Friday 27th ~ 30th November 2009
Inclusive
For some, watching Eddy Merckx, Patrick Sercu, Don Allen and Danny Clark racing round the Skol Six Velodrome at Wembley back in the late seventies is just a distant memory. Some of you may have never been to a six day event? Yes we have I hear you say, we’ve seen the Worlds at Manchester! Trust me there is a massive difference between watching the worlds on a 250 metre track and eleven two man teams battling it out on a 166 metre goldfish bowl in Ghent! When you look down the 53 degrees banking for the first time it takes your breathe away, and comments of how do they stay up follows! It really is like the wall of death!
So what’s it all about?
Well around eleven two man teams take to the boards starting on Tuesday evening racing between 8pm and 2am each night and noon till 6pm on the final day Sunday, where normally the race is won on the last sprint of the last lap of the hour Madison between two or three teams.
The racing is centred on the main event called the Madison, where both riders in the team and all teams are on the track at the same time. The aim is for each team to try and gain a lap up over all the other teams. This is achieved by the riders sprinting/ racing of the front of the String (the track term for the peleton). It’s a fast, colourful, crazy race to watch as teams zoom off the front while teams drop out the back. And as one team gains a lap up, another team sprints off bringing it back all square only for the action to start again sometimes with more than one team going at the same time. The race is like a relay where teams use a hand sling to throw their partners into the race. The racing rider pulls along side his resting team mate casually riding on the upper section of the track and grasps his hand and hurtles him at racing speed into the race, like wise the slow speed of the resting rider slows his partner down so he can take his rest till they catch up with one another again usually after a couple of laps. The skill and speed in the bike handling will have you sitting on the edge of your seat, and on the rare occasion a lack of concentration and touching of wheels causes a crash with riders incurring track burns down their skin as they slide down the steeply banked wooden track.
Come the end of the week if teams are square on zero laps then points decide the winners. Points are won during the supporting events. Such as the individual / team sprints, Derny racing where the riders are paced by rotund chaps on highly geared motorbikes winding the pace up to incredible speeds. The individual /team Devil take the Hindmost. The front of this race actually being at the back, on every third lap the last man to cross the line is eliminated from the race, the jokers in the team’s chancing their arm to the split second of not being the last over the line. Riders are eliminated to the last two remaining then usually a cunning cat and mouse sprint decides the winner.
Well that’s just a taste of six day racing, couple that with leisure time in the Gothic building lined town of Ghent, throw in a Christmassy feel as the shops gear up for Xmas. Add a vast array of strong Belgium beers to tickle your pallet, and cuisine to tease your taste buds and you have a spectator’s spectacular not to be missed.
This a very popular six day with us Brits and we flock in our droves to watch the event. Thus, the hotels fill up very quickly, with this in mind we do need to book early in order to secure our chosen hotel “The Novotel Centrum” (yes in the centre of town as centrum suggests). Rooms compromise a very comfortable double bed and equally comfortable double sofa bed based on two sharing a room, (single rooms are available at an extra cost), the rooms can also accommodate a family of four max. A full breakfast is included in the price of your stay. The 3* hotel is clean, the staff friendly and very helpful, as are the bar staff who will be happy to serve a late night drink in the bar. Bed & Breakfast will cost in the region of £46 per person per night (depending upon the exchange rate). I will reserve you a room for you on your behalf with you settling your own bills upon departure, all major credit cards are accepted as is cash in Euros.
Track tickets will be in the region of £32 per session per person. These seats are in Block A situated 4 to 5 rows back from the track, just short of the finish line. Where you can sit back and soak up the atmosphere around the track and also in the middle of the velodrome. I will reserve tickets for you on your behalf and they will become payable when I am charged for them by the track.
We will depart London onboard Eurostar from St Pancras International station around 08.05am travelling at speeds up to 186mph and arriving in Brussels at 10.56am. From here we will connect onto local Belgium rail network to Gent ~ St ~ Peters station and finally on tram No.1 to the Korenmarket checking into the hotel around 1pm.
