American six day track racing?Nutters!!

papac

http://www.sixdaybicyclerace.com/

This may be new to some.
Apparently they used to cover TDF distances (3000km+) in a single 6 day race and they were the highest paid sportsmen in the world for years.I never knew about it until yesterday.
Check out the sample vids.
http://www.sixdaybicyclerace.com/special_feature.htm

I haven't time to figure out how to embed them atm.

Good article about it in Jan 2010 Procycling mag (so-so mag that my wife bought by mistake yesterday).

Iseran

The only reason they limited it 6 days was because that was as long as was possible to ride in one go without infringing on the Sabbath!:D

tunney

Emmmmm Ghent....

ednwireland

well i didnt know that

always thought it originated in europe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-day_racing

"The first six-day event was an individual time trial at the Agricultural Hall in Islington, London in 1878 when a professional called David Stanton sought a bet that he could ride 1,000 miles in six successive days, riding 18 hours a day. A Mr Davis put up £100 and the stake was held by the Sporting Life "

The first American six-days
However, the event did not become popular until 1891 when six-day races were held in Madison Square Garden in New York City. Initially, these races were contests of raw endurance, with a single rider completing as many laps as possible. At first, races were over less than 24 hours a day. Riders slept at night and were free to join in in the morning when they chose. Faster riders would start later than the slower ones, who would sacrifice sleep to make up for lack of pace. Quickly, riders began competing 24 hours a day, limited only by their ability to stay awake. Many employed seconds, as in boxing, to keep them going. The seconds, known by their French name soigneurs, were said to have used doping to keep their riders circling the track. Riders became desperately tired

papac

I knew ultra endurance racing on the boards went on everywhere eons ago-Its more the superstar/mega crowd nature of the American thing that surprised me. (And the distances- which don't indicate a massive average speed but are impressive.)