weekend of racing will be used to support our bid to the Canadian Cycling Association to hold the National Track Cycling Championships in two years time here in London at the Forest City Velodrome.

Other News

The Ontario Cycling Association has recently committed $5,000 to the Forest City Velodrome. Staff from the OCA will be on hand this weekend for the championships. A presentation is planned on Saturday night during intermission to present the funds to the Forest City Velodrome Association. A huge thank you from our 138 members to Steve Merker and his staff from the OCA for their commitment to track riding and racing in Ontario.

On April 29, 2006 the Forest City Velodrome will celebrate our first birthday, and to celebrate we have planned a Racing Birthday Party which will get started on Saturday night at 7:00 pm. Come on out to compete, watch lots of close racing action, and have some birthday cake (chocolate). We also hope to have a live band to play on the infield during the racing.

Plan to get involved with the track over the next few months either as a volunteer, a recreational rider, or as a competitive racer. We will be raising funds for our summer Velo-Kids Camps (TBA). We also are planning a BBQ, a Swap Meet, and racing.

Our revised summer riding schedule will be released in the coming days, effective May 1, 2006. Check out our Come to Ride or Race page in late April for details.

The City of London Youth Program kicked off this week with 10 riders going through the Learn to Ride Track 1 session. All participants passed with flying colours (Green, White, Gold & Black; the Knights would be proud). We look forward to seeing these riders returning to the track for a recreational session soon.

Jerseys are in the works and an early sample can be found on FixedGearFever.com (note that you will need to register as a user in order to read or post messages — registration is free). Our first order should arrive mid-June.

Six-Day Racing Wrap Up and Final Results
April 10, 2006

With the teams suffering through colds and the flu the Six-Day Race became an endurance event for everyone to survive. It was unfortunate that there was so much flu going around, however it did not take away from the most competitive Six-Day event of the winter season. Most jams were 8 - 13 minutes in length, which means the riders were on the rivets trying to take a lap for that amount of time. All sprints and "Miss & Out" races were very close, competitive and safe.

Team Burlington (Garnett Abbey and Dave St. James) emerged as the winners of the race however they were very closely pursued by the London Team (John Craig and Adam Thuss) and Team Delhi (Mike Reenboog, Eric Robertson and Taylor Martin). Burlington attacked the other teams every time the pace slowed, opening gaps of 30 metres at a time. In the last three days only the London team was able to stay on even terms with the fast duo from Burlington.

Team Vancouver (Keith Thorarison & Neil Dignam) were able to capture many of the primes and points sprints throughout the race. It was very good to see the spectators step up and offer so many $50 & $100 prizes over the week. All the riders were very thankful for all of the primes. Check out our Results page for full results, and our Photo Gallery for photos of the racing.

To all the London Track League riders who came out to perform at intermission a big thank you goes out from the organizer. Finally, the races could not go on without the many volunteers who gave up their weekends to make sure our event was run without any delays. The riders say thanks to all the volunteers for their hard work.

The next racing at the Forest City Velodrome is the Ontario Provincial Track Championships on April 21-23, 2006, with races for all ability categories.

Our First Anniversary Party and Race will take place on Saturday night, April 29, 2006 at 7:00 pm with Velo-Kids, London Track League and Madison Team Racing. It should be a great night of racing at Ontario's fastest track.

Third Night of Six-Day Racing an Unrelenting Contest
April 3, 2006

What an unbelievable first three days at the Spring Six-Day Races at the Forest City Velodrome in London, Ontario. Many attacks were followed by numerous teams taking laps during the three Madison races that were held each night.

If you like bike racing or have an interest in the velodrome you will not want to miss any of the action this coming weekend (April 7-9, 2006).

A Madison is a relay race where teams of two riders tag one another in order to stay competitive and give each rider time to recover before being thrown back into the race. At the Forest City Velodrome the exchanges between the riders on each team happen every three laps, with five teams competing during the Madison. Very exciting racing action is guaranteed during the three 30-minute Madisons each night.

During Night 3, Team Burlington, (Dave St. James and Garnett Abbey) was the most active team during the racing. The duo attacked early in the first Madison, with the pressure on the jam lasted 12 minutes before a lap was gained. This put the other four teams down a lap. The lapped teams were therefore all on the offensive for the sprint points and attacking to gain their lap back. In the final sprint of the first Madison, Team Delhi (Mike Renneboog and Eric Robertson) looked like they were in position to take the sprint when like a cannon St. James and Abbey came over the top on an exchange to power for the win in the last 40 metres.

In the second Madison of the evening, all the riders were waiting for the hammer to fall, and it did after three minutes of racing, when the first of many $100 primes was on offer from the very generous spectators in attendance. A prime is a special "race within the race" and is usually 10 laps in length. With two laps to go team London (Adam Thuss and John Craig Jr.) were in control and seemed to have the cash in their pocket when again out of nowhere Abbey closed the gap and caught the London team at the line. You would have thought that the pace would have slowed a little after that effort but that was not the case. Abbey and St. James just kept putting the hurt on the other teams by continuing the jam after the prime sprint. The length of the jam put the Miss & Out late in the middle session. Two teams controlled the Devil not allowing any of the other teams to take the lead. The Waterloo team was the first to be eliminated, as each rider was sequentially pulled from the race (being last across the line on the bell lap has you out of the race). Thuss and Robertson were again the last two riders competing for win, and in a very close finish Thuss edged Robertson. The teams regrouped with four minutes left in the Madison, and the Waterloo team attacked to gain their lap back. The only problem was that Burlington covered the attack and put all the teams other than Waterloo down another lap. At the end of the session it was a photo finish at the line between Team Vancouver and Team London.

