Friday September 10-

The trip to Denver International Airport went pretty smooth. Mark Pelletier picked me up with plenty of time and we met the rest of the group (Marsha Macro, Jodi Walzer, and Rich Gangl) at the ticket counter. Butch Nitzsche was flying a different airline and his plane had already left. Steve Prokopiw and John Marshall were not leaving for a few days yet. After an uncomfortable flight to Newark sitting next to a “rather large fellow”, and in front of someone that liked to use my head as a newspaper table, we made our way through the airport to our flight to Manchester. The flight to Manchester went well as I slept 4 of the 7hour flight. I was very pleased with that!

Saturday September 11-

We arrived in Manchester at 8:30am (UK time), which was only 15 minutes later than scheduled. After picking up our bikes, gear, and baggage we were on a taxi to the Velodrome. Dick Keller and Reid Schwartz were already there and had staked our territory for the Championships. We usually set up in the same area every year and we got the same spot for this year. We set up our bikes and rollers and proceeded to do a short workout on the rollers. Let me tell you, after a long flight and then a short workout, a shower was very much needed. So, we packed it up and headed to our rooms to check-in. Mark and I were in room 106, the ladies were in 231 and Butch/Rich Gangl were in 108. We all took a very much needed shower (not together!). After cleaning up it was time to head downtown to Piccadilly Gardens for dinner at Bella Pasta. The meal was decent and helped to pass the time and keep us awake. Everyone was trying hard not to nod off. We went back to the rooms and hung out until 9pm and literally passed out!

Sunday September 12-

I woke up a lot throughout the night, but didn’t get out of bed until 9:30am. A full 12 and a half hours of fitful sleep. Mark and I met the group in the lobby for breakfast. After a breakfast of cereal, coffee, fruit, coffee, juice, and more coffee, I started to come out of my mental haze. We took the bus downtown again to get our RailPass’ validated for Thursday’s field trip to London. Then it was off to the track for Hammer Racing Team’s private training session. We had a 2hour session for our team. We did a good paceline warmup. I felt great!! My legs felt strong and being at sea level, after spending the year at 6000 foot altitude, my heart/lungs hardly had to work at all! I love that feeling. Mark and I did some jumps and accelerations. Everyone else did some work getting used to the 45 degree banking and some starts out of the gates. Butch and Rich Gangl didn’t have a lot of their gear as it was lost in travel. After borrowing wheels, pedals, shoes, and stuff, they were able to get a good workout in. A huge Thanks to Matt Diefenbach , Lucy Tyler, and Dominique Sioul for their help and gear allowing Butch and Rich to workout. Also, thanks to Jodi for sharing her pedals with Rich Gangl.

The guys had dinner at the Deep Pan Pizza place and the ladies went to Spiceland for Indian cuisine. The pizza’s were edible and did the job. We did pass on the baked bean pizza however! We went back to the rooms and hung out in the lounge and had a pint of Worthingtons, a very tasty brew! Jeff Stoker informed me that one of my main competitors in the Sprint, Dave LeGrys, was passing on the Time Trial event in order to be fresher for the sprints tomorrow. Not good news as Dave is next to impossible to beat at any time, let alone, more rested. That was NOT what I wanted to hear. We hit the sack at 9pm again, still trying to adjust to the 7hour time change.

Monday September 13-

I woke up at 1am and couldn’t get back to sleep until 4. I did sleep until 9am though. Another 12 hours in bed! I had the same coffee with a little food breakfast with the group and we were off to the track to watch the Time Trials.

Marsha had her Points Race coming up later this evening. It was hard to watch the Time Trials and not be competing. Steve Cronshaw won my age group with a very good time. I was glad for Steven as I have gotten to know him somewhat over the years and he deserved the World Championship. It couldn’t have gone to a nicer guy! I only wished Dave LeGrys had done the Time Trial, to help my chances in the Sprints tomorrow.

