and for reasons best known only to themselves Alpenrose does not allow booze. “What kind of six day is that?” you ask; well not a fan friendly one that’s for sure. When watching a bunch of men ride around in circles while in their underwear occasionally holding hands it becomes obvious that a little booze, actually…a lot of booze, always helps. The Alpenrose Six is a bit of an oddball as far as sixdays go. What time of year is this? No beer gardens, no massive fields of grilled sausages, no polka bands?—okay, maybe no polka is not such a bad thing but come on at least get a zither party going on. The Alpenrose Sixday remains a much anticipated (and perhaps by some of the less masochistic racers a bit dreaded) highlight of the northwest racing scene. So let’s get into our exclusive coverage of this thing.
Day one of the sixday did not disappoint for excitement and absurdity—both favorite categories for Bigman Shoes Inc. The day started with 12 lap pursuits that seeds the two person teams into an A and a B groups. On rare occasion teams have been known to sandbag the seeding pursuit in hopes of having a slightly more leisurely race with the B group—an act also known as “mailing it in” (something Bigman Shoes knows a little something about). No one mailed it in today, although we did overhear in turn three someone tell her partner “all you have to do is finish.” Not exactly the stuff of legends but these two unnamed riders were promptly placed into the B group and got some good exercise and good times riding in circles for awhile.
The favorites all put in good times for the pursuits with team GMC Steve Beardsly(GMC)/Jimmy Lingwood(Recycled Cycles) putting in an impressive near sub-four minute time of 4:00:13. Snapping at their heels was team BMC Chad Hartley(BMC)/Josh Weir (joshuaweir.com) who initially looked to be setting the best time but one bad exchange was all it took to put them one second back at 4:01:41. The Gentle Lovers team (a Bigman Shoes favorite) Mark Blackwelder/Tony Kic picked up third at 4:05:08. Rounding out the A field were team Fred Myer Peter Drake(Fred Myer)/David Boxberger at 4:07:55, team Green Jerome Dumortier/Sasha Lacey(Velo Shop) at 4:21:30 and team Shaws John Simmons/Carl Hoefer at 4:27:40.
Some heated racing and thankfully a little comedy ensued in the second and final event: the 30 minute Madison. As many expected Hartley/Weir dominated the Madison taking every sprint and putting a lap on their nearest rivals. Not content to merely crush his rivals national Madison champion Hartley provided a little mid-race comic relief by getting hung up in turn three. Alpenrose can be a cruel mistress as every beginner and seasoned pro finds out sooner or later. Hartly found himself too high in turn three waiting to be thrown in. He stopped at the rail looking like he was prepared to swoop down like death from above—but this is Alpenrose. His wheels started to slip out and he grabbed the rail to avoid carnage. (Bigman Shoes found ourselves too long at our favorite bar The Florida Room and had to leave. Post continued below)
Bigman Shoes Odds for overall victory.
Hartley/Weir—1.5 to 1
Beardsly/Lingwood—4 to1
Kic/Blackwelder—7 to1
Drake/Boxberger—10 to1
Dumortier/Lacey—40 to 1
Simmins/Hoefer—40 to 1
Magnum/C Murder—Even