At intermission, London Track League riders took to the track to demonstrate their abilities. Some very quick times were posted by our new Juniors Ryan Crawford and Joe Veloce. The Velo-Kids also put on a good show with two new riders, Carter Pond (13.47 seconds) and Heidi Warner (16.50 seconds) racing the flying lap. The Team of Ryan Crawford, Dave Haycock, Chris Vlemmix have set the fastest time so far in the Team Time Trial of 3.03.42. The winning team will go home Sunday with $100 for their efforts.

In the final 40-minute Madison, the two teams who lost a lap late in the second session attacked continuously. It felt like the racers' legs were going to explode but no one was able to gain any advantage. Every time the pace would ease, both Thuss and Robertson would pick up the speed. As the session came to a close, the team of Neil Dignam and Keith Thorarison attacked with 6 laps to go. They stayed on the front to the finish for the double points in the final sprint.

What a great night of racing, with the results after three nights showing two teams tied in points for the lead. Check out our Results page for full results.

Racing continues this Friday and Saturday nights (April 7 and 8, 2006) at 7:00 pm, with the finale taking place Sunday afternoon (April 10, 2006) at 2:00 pm.

All the riders encourage you to experience, and cheer, the most exciting track racing in North America.

Second Night of Six-Day Racing a Gruelling Contest
April 2, 2006

The guns were blazing last night as the Six-Day moved into the second night of aggressive racing. The team with the most endurance on the night was the Burlington team of Garnett Abbey and Dave St. James as the two kept the pressure on the other teams all night.

It was a dominating performance by Abbey and St. James as they won every prime on the night and captured the most points to win the night and move into second in the overall Six-Day results.

Several riders are battling through colds and the flu but are soldiering on.

A photo of the Madison riders during the Miss & Out can be found on our Photo Gallery page. Full results are listed on our Results page.

Racing continues this afternoon (Sunday, April 2, 2006) at 2:00 pm. Admission for spectators is $10, and children are admitted free.

First Night of Six-Day Racing Highly Competitive
April 1, 2006

As predicted the first night of Six-Day Racing at the Forest City Velodrome was fast and competitive, with five well matched teams going flat out. None of the teams was able to take any advantage to gain a lap. The largest lead of the night was up to half a lap during a jam in the second 30 minute Madison.

The Delhi team of Eric Robertson and Mike Renneboog controlled the race early. They attacked in the opening 30 minute segment, but could only open a small gap before the Burlington team of Dave St. James and Garnett Abbey were able to bring the racing back together for the final sprint. With three laps remaining St. James out duelled Team London (Adam Thuss and John Craig Jr.). At the end of the first Madison all five teams were within four points of the leading Delhi team.

In the first intermission, the London Track League (LTL) entertained the largest crowd yet for opening night of any of our Six-Day races. In the LTL Challenge the squad of Ryan Crawford (Junior), Disco Dave Haycock and Chris Vlemmix was the first team to set a time standard for the $100 prize for the 15-lap Team Time Trial. Their combined time of 3.03.50 is now the time to beat. Over the next days of the Six-Day, each intermission will see different teams from the London Track League try to better the time to win the cash.

In the second 30 minute Madison, Team Vancouver (Keith Thorarinson and Dave Byer) were put into difficulty early with a monster attack from St. James and Abbey. After six minutes of jamming all teams were back together; however the huge effort to stay on the same lap cost the Vancouver team a lot of energy. This was very evident as during the Miss & Out: Thorarinson was the first rider eliminated. As the riders jockeyed for position in the last few laps, the two young Espoires Eric Robertson and Adam Thuss were setting up for a what turned out to be the sprint of the night. With three laps to go Robertson jumped and with Thuss on his wheel, Thuss made a move over Robertson and the two stayed side by side for the next two laps. As they came to the line it was a photo finish. It took the judges to look at the picture of the finish to declare Robertson the eventual winner of a hard fought Miss & Out.

In the final 40 minute Madison, two spectator primes caused havoc in the pack, with each rider asking himself whether to go for the cash or save it for the double points to determine the night's finish. Delhi attacked on both primes, and came home taking the $100. This however put them in a world of hurt trying to recover for the finish sprint. With Vancouver's sprinter having a problem with leg cramps, Team Burlington continued to keep the pace of the race in the 46-48 kph range. At that speed it makes it impossible to try to take laps. As the time came down for the final sprint, Team London came over the top with the Waterloo Team on their wheels. The gap opened with three laps to go, John Craig got a great exchange from Thuss which propelled him to the front with two laps to go. It was a battle of the veterans as Craig and Rob Good went all out to the line for the double points on offer. In the end Team Waterloo edged Team London by half a wheel at the line. This did nothing to change the final results as Team Delhi came home winners on night number one by three points over the two teams who tied in points, Team London & Waterloo.

It was a very entertaining evening of Madison racing with 5 days yet to go. Full race results can be found on our Results page.

Racing resumes tonight (Saturday, April 1, 2006) at 7:00 pm. Sunday afternoon racing starts at 2:00 pm.

Ontario Cup #6 Report and Results
March 19, 2006

What a great night of racing at the Forest City Velodrome on Saturday, March 18, 2006. Racing began in the afternoon with time trials for each category. Early in the session two of our up-and-coming Seniors went under 5:15 in the 4km event, which at our short track this is a major achievement. Given these results, it will be interesting to see what times can be turned at the Ontario Provincial Championships scheduled for April 21-23, 2006.