I like to unpack straight away so I can start relaxing and what better way, than to head for the Leffe Café for a spot of lunch and a couple of Blondes and Darks!! Now hang on ladies and gentlemen we are talking about strengths and colour of beer here. A Blonde being like a larger if you like and a Dark like a bitter and both beers having around an alcoholic volume of 8%, so a couple of these on an empty stomach will have your head spinning faster than you can say Djamolodine Abdujaparov!! These will mellow you out for a couple of hours nap before we take the 20 minute stroll through the cobbled streets to the velodrome for the 8pm start and introduction of the teams and riders.
The Friday is a very long day so you will be forgiven if your eyes become a little heavy during the evening and they close for a power nap.
Saturday is entirely at your leisure to do what you want to do, be it breakfast, shopping, sight seeing, or back to the café for more Belgium beer before the racing starts again at 8pm.
Sunday we take a leisurely breakfast then a stroll before racing starts at 12 noon till 6pm, followed by an evening meal in a restaurant called Amadeus next door to our hotel. Amadeus is the place for Ribs and very tasty there are indeed. We can have pre dinner drinks in the bar upstairs which is decorated rather bizarrely (I wont say any more than your have to come along to find out!) then you order your ribs and eat as many as you like with jacket potatoes, trimmings and copious amounts of red wine, obviously there are other choices on the menu as are other drinks. After a feast fit for a king we retire to our hotel bar/ lounge for some more taste tempting beers, and enjoying a rather amusing game of charades before we finally give up the ghost and hit the sack for some zzzZZ’s in preparation for our journey home on Monday morning
Monday: we have breakfast before we head for Brussels to embark on our Eurostar train arriving back at London St Pancras International station. We will go with the majority on what time Eurostar we catch from Brussels, but naturally the earlier we start our journey the earlier we will arrive back in London. If you don’t mind a very early start we could be back into St Pancras by 0800 o/clock in the morning.
PLEASE NOTE;
Eurostar Terms & Conditions;
In order to keep the cost of the weekend down I book the cheapest Eurostar ticket available currently £59 return. The down side is that once you have paid for them they are Non Refundable / Non Exchangeable, (you can not swap the train times/ and if you do not travel you lose your money). The upside is that the price of your ticket includes you travel on local Belgium rail net work for your return journey to and from Gent~ St ~ Peters.
Novotel Terms & Conditions;
In order to keep the cost of the weekend down I book the cheapest available rooms including breakfast currently around £46 pppn depending on the Euro exchange rate. The down side is that once the rooms have been reserved they are Non Refundable / Exchangeable, (they can not be exchanged for other dates, not that we would want to since we are going for the six ~ if for any reason you are not able to go then you will still have to pay for the cost of the 3 nights stay).
Track Tickets;
Will become payable to me when I have to make payment to the track.
Itinerary
Dates; Friday 27th ~ Monday 30th November 2009 inclusive.
Train Times;
Outbound; Departs London St Pancras International 08.05 onboard Eurostar. Followed by local net work rail to Gent ~ St ~ Peters station and tram to Korenmarket, arriving 13.00pm (approximately).
Inbound; Departs Brussels International (TBA) onboard Eurostar via local net work connections to arrive at London St Pancras International station (TB Confirmed) (approximately).
Passports are required for travel.
Hotel; 3* Novotel Centrum Ghent staying three nights on bed & breakfast basis.
Track Tickets; Friday; Saturday night sessions, and Sunday afternoon session.
Cost
Eurostar………………………. £59 return including local return travel to Ghent.
Hotel 3 nights @ £46 pppn…....£138 depending on euro exchange rate.
Track tickets x 3 @ £32 each…. £96.
Total £293
Deposit; £90 non refundable due by Thursday 31st July 2009.
Followed by track ticket payment when due.
Hotel balance payable by yourself upon check ~ out of hotel on the Monday morning.
What’s not included?
Local return Tram fare (Gent ~ St ~ Peters to Korenmarket)
Travel insurance,
Transfers to and from St Pancras International station from your home,
Personal spending money.
Please make your reservation ASAP. The sooner you confirm you’re booking the sooner I can book the Hotel and best track side tickets.
Kind regards
Cippo
You’re Social Secretary
