After a ridiculous number of laps around the 200 meter track in Zurich, two head colds (one for each of us), 3.5 weeks in Europe, the world’s worst weather, a local track race in Buttgen, and 9 days in Mettmann Germany, we are still alive! So something must have gone right. Significant events include, but are not limited to the following:
The Waveman
Holloway adopted the honorary position of “Waveman” on night four of Zurich when the usual rider in charge of this department was called away because his wife had gone into labor. The Waveman leads an event known as the Ballastrade Sprint, in which the riders all form one long line at the rail. The Waveman then engages the crowd with various antics, such as starting the wave (all the riders do the wave as well as the crowd in a coordinated effort).
Being the Waveman is a big honor and responsibility in the six day world. The last Waveman, Gerd Dorich, has his position for 10 years! For his first time, Holloway proved to be a quick study and has already been working to refine his technique. My prediction is that he will add a decisively American twist to the role. He has already added some air guitar to the routine!
The Dean Derny
Day five we had one of the most bizarre derny races on record. The announcer and every rider I spoke to said that they had never seen anything like it. The derny races in Zurich are split between the riders. The first athlete does about 35 laps, then the riders execute a madison exchange and the second rider finishes the race. When Holloway threw me in, my driver took off and we lapped the field with about 15 laps left in the event.
I was enjoying the thought of getting the flowers when suddenly the derny died with 7 laps to go! I did not know what to do, but the crowd started yelling for me to just “go!” as the field was passing me. Holloway came back in the race with two to go for an exchange, just in time for us to keep from loosing our lap and still win the race. The fans were on their feet! It was a great show for the crowd and everyone talked about it for the rest of the night.
Electric Car Races
The last day, we had afternoon racing (instead of the usual schedule which runs until 3 am), which afforded us the chance to hang out at local rider Franco Marvulli’s residence in the evening. A few beers were consumed in addition to some great pasta (his family is actually Italian but he lives in Zurich and races for the Swiss team). But the event of the evening was the electric car racing. After a tournament between all the attendees, Luke Roberts was declared World Champ in the Electric Car Marvulli Grand Prix.
Thanks for reading and ciao! CwP