In the evening's racing a solid crowd of 200 were very enthusiastic and loud as the riders were introduced. During sprint qualifying nine riders went under 9 seconds which translates to over 56kph; unfortunately only four riders went on to the next round, but this is very encouraging for the Provincial Championships in April.

We had several guests from Quebec and Michigan, and all did very well throughout the evenings racing. The sprint tournament had all four racers very well matched as all four were within 2/10's of a second apart in qualifying.

Round 1 saw Adam Thuss (Ontario) vs. Martin Laforest (Quebec) in a very thrilling race. Jumping from the top of the banking Thuss gained the early advantage, only to have Laforest counter the move and attack over top of Thuss. With a lap to go the Quebec rider swung up the track thinking the race was over, unfortunately he had misjudged the finish and Thuss went on to the gold medal final.

Round 2 had Lawerence Laroux (Quebec junior) vs. Keith Thorarinson (Ontario) in a very tactical race with the lead changing hands several times before the sprint started. Thorarinson jumped the 17 year old from Quebec. Keith must have learned from his sprint with Gord Singleton a few weeks ago, as he did not Lawerence come close to getting around him on the last lap.

The sprint finals was a shot out with Thuss taking the early advantage however the experience of Thorarinson showed again as he was not going to give up the lead and was the first to the line in a very competitive series of races.

In the points races for each category Eric Robertson and Garnet Abbey controlled their respective groups to come out on the winning end after 50 laps of hard-fought racing. The juniors were the most competitive group as eventual winner Alex Fournier battled back from a 1/2 lap down to earn enough points to tie Ryan Crawford on points at the end of the race; however, Fournier was declared the winner by winning the final sprint against the feisty Crawford.

Check out the complete results as well as the accumulated O-Cup points on our Results page.

Next racing action at London's Forest City Velodrome is March 31, 2006, the first weekend of the International 6 Day Bicycle Classic. More information about this race will be posted later this week.

Forest City Velodrome Prepares for an Invasion
March 15, 2006

Track racing kicks off for the sixth round of the Ontario Cup Series at the Forest City Velodrome in London, Ontario this Saturday March 18, 2006. There are four days to go and the entries have been pouring in from Quebec, Michigan and the Buffalo area.

The three events to be contested for Ontario Cup points are the Pursuit time trial, the Keirin sprint, and the Points race. The Pursuit time trial kicks off at 2:00 pm. Later in the afternoon will be qualifying races for the Keirin which will be the featured event in the evening program starting at 7:00 pm. A Points race will test the early season fitness of all the riders.

A special sprint tournament will be contested during the evening. With four of Canada's top ten sprinters in action the track lap record of 8.17 seconds (Zach Bell) will be in jeopardy of falling. Other races in the program include a Miss & Out (Devil) and an always-exciting Madison Team race. Check out the full race schedule for more details.

You will not want to miss any of the action. Arrive early and bring some friends. Racing begins at 2:00 pm with the evening program beginning at 7:00 pm on Saturday.

Other News

With the velodrome approaching its first anniversary, plan to attend our first Birthday Party as part of the Ontario Provincial Championships on the weekend of April 21-23, 2006. The Championships are open to any track racer who wants to test their legs for the upcoming season. Ability-based categories will be set up for all experience levels.

Spectators — if it has been a while since attending one of our race nights, come out and see some of Canada's finest track stars take on the invaders from the South. You will be on the edge of your seat. Ontario Cycling Clubs — get a group together for discounted admission prices.

"Ride with the Champ" Featuring World Champion Gord Singleton
March 2, 2006

This Champ Camp is for everyone, especially our recreational riders. Come to the velodrome on Friday evening, March 10, 2006 at 6:00 pm to do a recreational ride in the company of multiple world champion and record holder Gord Singleton.

Gord will be at the velodrome to socialize and ride with the lucky ones who pre-register for the camp. He will have some stories of his exploits plus some riding tips. Bring your camera! You will get the chance to ride paceline with the best.

Pre-registration is a must for this one. There are just sixteen spaces open for velodrome members who have completed the Track School Level 3 program.

A donation of $25 to the Velo-Kids' fund is your admission. Make cheques payable to "Sport is Development Fund" and bring to the session. A tax receipt will be issued.

Pre-register today by e-mailing organizer Mike Tierney at miket@execulink.com. The camp will be operated by Paul Poppy.

March Break Camp for Kids
March 1, 2006

The Forest City Velodrome is pleased to offer our second Velo-Kids Camp for children 10 to 16 years old to get acquainted with the velodrome.

The Camp will run from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Monday, March 13, 2006. The participants will be introduced to the velodrome, with instruction customized from our Track 1 "Learn to Ride" program. Some of our regular Velo-Kids will be in attendance to help with the instruction.

With a generous donation from the Trillium Foundation we are able to offer this Camp to young people at no charge.

Parents can stay and watch or they can drop their children off for the afternoon and pick them up at 5:00 pm. A refresher for participants will be offered later in the week (date and time to be confirmed).

The camp is limited to the first 20 to register. Please pre-register with Simon Dearing at teamsibo@yahoo.com.

800 Lap ride for MS Awareness and VeloKids Update
February 22, 2006

On February 12, 2006 we had 14 track riders show up at the Forest City Velodrome for the 3-hour trek to nowhere... just around in circles 800 times.

The event was put on by the Cycle4MS Racing Team and hosted by Rob Good and the Forest City Velodrome. The ride was long and tough at times. The average speed was 35kph for 3 hours. With no terrain changes, the shoulders and back got sore and the legs were burning at times. We all soldiered on and had a great time. The Cycle4MS Racing Team was riding their stationary trainers on the infield for over 2 hours in support.

