I want to extend kudos to Peter Joffre Nye, as well as to Jeff Groman and Mark Tyson. If track cycling gets back in this country to the level of its heyday, which everyone can find out about in "The Six-Day Bicycle Races - America's Jazz-Age Sport," which is in book form with an accompanying DVD (see
www.sixdaybicyclerace.com for more info and order from there or Amazon), it will be in no small measure due to people like Peter keeping us informed and passionate for recapturing those great times. The sport's still there, and there are great figures out there trying every day to make a difference. We're edging I think toward a critical mass, and it's going to pop soon, I truly believe that. The new ADT Event Center helps, and people like Dave Chauner and Jack Simes, with a wealth of experience and contacts, are out there working to make things happen. With new US road events that bring the international teams and riders as well as the highest profile domestic teams and riders (I think particularly of AEG's committment to the Tour of California), and new velodromes giving domestic riders a home to practice (watch out for a new indoor velodrome near 'Philly too), there's a lot to look forward to. And with the 2008 Olympics closing in, are we entering a cycle (pardon the pun) that we really can leverage to kick the sport into overdrive and get it going? I mean, is bull riding really that much more interesting to watch and sponsor than track riding??