After the break was the evening session and Marsha’s Points Race. Since there were not enough riders in the older categories, she would have to race in the 45+age category, 15 years younger! Marsha was truly amazing!! She pulled the field almost the entire race. After 15 laps had gone by one of the riders pulled up going into turn 3 and Marsha came underneath her. The riders didn’t see Marsha and came back down, pushing Marsha onto the apron causing her to crash. Marsha got right back up and brought her bike over. We checked out her bike and straightened the handlebars and she got right back into the race. The crowd went wild! Marsha picked up the pace and kept everyone working. When the race was over Marsha finished third, only 2 points out of second. The winner was a 45year old German rider and second was a 50year old Brit. Marsha did extremely well in her first international Points Race. We were all so proud of her as she stood on the podium and then took her victory lap behind the other medallists.

Tuesday September 14-

Mark and I got to the track at 8am to start warming up. Butch came shortly after. The warmup again felt very good! My legs felt light and strong. I was looking forward seeing how fast they would take me. The session started at 10am with the Flying 200TT qualifiers. My age group was first, followed by Mark and Butch’s age group. I had the 4th seed after finishing 5th last year and Gil Hatton not racing (Gil won last year and would have had the #1 seed). When my turn came to go the fastest time of the morning was a 12.018. I certainly expected to beat that. I wound up and hit it hard, qualifying with an 11.679. This was my fastest 200 ever on the Manchester track!! Steven Cronshaw, last nights Time Trial winner, was the only rider to beat my time at 11.630. Dave LeGrys qualified third with a time of 11.739. I was very happy to have the second seed, especially since it was higher than Daves’! Mark went next and rode a personal best in Manchester too, going 11.796, placing one higher than Butch’s 11.803. Mark and Butch had the toughest age group of the day, with riders like Al Whaley, Geoff Stoker, Don Langley, Ken Todd, and Matt Diefenbach. That was an all-star line up!

My first ride went well as I won pretty easily. This allowed me to sit out the rep round. Mark and Butch, though riding well just missed in their first round rides, putting them in the repechage round which they both won. Next came round two. I had Keith Williams who in the first round looked to ride much stronger than his 10th place qualifying would indicate. I won, but not by much. Again, I was able to sit through the rep rounds and wait for the semi-final ride. Mark and Butch lost their second round ride which again sent them to the rep round. Mark raced Ken Todd in his rep round and rode a very smart, tactical ride. Unfortunately Ken nipped him at the finish knocking Mark out of the sprints. Butch raced Stephen Benton and won in a close finish, putting Butch into the semi-finals.

My semi-final ride was against a friend from Canada, John Sutherland. I jumped him with 350 meters to go and won putting me into the finals!! I felt great!! Butch rode Geoff Stoker and Ivor Reid in his semi-final finishing third, which gave him 9th for the day.

My sprint-final was against Keith Williams and Dave LeGrys. Keith surprised Steven Cronshaw in his semi-final ride to make it into the final. As I was lining up on the track, in my head I heard my daughter Amie, earlier telling me “to ride like the wind…tiger”. I drew the second position and held it until the final turn where, “riding like the wind”, I passed Keith and held off Dave to win the World Championship. WooHoo!!! What a feeling!! When you work so hard all year for this very moment, there is no feeling to describe standing on the podium and putting on the World Championship Jersey!!

Jodi Walzer had her 500Time Trial tonight. It was her first international race! She was the first rider to go in her category. Her start looked good as her face showed complete determination. She crossed the line in 43.140 just one one-thousandth of a second behind the fifth place rider. It was a good showing for her first race outside of Colorado, let alone, outside the USA.

Wednesday September 15-

Steve Prokopiw and John Marshall arrived yesterday and were at the track early this morning warming up with Rich Gangl and Jodi, as all were racing today. Rich Gangl in particular was excited, as this would be the only event he was doing. First were the 200TT qualifiers for Jodi, Steve, and John. Steve qualified well with an 11.993. John had a mishap and because of that qualified lower. Jodi qualified 10th with a 14.702. Although they all sprinted well, no one made it onto the podium.