After all the pledges and draw prize tickets were collected, we raised just over $2,000. The proceeds from the event will be split between the Forest City VeloKids Program and Cycle4MS. Cycle4MS is donating all of their proceeds to the Halton Chapter of the MS Society.

Piers Davidge
www.Cycle4MS.com

Short Track Championships at the Forest City Velodrome
February 20, 2006

Despite the cold outside, the racing action was hot at the Forest City Velodrome on the weekend. The 138m velodrome saw the first Short Track Championships held in London, Ontario.

Over 200 spectators were entertained by the 42 riders in attendance for the combined sprint and endurance event. The riders could choose to race in any event, with an accumulation of time which determined the Sprint Champion. On the endurance side the riders accumulated points over 10 very tough events over the two days.

How it unfolded: the riders started to arrive at the velodrome early on Saturday afternoon. One of the first to pick his pit area was former World Keirin Champion Gord Singleton. Gord was very eager to test his legs this early in the season.

Racing started with some short scratch races and flying laps to help seed the riders for the sprint tournament.

The largest division was the Masters racers, a category that was so large it had to be split into two. This proved to be a good decision as Rob Ackers from Detroit crashed early in the second scratch race after his rear disc wheel folded up on its own. With the pack split, there were few riders in the immediate area and all riders avoided the crash.

It was a battle over the two days between Masters Garnett Abbey of Burlington and Marc Goveia of St. Catharines. Abbey accumulated the most points in the endurance events with Goveia taking home the hardware in the sprint events.

During the championship weekend, there were many photo finishes as the racing went down to the last event in both the Junior and Senior Divisions.

The Juniors put on a quality show with newcomers Alex Fournier and Ryan Crawford both from London being separated by less than 1 second. The last sprint event was the Flying 500m. Fournier came home the winner by setting a very quick time in the final race. Crawford finished a close second in only his second competition.

The Senior events were even closer. Overall race leader Keith Thorarison from Vancouver had a commanding lead in the division going into the final event. Thorarison had a good flying 500m to close his end of the competition; however, little did any know that Gord Singleton would put in an outstanding performance to close the 1.2 second gap at the beginning of the event. In the end Singleton gained 1.11 seconds during his effort in the race. This left him .09 seconds behind the very happy Thorarison during the trophy presentation. Neither rider knew who had come out the winner until they were called to the podium.

Hayley Roberts (Hamilton) had a very good weekend winning both ends of the Sprint and Endurance events. Kristen Worley and Julie Henry were second and third.

Always a crowd pleaser the Velo-Kids rounded out the competition with a hard fought handicap event. The kids were all awarded trophies, medals and memorial coins. The Velo-Kids had a blast over the weekend competing in their own version of the championships. Paul, Norby, Amberley, Billy, Ernie, Mackenzie, Payton, and Harry thank all of their supporters for making their weekly programs a success.

Full results can be found on our Results page.

Velodrome News
February 13, 2006

London Parks and Recreation Partnership

It is with great pleasure that the Forest City Velodrome and the City of London Parks & Recreation are pleased to announce a program for the youth of London. The program will introduce children to the fun of riding the velodrome. London Youth Centres will bring up to 125 children and young adults to the velodrome to participate in our Track 1 & 2 sessions over the next 3 months.

We anticipate that many of the children will advance to our very successful Velo-Kids sessions on Saturdays and Sundays. The program is free of charge to all children who get involved through the City of London. Many of these children may not ever have had the opportunity to ride a bicycle on a velodrome before.

Discovery Channel to Film at Forest City Velodrome

On Wednesday afternoon and evening on February 15, 2006, the Discovery Channel will be interviewing the 87-year-old Albert Coulier, the builder of the Forest City Velodrome. Later in the evening, the producers will be showcasing our Junior program.

Then on Saturday, February 18, 2006, Discovery will be producing two segments. The first is on our Track 1 Learn to Ride session. Beginning at 4:00 pm during the Short Track Championships the producers will be following up with the Juniors. Should be very exciting.

North American Short Track Championships

This is a two-day racing event beginning at 4:00 pm on Saturday February 18, 2006 and continuing Sunday, February 19, 2006 at 9:00 am. Both sprint and endurance events will be contested by racers from across Canada and the United States. Gord Singleton from Niagara Falls, the 1982 World Keirin Champion, has entered the sprint competition that includes a Sprint Tournament during the evening session on Saturday. Come out and support our racers.

Tandem Duo at Forest City Velodrome: Report by Mike Tierney
February 11, 2006

On February 10, 2006, velodrome member Chris Wood of Kitchener/Wateloo asked me if he could bring a tandem and his visually-impaired stoker Dave Johnson for some track time.

Chris and Dave have traveled all over the world to handicapped games at all levels.

As the Friday Rec 2 session is usually sparsely attended I agreed and Rob Good provided some tips for tandem riding on the FCV. Their main problem would be g-forces flexing the wheels or squishing the tires. I had some concerns when I saw their stock-standard solo bike wheel setup - 32h clinchers with regular tires and non tied and soldered spokes.

Their first lap provided some whoops and hollers from them as different dynamics from solo bikes are in effect on a tandem. What isn't apparent is that for a split second, entering each banking, the pilot and the stoker are actually traveling in two different directions! Think about that: the pilot is turning left while the stoker is still going straight. They said they did notice this phenomenon.

For their first effort I gave them the whole track to themselves and called everyone else off (about 8 of us). They kept their speeds reasonable and were smoothly cruising the blue line before long. Bob Steer brought his big fancy cam and snapped many pics. I haven't seen his results yet. My photos have been posted on our Photo Gallery page.

