This was a wonderful event and I had a great time.
Next year I'm planning on being there both days and bringing my Bobet's and some of my other machines.
Aaron Gonya,
Arcadia, Ohio USA.
RoadBike Festival
> Americane, DAY 1:
> The rain storms rolled through with authority, which delayed the arrival
> of
> some, and the start of events, but soon enough the skies were clear, the
> track was dry, and the first annual Americane' Vintage Track and Road
> Bike
> Festival was underway. We have been reminded that both the Cirque du
> Cyclisme and RAGBRAI, among other giants on the bicycle event calendar,
> started
> small and quaint ... as did we, with only a select handful of vendors,
> displays, and riders. Still, we had some respectable guests, including
> Alan
> Bernstein of New York City and family, with his local nephew who rode the
> track for the first time with aplomb, Paul Lewis, wife and friends from
> Marietta Ohio, Matt Churches from Ann Arbor, and Larry Tesch from Saginaw
> ...
> he's the person that supplied us with what became our event flyer photo
> ...
> thanks Larry. List member Gene Diggs, a regular fixture at the track,
> was
> there and is always fun to hang out with. Tom O'Rourke came up through
> the
> Wolverine ranks, and competed in cycling the 1952 Olympic Games in
> Helsinki.
> Tom began racing again a few years ago, and was there for "photo ops" and
> to sign autographs. Some of the steel to be ogled was as follows, in no
> specific order:
>
> '42 Urago with pedigree, now restored, but also seen original in our
> event
> photo, taken in 1943.
> '74 Masi California G.C. pantographed, with special Mario-like frame
> touches.
> '60s Cinelli track tandem with skip-tooth gears. At least I think it is
> a
> '60s bike.
> '77 Raleigh Professional in wonderfully unrestored and original
> condition.
> '83 Basso Pista with Record Pista gruppo.
> '80 Moser with Super Record, built by Bottecchia.
> '74 Piemme Pista with Record Pista gruppo including milled cranks.
> '89 Battaglin TT bike with curved down/sloping top tube.
> '77 Poggiali Tour De Suisse, made by the same hands as Montelatici
> frames.
> 1890-1910 Pelham Track bike.
> '65 Schwinn Paramount Track, full chrome, with skip-tooth gears.
> '61 Schwinn Paramount Road, refinished in '70s Team Schwinn silver
> livery.
> '55 Torpado Corsa with early Gran Sport.
> '60 Torpado Sport Tourer with early Gian Robert gears and Simplex
> rod-shift front der.
> '74 Torpado Pista, from Montreal when the Track Worlds were there.
> '84 Torpado Superlight with Super Record.
>
> There may have been some others, but this is what was registered. Some
> people showed bikes, some swapped, some bought and sold, some rode track,
> and
> some watched and cheered others on. The rain never showed again, and the
> weather remained sunny and hot. Soon, the day was nearing its end, as
> cyclists in modern gear, on modern track bikes began to be seen warming up
> for
> the official racing that evening. Some of the core crew made it to a
> local
> restaurant/pub in downtown Rochester for dinner and beers. A good day
> was
> had by all. Following the official track racing, We had the opportunity
> to go over to one of the track VIP's home for food and bike movies, but
> only
> Tim had enough energy and gumption to say yes to the offer. The
> highlight
> of the day, for me, was the Cinelli track tandem that some of us had the
> chance to ride stoker on ... what a blast! End of day one...
>
>
> Americane DAY 2:
> Sunday saw expectations for an early start of the time trial event at
> Stony
> Creek Metro Park, but once again, unexpected delays were to be had. When
> we arrived starting at 8 am, our selected and park approved area, already
> had a HUGE conglomeration and constant flow of people participating in
> some
> sort of obstacle course charity event, blocking, crossing over, and
> routing right through our time trial path ... and I mean likely over 1000
> people!
> After coming to grips with the fact that holding our time trial there as
> planned, would be impossible, those in attendance decided to do the road
> ride around the park first, instead of AFTER the TT event conclusion.
>
> The road ride was very nice, with a couple of people kicking it up a
> couple of times, and a couple of smooth and steady riders bringing up the
> rear.
> Soon we were back at the TT location, when the bulk of "Nutty Buddies",
> as
> the charity event people were called, had moved out and were gone. But,
> still too many stragglers and cars remained. So, we relocated to the
> next
> parking lot down the way, added on an extra lap of the course to (try to)
> make up for the locale change, and our time trial was underway. Tom Cox
> and
> Clyde Esbri handled time keeping, while five cyclists competed, starting
> in
> the following order, and with finish times:
>
> Mark Agree (84 Torpado Superlight) - 23min54sec
> Todd Schaefer (75 Colnago Super) - 24:36
> Tim Potter (80 Moser) - 22:17
> Dennis White (86 Batavus) - 23:42
> Chuck Wicht (77 Raleigh Pro) - 28:19
>
> The course was an out and back, with cul-de-sac turnarounds at each end.
> Out was predominantly up hill, with one climb almost at the turnaround
> point, that turned into a real leg killer after several laps. Kind of
> felt
> like a miniature version of the Fle`che Wallonne (if that's the European
> professional race with the difficult climb thrown in lap after lap .. the
> Mur de
> Huy, or something like that). A simple wristwatch was used for
> time-keeping, as riders were released in one minute intervals. The
> distance covered,
> much to our surprise, ended up being only 7.68 miles for the one rider
> who
> had a computer mounted. Chuck, the last starter, missed the road ride,
> never got in a warm up lap, and got stuck behind a slow and indecisive
> truck
> at a sticky area. This prevented him from going around the truck, and
> thus
> a good deal of time was lost there. Our head organizer Tim Potter was
> the
> powerhouse of the day, shattering the next closest competitor's time by
> one minute, twenty five seconds. His average speed was round-a-bout (as
> Paul
> Sherwin would say) 21 mph. My injured shoulder was giving no complaint,
> so I went ahead and gave it my best, which netted me third place, and a
> spot
> on the podium.
>
> We were lucky enough to have the group of four from Marietta, Ohio come
> out
> again, specifically to watch the TT event, and they cheered us on
> wonderfully ... thanks so much for that, Paul and company!!!
>
> Following the conclusion of the TT and tabulation of results, the tired
> souls remaining, went for a nice sit down at a local family restaurant,
> after
> which, most went home. Tim Potter still had tables at the track, and
> went
> back to collect them, where he met up with even more people, and got a
> look at a Serotta built Murray, 711 team bike that just recently had a
> front
> end impact, and came away with folded forks.
>
> The assistance of folks who came out special, regular track marshals, and
> the use of the track & infield, was very much appreciated. We already
> have
> ideas for streamlining next year, and hope it will turn into an annual
> event, as the name this year implied.
>
>
> Photos:
> Link to photos posted by Tim Potter:
> <http://picasaweb.google.com/flyingdutchman63/AmericaneVintageTrackAndRoadFe
> stival2009Highlights>
> Or, TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/
>
> Link to photos taken by Aaron Gonya, a visitor from day one:
> http://picasaweb.http:/
> Or, TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/
>
> And I too have a large bunch of pics from both days to post, including
> more
> views than needed of the orange Cinelli tandem, but with Wool Jersey down,
> I'm going to have to send them to Tim for posting, and will send a link
> to
> the CR list soon.
>
>
> Ciao,
> Mark Agree
> Southfield MI USA
>
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