Pretty well socked in by snow here in Michigan today, I was saved from a boring day by a friend who had loaned me Jeff Groman's Book and DVD Film about six day bicycle racing. I recall a few years ago when Jeff gave a talk at Cirque how I was amazed to discover just how big six day racing once was. The book was ok, lots of nice photos, but I thought it a bit static.
Then I put the DVD on.
Seventy Five minutes of pure pleasure! Wonderful moving picture footage, along with plenty of great still photos and Frank Deford doing the commentary, which he did just amazingly well. It was really cool to see these guys on the race track. Some of the bike handling was just awesome, especially when a very fast rider was threading their way through a slower moving pack. Such Crashes! Real mayhem at times. So many cool bikes! Such speed! So much money changing hands. Lots of great perspectives in the interviews. Exciting!
I came away from the film with a whole new appreciation for what a big deal this really was. Someone can tell you about it , someone can show you still photos in a book, but nothing can replace the actual footage shown and the sounds and the many great interviews with the real folks involved. I just can't recommend this DVD highly enough. One of the greatest films ever about cycling. Don't miss it!
Tom Sanders
Lansing, MI USA