The second set of races at the 'Thunderdrome' were held on April 30, 2011. The Thunderdrome is the mostly reclaimed velodrome at Dorais park, at the corner of Mound and Outer Drive. Most of the races held were for various types of motorcycles (and one go-cart race), and some bicycle races. I had heard about the first event last year, but it occurred the day after my leg injury, so I did not race or attend. This month I've been able to race my cyclocross bike and my IGH Raleigh, so I was intrigued about the possibility of a fixed gear race, which Thunderdrome offered. Plus there looked to be decent prizes, though I wasn't thinking too hard in that direction. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of doing a fixed gear race, even with not ever riding in a velodrome, seemed like a good introduction. So I registered online, got Saturday morning set up, doing a shortened BTT with the family and then getting over to the park around 11 am. JimS had read my post on the BERC list and was also intrigued enough that he met me over there after his run in Birmingham (nothing like a 15 mile run to get warmed up for some cycling).
He registered for the mountain bike race, and I checked in for the CycleHawkNYC Messenger Class race, as the fixed gear race was called. For good reason--CyclehawkNYC was offering the winner an all expenses paid trip to New York for the national level Messenger Class race. The winner there moves onto to the International championship in Poland. In any event, we were in position to race, just a matter of finding out, or as the case was, waiting until our respective races were announced. There was no set schedule...
I don't recall exactly which class of motorcycle they started out with, but the first cycling race was the geared bikes race. I think this one had 5-6 partcipants. The race was short, 5 laps, and was over in a matter of minutes. More motorcycle races... then the mountain bike race. The mountain bike race may have been the single longest distance event of the day, as it used ~3/4 of the velodrome, and then a course through the field up to the hill in the park (which was surprisingly big for Detroit), then down and back to the velodrome. The racers did two laps in the park, and 1.75 'laps' of the track. The long grassy climb looked tough--Jim and I scouted the course, and the grass was long and the soil still quite soggy. Jim was able to slog through despite the conditions and his stout single speed gearing, and came out with a second place finish Nice job Jim!
Jim hung around for a while longer, but it was coming rapidly apparent the fixed gear race would be last because of the more extensive prizes. He had another event going on and had to take off around 3 pm. He did get to see one of the 'off the cuff' races. The organizer punctuated the day with two what seemed to be impromptu races for cash prizes. The first was a running race, top prize of $150 going to the winner of a one lap running race, the second was a 'mini-triathalon' which consisted of doing three cycling laps, 1.25 running laps, and then slogging through a giant puddle/pond in the infield for the finish. Jim was tempted on the running race, but was not keen on running in his cycling shoes; I thought about the second one, but was not keen running in my cycling shoes or getting all wet before my race. The winner of the mini-triathalon walked away with $200... It was a good thing that Jim didn't do the running the race, the organizer threw in another twist, and ended up giving the top prizes to the bottom three finishers; he was all enthralled with this fellow who casually strolled around the track smoking a cigarillo (and finishing last). He loved this and gave that guy the $150.00.
After the mountain bike race and Jim leaving, more waiting, though there was plenty of sights to take in. The motorbike racing was interesting and very fast for some of the classes. The largest motorbike class was the mopeds, which had three heats and then a final race. Someone crashed during the final, and the race was called off by agreement. The other aspect of the day is it never got quite as warm as predicted. The day stayed cloudy and in the mid-50s, rather than cloudy and the mid-60s. So I was never warm, and never did run to my car to get a coat, not wanting to miss the start of my race. So I was usually a bit chilled despite my light full sleeve base layer. Finally the Messenger Class race was next, and things happened pretty quick.
All of the races used a Le Mans start, where the bikes would be held at the top of the middle of the track, and the racers would stand at the bottom and run up to their bike/motorbike to start. Our bikes were lined up, all eight of us racers were lined up at the bottom, and the organizer was asking us how many laps we wanted to to. I suggested seven, but the number determined was 5. After basically standing around for 5 hours, the race was starting... The start went fine, I ran up and mounted without set backs and was able to be close to the middle of the pack right from the start. For the first three laps I gradually advanced, and on the fourth lap made a move on the SE corner to catch the group of the three leaders. I hung with them for most of a lap, but this time at the SE corner the three in front made their move and the gap between them and me got a lot bigger. I pedaled for all I was worth, at least hoping to hang onto fourth place, which is where I ended up finishing. I forgot to turn off my Garmin right away, doing a cool down lap with it still recording. Total distance was 1.25 miles or so in 3:49, including the cool down lap. So the actual race was about a mile and around 3 minutes...
As an added bonus, prizes went four deep, and I scored a set of Velocity Deep V rims, the Benny Gold special edition. The organizer also gave out Continental tires and tubes, and I also got a pair socks. Having a good time at the race and walking away with some goods made the afternoon of waiting much more tolerable. If I go again in the fall, I will definitely consider registering for more than one cycling race, suggested to the promoter to offer a multi-race discount with a 'triple crown prize' for riders who compete in all races. Riders in each race will earn points depending on their finish, and rider(s) with the most points win some extra prizes, or they get to compete in a fourth event, or something along those lines.
All in all a fun day.
Photo links:
photos I took
Messenger Race
Very extensive gallery, taken by the photographer of the Messenger race:
Chris Cunnington Thunderdrome photos
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