Now it was Rich Gangls turn. He rode a very good 2k Pursuit with a time of 2:32.451 and was in second place with 4 riders to go. After all the heats Rich finished in 6th place. Although very disappointed with his placing, he did take 8 seconds off his time from last year and looks to do very well next year. Mike Lew is a good friend of ours from Louisiana. He was an honorary Hammerer, hanging out with us the entire week. Tonight was his Points Race. Mike won the National Championship in the Points Race last year in Kenosha and had high hopes for this event. He was amazing to watch tonight. He missed a break that got away early. So he had to single handedly lap the field near the end of the race. This moved him up from way back in the field to finish with a bronze medal. Very impressive!

Thursday September 16-

While the rest of us were carousing around London, Steve was riding the 3K Pursuit. Qualifying 4th in the morning rounds he hoped to get on the podium in the evening final. He was not able to better his placing in the evening finals and finished 4th.

The rest of us took a train to London to see the sights. We had a great time on the train, the “tube” (subway), the double-decker tour bus, and the cruise on the Thames River. It was nice to get away from the track for a day and hangout with good friends.

Friday September 17-

We all went to the track in the morning to get in a workout in preparation for the Team Sprint tomorrow. Steve also had a Points Race in the evening. Between sessions we went to China Town for a very nice dinner with Dick Keller. In the evening session, Steve rode an impressive and exciting Points Race. Just like at Nationals this year he was there fighting to the end, even lapping the field. Steve did get on the podium with a bronze medal against some, obviously, world class competition, giving Hammer Racing Team it’s third medal of the week.

Saturday September 18-

Wow, the final day of the 2004 World Masters Track Championships! It was a long week, yet it was a short week. So much happened this week and now we were at the last day of competition. For Marsha, Steve, John, and Butch, this was the day they had really been training for. For Marsha it was the 2K Pursuit and for the Guys it was the Team Sprint. Mark and I were also riding the Team Sprint with Scott Butler, one of the T-Town group. We were looking to do well as our line-up looked very good. First, the “old guys” went. That would be Mark, Scott, and myself. Mark led off with a very impressive 20.5 first lap, I followed with a good second lap (14.8) and Scott Butler finished off strong giving us a time of 51.295. It was fast enough to get is into the finals for Bronze. Next the “youngsters” went in their Team Sprint. John Marshall started things off with a blazing 20.1. Butch and Steve followed with some strong laps of their own. They too qualified for the Bronze medal ride in their category with a time of 50.858.

Now it was time for Marsha to do her magic. She was in the final heat for the 50+ age category. Liz Randall from Australia was her main competition. Liz rode the heat right before Marsha and set a new 60+ World Record. Marsha was focused and ready to go. She started slow, as she usually does. She was a second behind after the first lap, but had taken the lead by the third lap. She beat Liz with a new 60+World Record time of 2:46.038 to go to the Gold medal final in the evening.

In the final rides for the Team Sprint, both the “older” and “younger” Hammer Teams rode well but couldn’t get on the podium. Both teams finished a very respectable 4th place.

In the evening session, Marsha was ready to go get that World Championship. Going head to head with Liz Randall, she again started slow. After being down by a second and a half after the first lap, Marsha started to reel in Liz. Marsha won by 5 seconds to win her first World Title. She is truly one of a kind!! It was great watching her get her Gold medal and the World Championship Jersey and then do the victory lap. A great finish to a great week!

Sunday September 19-

We woke up at 6am, which was 11pm in Denver, Colorado. I actually called home to say “goodnight”. We had breakfast and headed to the airport. The trip home was pretty uneventful and fortunately, everything went smoothly. It was 20 hours later we saw the sun set behind the Rocky Mountains.

Hammer Racing Team would like to thank John Howell, Des Dickie, and all of our Family and Friends, for their help and support in making it such a great and memorable year.