Tuesday, June 29, 2010

thank you mr. adams


here is a picture i nabbed from someone. it is a picture of a track in italy that is no longer functional (obviously). it is a great reminder that tracks are not just a wood and concrete.... but rather are programs, people, community, and work, and a lot of love.

tracks are the people who love it enough to raise the flag up at every event....
or organize the dingy storage container....
or show up a race they aren't doing just to cheer...
or teach beginner classes, promote races, and run training sessions....
or spend a saturday making a concrete podium....
or spend four hours sweeping the apron...
or make sure all the rental bikes are in working order...
or make a run during a blistering hot sunday to get ice for everyone...
or check all the waivers to make sure they are signed....
or tell people about races on facebook...
or give someone a ride to a race...
or make a new person feel welcome....
or lend someone a wheel or chainring...
or give someone help at a race...

there are dozens and dozens of people that make my home track, hellyer, what it is today. but today i specifically want to thank rick adams for all he does to keep the track program up and running. without promoters, we'd have no races - and rick keeps the hellyer calendar full by having a race every wednesday from april to september so all of us locals can have fun beating up on each other after work mid-week. not to mention, he hosts one of the few big track races in the country so us locals have the opportunity to race against the fastest people across the country (and world) right at our home track. not to mention, rick puts on a number of saturday races...and is treasurer for the board of directors, and i am sure does a million other things.

my first year of racing i don't think i ever saw rick race himself, as he was putting on so many races. my second year, i traveled to the soulless track in LA (i'm not talking about encinco) to do a race, and who did i see but mr. hellyer himself, rick adams. *every single time* he stepped off the track he exclaimed: "isn't bike racing fun!!" with his eyes twinkling. i mean, *every single time.*

that is how we all feel on wednesday night track races, when we slog back to our car, completely exhausted. "isn't bike racing fun!!" ...not quite sure how we are going to fall asleep and then get back up early for work after all those crazy tempo, snowballs, chariots, points races with sprints every 3 laps, and whatever else rick has up his sleeve.

so, thank you, rick for keeping our track going. thank you for all that you give. and thank you for setting an example for us to follow. you certainly aren't the only one, but without you things certainly wouldn't be how they are. thanks again.

2 comments:

Bess said...

Well said, Beth. Triple thanks to Mr. Adams.

Anonymous said...

LA velodrome IS souless...It could be so much more but it is not. I have come up to visit and race at hellyer and it made me sad knowing what it could be. I love to ride on the wood but it is no fun to race there.