RUMBLE IN THE JUMBLE -- TRACK RACING AT MANCHESTER

An event seen too seldom these days -- the tandem race, providing plenty of action in Manchester.

It o restful to sit and watch such a beautiful event such as this – when it’s well done. It’s painful for both the spectators and riders when it is not! This time it looked so graceful, the movement of the line, swinging movements of the changes – all superbly executed by the fast moving [mostly] group of riders. Ex-six-day rider Phil West partnering a visibly tiring Geof Littlewood had his work cut out to tame the strong Clarion team.

But it was James Taylor [City of Ed] who took the only lap along with his 50 year old but fast team-mate Steve Davies [Ferryhill Whls]. The race was fast and furious with closely fought sprints as the teams battled to stay on terms with the flying Taylor/Davies duo. At one point I was transported back to the days of Gowland and Sercu and they rode to win the London Six-day many years ago – but the final sprint with Taylor/Davies taking the honours from the Clarion’s classy Mortell/Hewitt and West/Littlewood brought me back to the present. If this is the sort of racing we can have at the nationals later in the year, then it’s sure to be a fantastic championship.

No Schlapp meeting is complete without the sprinters and here the crowd were further entertained to some rough and furious racing in the www.trackcycling.co.uk Sprint Omnium. Manchester’s Dave Heald took the top honours with a dominating display of power and tactical ability to win the top prize so he could recoup paying out for his 2003 BC licence! Derby races are always fun to watch and difficult to control by the riders; the keirin is a crowd pleaser every time and the Devil is the traditional way to finish a sprint omnium but this last event put paid to Marco Librizzi’s high placing when he ran out of steam and gave national Masters Kilo champ Dave Robson [Yasumitsu-Schlapp] his second win of the evening. Self-confessed non-sprinter Doug Williams [Halesowen] moved up to take second place in the omnium on his superbly executed devil ride!

Walking among the riders at the meeting’s end, it was clear the event had been a success. Dave Heald was looking forward to eating next week, Barney Storey and Ian Dawson were grinning from ear to ear after their fast efforts while Joby Ingram-Dodd a Welsh Commonwealth Games sprinter who rode the Madison would only comment "it was ‘orrible" but confessed he had enjoyed had it – when the pain had stopped!!

The Bikes & Bits Fair was a great success too so this combination – the Bikes & Bits Fair with the Rumble in the Jumble race meet is sure to back next year – tandems and all

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Left to Right, Marco Librizzi, Steve Paulding and Dave Heald providing plenty of close racing in the sprinting (seen here in the Keiran.