I was crouched next to the banking looking closely for wheel/tire contortions but saw nothing at their speeds. Tire squish was a big concern but a non issue at their g-forces.

For their next laps on the boards I let everyone else ride at the same time and we all had a ball.

All-in-all it was a good experiment and I invited them back to any of my Friday sessions.

Note to Rob Good: you have just got to talk them into being the Keirin pacer at your races! It would be too damn cool!

Sixth Night of Racing Caps Off Successful Event
February 6, 2006

The organizers of the Forest City Velodrome’s Six-Day Bike Race would like to thank the spectators who battled the weather to get to the races over the weekend, as well as the many volunteers, intermission racers, Velo-Kids and event racers for making our second Six-Day Race a resounding success. We are already preparing for our third Six-Day event in late March 2006.

How it unfolded: after five nights of aggressive racing the Brantford Team of Eric Robertson and Piers Davidge had a two point lead on the Delhi Team of Mike Renneboog and Keith Thoranson. The only way for Delhi to win the Six-Day Race was to finish first on the night and have Brantford finish in third. With this competitive atmosphere, racing was very active throughout the night.

Early on the attacks and counterattacks were happening every few minutes; none of the teams were able to gain any advantage. The racing continued for the first of three 30-minute sessions that make up the evening’s event. Late in the first session the aggressive teams from London (John Craig and Dave Byer) and Waterloo (Neil Dignam and Rob Good) were continually splitting up the pack. At one point the Delhi and Brantford teams were down by half a lap, but managed to bring it back together. Nearing the end of the session, Team Burlington (Garnett Abbey and Junior Vince Dejong) went on a flyer and caught a break as the 10 lap to go marker came up as they gained an advantage that could not be overcome by the other teams. At the end of the first session, Brantford, Burlington and Delhi were separated by merely 1 point. The Six-Day Race was still up for grabs.

In sessions two and three of the evening the spectators got into the swing of things by generously putting primes on the line. The sprints kept the pace high, and if the pace slowed below 44 kph the Waterloo Team would spice things up with attacks from the top of the track. Again no team was able to gain a lap, and then out of the blue a spectator put up $100 for a team to gain a lap. Still no team went away to take the cash that was up for grabs. The primes continued and even delayed the finish of the race. With two minutes left in the bike race, with Delhi watching Brantford and Burlington waiting to counter the next attack from the Waterloo team, off the front rolled the London Team. No one chased and there was first a 20 metre gap and then a 40 metre gap. By the time the reaction from the field came a half-lap lead was very quickly established, and within 15 laps the London team took their lap and the $100 prize.

In the end the Brantford Team came home the winners of a very hard-fought battle over six seemingly endless nights of racing.

In total 3,254 laps of full-on racing was covered by the teams over the six nights. Primes totalling $1,300 were given away. A total of 750 spectators attended the action. Only one spill happened over the Six-Day event with no more than bruises to the racers involved.

Complete results can be found on our Results page.

In two weeks is the Short Track Championships including individual timed events and mass start races. Racing begins at 4:00 pm on February 18, 2006 and 9:00 am on February 19, 2006.

The next Six-Day event is March 31st through April 9th, 2006. If you want to race apply today, don't delay. Contact Rob Good at Rob.Good@ForestCityVelodrome.ca to register.

Fifth Night of Six-Day Racing Sees Nail-Biting Action
February 5, 2006

Spectators who braved the bad weather to come out to the velodrome were treated to another night of tense, nail-biting action. The first 30 minute session of Night Five of the Six-Day saw Team Delhi, Mike Renneboog and Keith Thorarison, open up an early lead in points by winning both the team sprint competition and the point sprint. The other four teams were all within 2 points of each other.

In the second session Team Burlington, Garnet Abbey and Vince Dejong, took the Miss & Out top points and combined with their points in the final sprint, moved into second place.

Numerous attacks were made to try and gain a lap but all were unsuccessful.

Team Brantford was the stronger team in the last session but fell short of catching Team Delhi for overall points. Team Delhi dominated the prime sprints.

Team London bad luck continued as Dave St James had to abandon the race after last night’s spill during a team exchange. Subs John Craig and Marc Goveia did their best to fill in for St. James.

Going into the last day of racing Team Brantford still has the overall lead followed by Teams Delhi, Burlington, Waterloo and London.

Team standings going into the last day:
1. Team Brantford - 46 pts
2. Team Delhi - 44 pts
3. Team Burlington - 41 pts
4. Team Waterloo - 38 pts
5. Team London - 31 pts

Full results are listed on our Results page.

The final day of racing starts Sunday afternoon, February 5, 2006 at 2:00 pm.

Fourth Night of Six-Day Racing Close and Competitive
February 4, 2006

Night 4 is in the books with another very hard evening of bicycle racing at the indoor velodrome in London, Ontario on Friday night, February 3, 2006. With a week separating the two weekends of 6-Day Racing, the riders spent the past five days recovering for what turned out to be a sprinter’s dream night on the boards.

The evening was split into three sessions of Madison Team racing, with each session being 30 minutes of painful fun.

The racing was close and competitive with the London Team of Dave St. James and Dave Byer being the most aggressive duo on the night. All their hard work was for naught as a late spill knocked the team out of contention for the win.

The two teams that dominated the night were the Delhi and Brantford pairings as both teams battled it out until the final sprint for double points to close out the evening’s racing. Team Delhi with Mike Renneboog and Keith Thorarison took the win, with Brantford very close in second position on the night.

The teams of Waterloo and Burlington finished one point apart with Waterloo taking third on the night.

