The Greatest Day in Deaf Cycling History
and American Nick Schreiber Does It Again!
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA (June 22, 2006) - With temperatures climbing
into the high nineties, hundreds of fans still turned out for
what promised to be an exciting evening at Hellyer Park Velodrome
for the 40 km Points Race, and once again, they were not
disappointed - Nick Schreiber came away with the gold!
One must understand the Velodrome. It is actually oval in shape,
and a concrete track runs around it. Cyclists use special "track
bikes" - bikes without any brakes. In order to slow down, one
would have to move further up on the track. Every 6 laps, the
riders need to do a sprint, where they will have to compete in
order to receive points in subsequent order of 5 points to first,
3 points to second, 2 points to third, and 1 point to fourth.
Culmination of the most points throughout the race wins the
match. The Hellyer Velodrome was built in the 1950's at Hellyer
Park, and continues to host cycling events with various bicycle
clubs in Northern California. However - for World Deaf Cycling
Championships' riders - regular road bikes were used, because
many of them had never competed on a track before, much less in a
Velodrome, and therefore did not have the special track bike
required to race on it. This might have played to some cyclists'
advantage, particularly Schreiber.
To open the event, two preliminary heats were done. The
preliminary heats lasted 30 laps long. Two group heats paced the
top 20 riders out of 33 riders, and the 20 riders went into the
actual race, this time going for 120 laps - or 40 kilometers.
Fans continued to be amazed at the riders' sheer endurance and
energy for riding so many laps. But the riders did not
continuously race. In between the heats and championship match,
the same fans were also treated to a 40 kilometer race competed
by the best track racers in the Bay Area. One of them was Daniel
Holloway, a 19-year-old racing phenomena and a member of the USA
Cycling Team who had recently returned from Europe. Holloway's
performance bought shouts and noise from the crowd, and they were
elated to see him win. After the track riders were finished, the
20 Deaf cyclists were finally ready to start the race. And was it
an outstanding and unbelievable race!
The race started Australia's Reece-Emerson van Beek breaking away
from the crowd, but he faded fast and Russia's Dmitri Kalindin
and Kirill Pestov made a strong showing and led the pack a
quarter-lap ahead for several laps until the pack finally caught
up to them. USA's Paul Wood also started strong, and earned
first-place points. This was enough to hold him in first place
until Schreiber earned points that put him ahead of Wood with 66
laps to go. About the same time Schreiber got ahead of Wood in
the points race, Wood started dropping back and fans started to
notice he was having back problems. He continued to trudge on,
but finally left the race. Wood was one of the favored riders to
watch prior to the start of the race. "I was very disappointed
with what happened," Wood said after the race. "My back just
seized up and I couldn't continue any longer. I felt like 6 laps
came by too fast for me to recover and get ready for the next
sprint. I sprinted the first three, then afterwards I couldn't
rest long enough to sprint for the next one." When asked whether
he was ready for Saturday's road race, Wood shrugged and said he
would see what happens. Before Wood left the race, Australia's
Denman made a surprise break from the pack and rode solo for
approximately 12 laps, and continued to stay in the lead for 10
more laps afterwards. All of a sudden, he was in first place.
Denman remarked later, "I just kept my legs moving. I forced
myself not to look back, because I knew I would become weak if I
knew where everyone else was. I worked so hard to stay focused."
This threatened Schreiber's chances of a gold medal, so USA's
other cyclists came together to help Schreiber win the race.
USA's excellent teamwork was very evident throughout the race.
Denman was unable to earn any more points until the very last
6-lap interval, and by then Schreiber had walked away with the
gold. Denman had to settle for a silver. "I'm very happy with
what happened. I came into the race determined to win a medal,
and I did just that, so I'm pleased," said Denman. Throughout the
race, Russia's Pestov kept pumping away, and made a solid, steady
showing that put him with a bronze medal. "I was so surprised
when I found out I had placed third," Pestov said. "I completely
did not expect to medal in this event. I have made Russia proud,
and now I will be able to go to Taipei in 2009." Russia is yet
another country whose government will grant sponsorship money for
cyclists who have medaled in this week's events.
The star of the evening, Nick Schreiber, looked genuinely happy
when he was interviewed. "I can't really begin to think how I
feel about this medal. I'm happy, I guess. This race was so
tough, and definitely the hardest race so far this week." When
asked what his secret was, he laughed and said, "There's no real
secret. Hard training pays off, really!" Finally, he remarked
that he was definitely ready for Saturday's road race and said he
has already done tough stage races where he had to race
continuously for six days. He said he was not used to racing, and
then having a day's break before racing again as this week's
events have done so. Someone noticed Schreiber had his wife and
youngest child by his side, and asked if his son would get
involved with cycling. Schreiber chuckled and said, "Whatever my
children wants to do, they'll have my full support!"
So the question remains: Will Schreiber bring home another gold
in Saturday's 120-kilometer Pescadero Road Race, already said to
be the toughest in Deaf cycling history, or will France's David
Cloux, retain his honor, being the winner of the 2004 Australian
Deaflympics 100-kilometer road race?
| Place |
Bib |
LAST |
First |
NAT |
Points |
| 1 |
47 |
Schreiber |
Nick |
USA |
37 |
| 2 |
11 |
Denman |
Jarrod |
AUS |
29 |
| 3 |
41 |
Pestov |
Kirill |
RUS |
23 |
| 4 |
20 |
Kocourek |
Frantisek |
CZE |
19 |
| 5 |
35 |
Carruthers |
Daniel |
NZE |
18 |
| 6 |
28 |
Buontempo |
Luca |
ITA |
14 |
| 7 |
23 |
Tomasina |
Jimmy |
FRA |
14 |
| 8 |
16 |
Sanchez |
Luis Carlos |
COL |
7 |
| 9 |
48 |
Kosa |
Trevor |
USA |
7 |
| 10 |
36 |
Parkin |
Terence |
RSA |
5 |
| 11 |
14 |
Cheng |
Huai |
TPE |
4 |
| 12 |
19 |
Capek |
Jan |
CZE |
4 |
| 13 |
29 |
Melacarne |
Roberto |
ITA |
4 |
| 14 |
10 |
Van Beek |
Reece-Emerson |
AUS |
3 |
| 15 |
39 |
Koekemoer |
Enrikus |
RSA |
1 |
| 16 |
50 |
Osbrink |
Rory |
USA |
-20 |
| 17 |
43 |
Prokhorov |
Evgeny |
RUS |
-20 |
| DNF |
24 |
Motschwiller |
Yan |
FRA |
|
| DNF |
44 |
Kalinkin |
Dmitry |
RUS |
|
| DNF |
46 |
Wood |
Paul |
USA |
|
|
|
Day: Thursday the 22nd
City: San Jose
Start Time: 7:00 PM (Pacific Time Zone)
Finish: 10:00 PM
Race Format: 50km Points Race
Terrain: Banked Oval type of track
Directions:
Google Map or CSDF
to Velodrome
Live Coverage: Begins at 6:30 pm
Photo Gallery: Velodrome Pictures |
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