The Rich Reports!
25-Sep-2023
Hammerheads,
Ray and I arrived in Manchester this morning. Ray flew through Toronto and I flew through Trorpical Storm Ophelia in New York City! Fortunately, all flights were on time. I landed at 7:30am Manchester time (12:30am Denver time ) on 3 hours sleep and Ray landed at 10am on the same. We grabbed lunch then an Uber to the Track since our hotel check-in time was 2pm. Once there we found the staff to be quite helpful as they allowed us to set up our bikes and get in a roller spin. Then they found a place for us to lock up our bikes since it’s a few days until we can officially keep everything there. Finally it was time to check in to our hotel and then off to a good dinner just down the street. Back at our room we are unable to see straight from lack of sleep so it’s time to turn in. We are hoping for a full solid good night’s sleep as we have a session booked at 1pm on the Track tomorrow. Simply riding Manchester Velodrome is a bucket list item. It’s been four years since last riding it so I am excited to get back on not to mention getting some good preparation for Team Sprint this Saturday.
Shannon Fox, Dean Todd, Barry Lindler and Mike Dancel arrive on Thursday along with Joe Paulsen from Boulder Masters. Steve Vela will be heading out soon too, and then things will really feel like Worlds!
Rich
YouTube Live We are pleased to announce the JTFCREATIVE live stream coverage of the championships Follow the link below for full details Masters Live Stream 2023 (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrLknd-Sw-B7jpJGjx2F-SlC4zH4ONLy2)
26-Sep-2023
Hammerers,
It was a pretty sedate day today. Ray and I delt with REAL problems though, like the coffee machine at our hotel breakfast being broken. I am sorry, but instant coffee packs and hot water does not fix that! We had breakfast with a ton of people staying there for the Shania Twain “Queen of me” concert, the night before. Almost no room to sit and enjoy our instant coffee!
We fixed things by walking over to a bakery called “Gooey” and Ray enjoyed an Americano and I had a flat white. All is good now 🙂 We went back to our room, packed up and Ubered over to the Track for our schedule session. All went well and we got in a some good efforts. What a great Track! I could feel the energy of Chris Hoy, Jamie Staff and Jason Kenny keeping me glued to the black line. Ray felt it too! I’m not making this up, it’s real!
After a nice dinner next door to our rooms, we just chilled. Tomorrow looks to be even more chill. Then everyone arrives and another Track session on Thursday. All is good!
Rich
Mike Dancel — Leaving TelAviv and On the Way!!
28-Sep-2023
Hammmmmmerheads!
Two more days until the fireworks start! Today everyone arrived. Even the non Hammer “friends of Hammer” are now here. Ray and I started the day with a nice breakfast then over to the Track at noon to do our training session and then hang out so we could get a primo spot for the Team on the infield. We were told it would open at 5pm so after our session (which went very well!) we hung out waiting for the infield rush. At 4:30 we lined up and were second in line to get in and pick our area that would be the Hammer home for the next week. We got a nice spot and saved the adjoining area for Brian Abers group. We now have the perfect Team Colorado spot for Worlds!
Currently in Manchester from Colorado:
Shannon Fox
Mike Dancel
Dean Todd
Barry Lindler
Steve Vela
Ray Gildea
Myself
Joe Paulsen
Brian Abers
Mike Paulin
I’m sure I forgot someone, so my apologies if I did.
Rich
Hammeronies,
Today was the last day of preparation and was registration day. Most everyone was at the Track getting in a last spin or workout. Then to pick up race numbers and for some to sign up for Team events. Tomorrow is…SHOWTIME!
Rich
30-Sept-2023
Hammerheads!
We miss you all here in Manchester. It’s now 11am on Sunday morning and I just Ubered over to the Track. First business of the day is to fill you in on yesterdays happenings. I was busy racing on the first day of the World Masters Track Championships so this report had to wait. In the first session which started at 2pm had sprints and Team Sprint along with some Pursuits. Ray and I arrived nice and early and did a leisurely warmup. At 4:30 it was go time for the qualifying rounds. Ray and I rode with Ed Kissee from LA and qualified 2nd and so were in the Gold medal round. After the break we watched Steve Vela ride a very strong scratch race, avoiding a potential crash and finishing a strong 13th place. He was in it right up to the end. Joe Paulson rode his scratch race and had a good riding where he finished in 5th place. Ray and I had our final the very last race of the evening at 10:30pm. We took a half second off our time from the first ride, but it wasn’t enough to overtake the winning team. Silver was our medal color.
This morning Shannon Fox has his Team Pursuit qualifying and this afternoon Dean Todd and Mike Paulin have their 500m Time Trials. I’ll keep you posted!!
Rich
1-Oct-2023
Hammmmmmmerererers,
It’s Monday morning here and I am writing the report for yesterday.