There are two nights of racing to go with Brantford leading the standings, Delhi, Burlington, Waterloo & London following that order with less than three points separating the top three teams. Full results are available on our Results page.

Racing continues on Saturday night at 7:00 pm. The 6-Day Bike Race concludes with the final day of racing on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm.

All of the on-the-edge-of-your-seat action is taking place at the London Gardens just off of Wellington Rd. S. in London.

Admission for the final two days is $5 for adults, with children admitted free.

If you have never seen bicycle racing up close, plan to attend the last two days of the Forest City 6-Day.

Third Night of Six-Day Racing Clean, Safe and Very Fast
January 30, 2006

Our first weekend of Six-Day racing in 2006 at the Forest City Velodrome is in the books and if you thought racing in Ontario was slow where riders waited for the end of the race for the final sprint, you have not seen the racing during these last three days. The racing has been clean, safe and very fast.

During our first Six-Day Bicycle Race in October 2005, only two teams were able to gain a lap on the field after six nights of racing. So far in this competition, every night has produced attack after attack with most teams gaining a lap at different times throughout the evenings' 3 x 30 minute sessions.

How it unfolded: Sunday's first session started off with a bang. Three minutes into the race there was a $100 prime put up by one of our regular spectators. With everyone's legs were still sore from the hard race on Saturday night, John Craig Sr. displayed 10 laps to go for the hundred bucks. Team Waterloo put in the first attack and quickly opened a 40m gap. The Delhi Team with Mike Renneboog started to close the gap, and with two laps to go there was 20m between the teams on the last exchange. Neil Dignam of the Waterloo Team opened up the distance until half a lap to go when super fast sprinter Keith Thoranson came alongside the Waterloo Team but could not cross the line ahead of the gritty Dignam. This battle really set the stage for the rest of the evening.

Immediately after the sprint, three teams were under pressure and in danger of losing a lap in the first five minutes of racing. Team Brantford with Eric Robertson and Piers Davidge began closing the half lap to the two leading teams, which took five minutes of constant jamming. As Brantford caught the two leading teams, Team Delhi faltered and had trouble holding the pace of the Waterloo and Brantford teams who then gapped the Delhi riders. After 15 minutes of constant jamming, the race settled into the midway Team Sprint. This is when each team had to make an exchange in an effort to equalize the skill required to not only go fast but be able to coordinate a handsling exchange. Again it was the Delhi team taking the quick time and the 7 points on offer for the overall competition on Night #3. All of the other teams finished the sprints less than a second behind. Because of the long opening jam, there were only four minutes left in the session before the final sprint. Out of nowhere came the London Team of Dave St. James and Dave Byer. Over the top they came, and before the field could react the London team had a half lap lead. All the teams were full on and could not make any ground on the leaders. With 10 laps to go the London Team finished things off with getting back on even terms with the Brantford and Waterloo teams who had gained a lap earlier. At the end of the session the sprint went to the London duo who surprised everyone with a dash to the end of the first session of the night. The spectators could have gone home at this point as they would have got their moneys worth of racing. However, there were still two sessions or sixty-plus minutes of racing to go.

The London Track League entertained the crowd while the Madison riders took an extra 5 minutes to recover for the second session.

Early in session two saw another $100 sprint which was won by the Delhi Team, followed by another full on jam. After gaining a lap at the end of the previous session the London Team was in trouble. Shortly afterward Team Delhi missed an exchange and both teams lost a lap to the Waterloo, Brantford & Burlington teams. Coming up to the mid-way Miss & Out, the Burlington team of Garnett Abbey and Kurt Schreiter launched another attack to get back on even terms with the two leaders, and after five minutes everything was back together and the race officials had mercy on the riders with a Miss & Out. The only problem was that the riders didn't take it easy and the hammerfest continued. In the end a hard battle ensued with a tie on points between the evening's two top teams. Thankfully the last fifteen minutes of the session were at tempo speeds as no team had the legs to attack, that is until 10 laps to go when Abbey from Burlington jumped hard and gapped the field and held on for the very deserved victory and the valuable 7 points. The Brantford team was then ahead of the Waterloo team by 8 points and an almost insurmountable lead. The other teams were all 1 or 2 laps behind.

All the racers were pretty much bagged at the beginning of the third and last 30 minutes of the night. Recovery and staying out of trouble was the formula for the two lead teams during the final session, countering all the moves made by the teams that were down a lap. The race came down to the final sprint for double points. Brantford sealed the night's victory with a convincing sprint win over Burlington, Waterloo, Delhi, and London.

In the end Brantford took the win with Waterloo finishing second on the same lap but getting smoked in the sprints. Third place went to Burlington, followed by the London and Delhi teams. Check out full results on our Results page.

A special thank you to all of the London track racers, super-subs and volunteers who worked hard all weekend to make the first half of the Six-Day Race safe and run on time.

Six-Day racing continues next weekend, Friday, February 3, 2006 and Saturday, February 4, 2006 at 7:00 pm. The final chase is on Sunday, February 5, 2006 at 2:00 pm.

If it has been a long time since you saw a real bike race, make plans to attend one, two or all three days of racing next weekend.

Second Night of Six-Day Racing Sees Some Very Close Finishes
January 29, 2006

Another thrilling display of Madison racing entertained the crowd for the second night of the Six-Day Race at the Forest City Velodrome in London, Ontario on Saturday, January 28, 2006. The officials were kept on their toes with a number of photo finishes in the battles for sprint wins and miss & out placings.

