Velo-city: Track Racing in T-Town
Trexlertown, PA
by Nate Carrick

July 15, 2005

---

PHOTO GALLERY
Photos © Logan Gruber

RACE REPORT
The theme of tonight's racing was certainly teamwork at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome. There were several events spread throughout the evening where eleven two man teams could earn points towards the omnium, or overall championship.

The first team event was a 10 kilometer Madison. As always in Madison's, the pace was as high as the tension and close calls were the order of the day. The winners were the team of Bobby Lea and Mike Friedman, scoring top points towards the omnium.

A team Elimination race was the next opportunity the riders could score points. In this miss and out race, instead of the winner taking home money, he took home money and points for his team. Savory, juicy points. Earning top honors by breaking away towards the end was Mike Friedman. Gui Nelesson beat out Friedman's teammate Bobby Lea for second.

The third opportunity for points was based on top speed rather than endurance, as it was a 1 lap time trial with a Madison style hand sling in the middle. Constructing a crushing win, the team of Marty Nothstein and Peter Fitzpatrick turned in a time of 18.79 seconds. Their closest rivals were the team of Mike Beers and John Norfolk in a comparatively paltry time of 19.44 seconds.

In their final chance to gain points, the 20 kilometer Madison was an all out battle to beat the other riders into the ground. However, emerging the winner at the end was once again Bobby Lea and Mike Friedman.
Once all the points were tallied Mary Nothstein and Peter Fitzpatrick had enough points to be crowned the kings of…well, Friday night. Second place went to Bobby Lea and Mike Friedman. Both of these teams rode very aggressively throughout the night, and were duly rewarded by having their names announced a lot. I think they must have gotten some money out of it. At least I hope so.

The team races weren't the only ones that went on tonight. There was an invite only sprint tournament that came down to a battle between teammates. Ben Barczewski rode against Mike Schnabel, both fresh off impressive performances and many medals at the Jr. National Track Championships. Barczewski powered away to take the win.

The women had a "Devil-Scratch" race, which was part miss and out and part scratch race. After eliminating the last rider across the line for the first six laps, the remaining riders battled it out for another 9 laps to determine the winner. Ashley Kimmet, starting a trend that would last all night, beat the bunch to the line.

The next women's race was an 8 kilometer points race. Since Kimmet won a silver medal at the Jr. World Championships a few years ago in the points race, it was no surprise that she took out the win here.

The final women's race was an odd one; a 2 kilometer handicap race. The riders began from standing starts, staggered around the bottom of the track. The hope was that by the end, the stronger riders (who started at the end) would catch the slower riders (who started at the front) just in time to make it one great bunch sprint for the line with everyone involved. To the organizer's credit, that's pretty much what happened, and Ashley Kimmet won again. Unbelievable, I know, but there isn't much the other riders can do when Kimmet just kicks so much ass like she does. Sorry ladies.

Anyway, the night was fun, exciting, and warm; all things that one should come to expect from a Friday night of racing at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in mid July.

By the way, next week the races are going to be held on Saturday night instead of the normal Friday. Apparently there may be some die-hard fans that just can't make it to the races on Fridays, so the administration is switching things up a bit in an effort to make this the best damn Velodrome this side of [insert funny place with no real relevance]. If you can make it, make it. If you can't, make it anyway. For goodness sake, there's beer and free live music! Why wouldn't you?

PS- I'm not a real journalist yet, so cut me some slack. In fact, I feel a little silly sitting up in the press booth next to all the REAL journalists. If you want a more concise and clear description of what actually happened, I recommend reading their articles. I'll do my best, and get the general idea across, but I'm certainly not going to slay my Friday night fun for

Race report courtesy of Nate Carrick