Happy October! I can’t believe October is here already. Time flys! Do you know what flys faster than time? Shannon Fox and his Team Pursuit teammates does! Holy Cow! Not only a Gold Medal/World Championship, but also a World Record by…get this… 8 FULL SECONDS! Ok, enough exclamation points but they were necessary here. This also meant a trip to drug testing for the entire TP Team so that the record can be official. Their ride was a thing of beauty. I only wish you all could have seen it in person. Shannon simply rocked it.
Earlier in the day were some 500 time trials. Barry Lindler and Steve Vela finished 22nd and 23rd respectively with very strong rides in a HUGE 55-59 age category. Mike Paulin came in 7th and Brian Abers finished 5th in the same group. You all know how strong they are so it gives some insight into the caliber of riders this year. Dean was the lone 60-64 rider and at by the 11th heat he rode strong and had the fastest time at that point. He finished 7th for the day with a personal best and excellent time.
It was quite a day with more to come. Stay tuned!
Rich
2-Oct-2023
Hammerheads,
Yesterday started off with a darn good pursuit by Steve Vela. He rode a 2:33 for his 2K pursuit and finished in the top 10 with a 9th place. Joe Paulson rode his 2K Pursuit as well, going 2:32 and finishing 11th in his category. In the evening session, Mike Dancel had his 500 riding a 37.0 and finishing 17th in a star-studded category . Last up late was Shannon riding his Scratch Race. That was a fast one! There were attacks from the git go and they never stopped. I didn’t get his final placing so will post that later.
Rich
3-Oct-2023
Hammeronies,
Tuesday was a very busy day with Sprints and 500’s for the Team and Colorado friends. In the morning Barry Lindler, Dean Todd, Mike Paulin and Brian Abers had their 200meter sprint qualifiers. Barry rode a strong sea level time of 12.7 but didn’t quite make the cut for the Sprints. Dean in his age group rode a 12.6 for 11th seed and did make the cut but was ousted in the first round. Mike Paulin went 11.6 for 8th seed and Brian Abers rocked an 11.4 for 3rd seed. Mike was ousted in the first round with Brian making it through to the Semifinals which are being held on Wednesday.
In the evening it was time for the 500m time trails with Ray and Rich going for it. It was a tough group and when the dust cleared Ray ended up in 7th and Rich in 8th place.
Wednesday is finals in the Sprint for Brian and a Points Race for Shannon. Stay tuned!!
Rich
4-Oct-2023
Hammerheads,
We are now past the halfway point of the Masters World Track Cycling Championship. Did I mention that time flies?
Wednesday was a lighter day of racing for Hammer and it’s Colorado friends as far as racing. Shannon Fox had a Points race that was on fire. Shannon rode well and took a top 10 placing with a solid 10th place. Joe Paulson also had a Points race and as expected at a World Championship, the pace was on fire too. Joe rode very well into a strong 7th place finish. Brian Abers had his Sprint semi-finals and finals. He rode some amazing sprint rounds with a Bronze medal to show for his hard work.
Rich
5-Oct-2023
Hammerers,
It’s been a busy few days, so I am somewhat late on my reports.
Thursday – Thursday was Team Sprint day for Barry Lindler, Shannon Fox and Steve Vela. Also, Mike Paulin and Brian Abers had their Team Sprint as well. The Hammer Train had a PR ride and came in a strong 7th place! The Aber/Paulin Team just missed out on the finals by .8 of a second finishing 5th. The big story of the day was the epic evening at Angles Pub for a “Breakfast Stout” then off to the Marble Arch Pub for dinner. Hanging out with good friends after racing is almost he best part of trips like these. 😊
Friday – Friday was Team Spring for Dean and Team Pursuit for Steve Vela. Dean rode with Will Wong on Charles Moore. Steve Vela rode Team Pursuit with Joe Paulson, Brian Abers (Yes you are reading this correctly, Brian rode Team Pursuit) and Eric Brown. It was an awesome night of racing, with Dean and his Team snagging a Silver Medal, just .1 of a second from the Gold. Soooooooo close! Either way a Silver Medal is still pretty darn awesome. In the Team Pursuit Steve Vela and Team pulled off a Bronze Medal in their final. Wooohoo! First Worlds medal for Steve! Congrats to today’s Medal winners!
It’s now Saturday morning and the final Hammer racer is the Track Ironman, Shannon Fox. Shannon has done two rounds of Team Pursuit, Scratch Race, Points race and Team Sprint. Evidently that’s not enough racing as Shannon has his Individual Pursuit coming up shortly. I’ll wait and finish this report after he’s finished.
(Theme from Jeopardy plays) Do do do do do do do. Do do do do DO da do do..do …do DO.
A very tired Shannon Fox finished his pursuit in 8th place. Well done, Shannon!
And that’s a wrap! Hammer is taking home a Gold a couple Silvers and some Bronzes. What a trip and week of racing it has been. I hope you enjoy todays pics. The Pub pics from Thursday are going to be revisited this evening before Shannon and I head home tomorrow. 😊 Y’all should start thinking about next years Championships! Roubaix France is hosting for the first time and I guarantee you’d enjoy it thoroughly!
See you back on the other side of the Pond!
Rich
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