In the first session Team Delhi, Keith Thorarison and Mike Renneboog, again took the honours with a blistering time of 17.88 seconds in the team sprints, just under a full second faster than second place Team Brantford, Eric Robertson and Piers Davidge. Team Brantford turned the tables on Delhi and took the last sprint of the session to produce a tie in points for first place. Waterloo and Burlington both made valiant efforts to get away after the sprints and gain a lap on the field but were ultimately brought back into the fold. Dave Byer of the London team started the race despite having severe stomach problems last night. Dave continued to ride stronger as the night progressed and with partner Dave St. James showed that London will still be a force to be dealt with as he gets back in form.

The second session miss & out was so close that on one occasion the judges decision had to be revised when the photo finish was reviewed. Delhi and Brantford tied for points in the event. The session ended with Delhi holding a slim three point lead over Brantford.

In the third session team London, Waterloo and Burlington attacked again and again and tried to get away and gain a lap but were brought back. The end result was that the points were the determining factor - the closely-matched teams were unable to gain a lap on each other. The final sprint of the night was for double points and Davidge and Robertson really pounded the boards and came home winners taking the first place standing away from Delhi and beating them by one point - 47 to 46.

After two days of racing, in the overall standings three teams are tied for first place with 18 points each with the remaining two teams, Waterloo and London, right on their heels.

Check out the photo finish of Abbey edging out Davidge in sprint action on our Photo Gallery page. Full results are listed on our Results page.

Don't miss Day Three racing which starts on Sunday, January 29, 2006 at 2:00 pm as it looks like it will be another nail biter.

First Night of 6-Day Racing Fast and Aggressive
January 28, 2006

If you like bicycle racing, Friday, January 27, 2006 was one of the best nights of aggressive racing we have had in Ontario in a long time. Night #2 on Saturday at 7:00 pm should be just as exciting.

It was sprinter night or so it seemed in the first two Madisons. The Delhi Team with super fast Keith Thoranson & Mike Renneboog had the field covered by winning the first 5 points sprints of the evening. By the end of the second Madison they had built up a lead on points that could only be defeated by another team taking a lap on the entire field.

The night of racing is broken into three segments of 30 minutes each. During the 30 minute segments the organizers usually have the teams compete for sprint points, however to spice the racing up the teams were asked to do a flying 2 laps just like the Velo-Kids, but with a twist: each team during the 2 lap dash had to do a hand sling to throw their partner into the final lap. This is where the Delhi team first showed that the sprints are going to be hard to win. Their time of 18.37 was a tenth faster than the Burlington team of Garnet Abbey and Vince DeJong. All of the other teams were very close behind. The sprints continued and Team Delhi won the final sprint of the first segment to take a large lead into the second 30-minute session.

The second segment saw the teams still feeling each other out with a couple of attacks but no one was able to get away. At the midpoint of this session the organizers put in a Miss& Out, always a crowd pleaser. The final sprint came down to the Brantford Team (Eric Robertson and Piers Davidge) and Team Waterloo (Neil Dignam and Rob Good). With two laps to go Robertson blew the race wide open with a solid attack that Dignam could not respond to and the win went to the Brantford bunch. However the top points went to Team Delhi due to the fact that they stayed in the race the longest and the combined points of both riders meant that they won again.

In the third Madison of the night, the teams knew that if they were to win they had to put Team Delhi down a lap. The first jam was started by an aggressive move by Team London which included Dave St. James and three other partners. Dave went through three different partners on the night because of the illness of his partner Dave Byer, who we are hoping will return to action on Saturday night. The first attack was short lived. However, three minutes into the session the Burlington Team of Abbey and DeJong went over the top in what turned out to be close to 15 minutes of eye-popping speed. They gained half a lap very quickly and when it seemed they were about to falter they attacked again. All the while the other four teams unsuccessfully were trying to claw them back. After 10 minutes Abbey finally made his way to the back of the bunch, and that's when a counter attack went off the front of the bunch and the jam continued for another couple of minutes. It all came back together and the Burlington Team had their hard-earned lap on the field, almost guaranteeing a win on the night. With all the legs of the riders shattered, the racing continued with the final sprints of the night, won by Davidge from Team Brantford and the Delhi team.

In the end, Team Burlington with the lap gained in the final Madison sealed the victory on Night #1 of the Forest City 6-Day Bicycle Race. Full results are available on our Results page.

Racing resumes on Saturday night, January 28, 2006 at 7:00 pm. If you are in London you will not want to miss any of the action.

6-Day Racing Returns to the Forest City Velodrome
January 25, 2006

The Forest City Velodrome would like to announce our 6-Day Bicycle Races on January 27, 28 and 29 and February 3, 4, and 5, 2006. The racing will take place Fridays and Saturdays at 7:00 pm and Sundays at 2:00 pm.

Come out and support the velodrome and see thrills, chills and (hopefully no) spills on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the next two weekends.

Featuring Madison team racing at its finest.

Bring your friends, your family, your friends' families and make so much noise that Rob wishes he had PA volume that went to 11 and not just 10.

Download the 50% off coupon and bring a copy to get your own 50% ticket discount. Kids get in for free! Please make copies to go to schools, bike shops, libraries, arenas, wherever.

Note - anyone considering riding the track recreationally in the text two Thursday to Sunday periods, please check out our Track Closures section for updates.

Can-Am-Que Challenge a Great Success
January 22, 2006

A great night of track racing was had on Saturday, January 21, 2006 at the Forest City Velodrome with the Can-Am-Que Challenge. The London, Ontario-based velodrome hosted an event that had riders cheering for each other, the Velo-Kids in a dead heat in the Pursuit, and the Madison won on the final corner. Riders and spectators alike had a blast.

In the Challenge section of the program, the competition was a battle over three events during the evening. Junior Quebec racer Lawrence Laroux set a fast time in the Flying Lap with two Ontario riders finishing second and third. The accumulated time for the Ontario riders was enough to for them to take the top honours in the first event, with Quebec finishing second and the US coming in a close third.

The Olympic Sprint race was the second Challenge event, with nine teams of three riders each entered. The Ontario Team of Piers Davidge, Rob Good, and Keith Thorianson clocked in at 33.80 seconds. The US team from Michigan which included junior rider Matt Rose, Bob Ackers and Terry Palmer finished second with team Quebec being edged out by just over a second and finishing third.

The Keirin was the final event of the Challenge, pitting two riders from each team in a single event final, with no qualifying round, just an 8-lap dash for glory. As the pacer came off the track with 3.5 laps to go, Ontario's Keith Thorianson jumped the field to open a gap. With 1.5 laps to go Laroux, the junior rider from Quebec, came out of nowhere to get on the wheel of the speedy Thorianson. In a blink of a eye, with 1 lap to go, Laroux attacked Thorianson, who had dumped his legs on the backstretch in an attempt to hold off the very quick Canadian Junior Sprint Champion. Although Laroux came out the winner in the Keirin, his win was not enough for the Quebec team to pass the Ontario Team for the Can-Am-Que Challenge. Full results are available on our Results page.

Racing continues next weekend (January 27-29, 2006) with the first half of the Forest City Velodrome's Six-Day Bike Race. Racing begins at 7:00 pm Friday and Saturday nights, with the Sunday event beginning at 2:00 pm. The London Track League will also be racing each night of the Six-Day.

Spectator admission is $10 for adults, $5 for seniors, and children are admitted free.

Track Commissaire Course, February 4-5, 2006
January 21, 2006

The Ontario Cycling Association is offering a Level 2 Track Commissaire Course on Saturday, February 4 and Sunday, February 5, 2006 at the Forest City Velodrome.

International commissaire Louise Lalonde from Quebec will conduct the course.

Schedule

Saturday, February 4, 2006
11:00 am – 5:00 pm Classroom Instruction
Evening Practical Race Experience

Sunday, February 5, 2006
9:00 am – 1:00 pm Classroom Instruction
Afternoon Practical Experience

The cost of the course is $50 (no accommodation) or $100 (with accommodation). Accommodation will be at the Travelodge London, only minutes away from the velodrome.

Space is limited so sign up now. Contact Jeremey Ludwig at the Ontario Cycling Association to register by email at events@ontariocycling.org or by phone at (416) 426-7241.

This course is made possible with a generous grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Racing to be Fast and Furious at the Can-Am-Que Challenge
January 21, 2006

Many top track racers from all over the North-eastern US and Quebec will be taking on the Ontario contingent at the Forest City Velodrome this Saturday night, January 21, 2006 at 7:00 pm.

The Can-Am-Que Challenge is a tune-up for the Short Track Cycling Championships to be held at the Forest City Velodrome in February. The London, Ontario velodrome measures 138m in distance. Speeds of elite racers can easily top 63kph on this track, with an average lap time of 8.3 seconds.

Racers will be split into three categories on Saturday night, depending on the ability of each rider. The two hours of edge-of-your-seat entertainment will see close to 12 races. Events include the crowd-pleasing Flying Lap with $500 on the line for the rider who goes under 7.8 seconds and the ever-popular Scratch Race. The night will conclude with a Team Race where two riders per team race elbow to elbow to try and gain a lap on the field.

In the Challenge portion of the evening, spectators will be treated to an Olympic-style race - the Team Sprint Competition. In this race three riders form a team with each rider sprinting for a lap then pulling high on the track to let their teammate come through. The third and last rider stops the watch to determine who will win the Challenge.

Already in London for the event is 2005 Junior Sprint Championship Lawrence Laroux from Montreal, who just received his new National Team bike. At $10,000 a copy the Look bicycle frame is going to turn some heads. Lawrence will be racing in the Senior Category in order to gain valuable speed and experience for the Canadian Championships in July. There is a very good possibility that he will be able to smash the track lap record of 8.17 seconds set by Alberta's Zach Bell. Bell is away this weekend in Los Angeles competing for Canada in the World Cup of Track Cycling event.

Spectator admission is $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for seniors, and kids are admitted free.

Can-Am-Que Challenge to be held on Saturday, January 21, 2006
January 16, 2006

On Saturday, January 21, 2006 track racers from the United States, Quebec & Ontario will be coming to the Forest City Velodrome for an exciting evening of track racing.

The Can-Am-Que Challenge will take place at 7:00 PM.

This event will be an Omnium-style challenge. Racers will have to compete in all events throughout the evening to accumulate points for the team. In addition if there are enough clubs with three or more riders there will be an Inter-Club Challenge.

Download the full event schedule and come out to this exciting event. Other event listings can be found on the Race Calendar page.

Sprint Training Camp with World Champion Gord Singleton
January 10, 2006

Learn sprinting secrets from a World Champion. Canadian great and former multiple world record holder Gord Singleton will hold an on-bike workshop on sprinting at the Forest City Velodrome on Saturday, January 14, 2006 from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM.

The clinic is limited to the first ten registrants and is open to riders with track racing experience only. Junior-aged riders are especially encouraged to attend. Cost is free to Forest City Velodrome members and $20 to all others.

To pre-register, please email Mike Tierney at miket@execulink.com (no phone calls please). Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Mike will be confirming registrations on Friday afternoon.

This is a unique opportunity. Don't miss your chance! Register today.