from Hideouswhitenoise, Spring 1996
The Valentine Day Massacre began and ended like no other race in its illustrious history. Unlike past years the detail of the event was given out in advance and it was a puzzled surprise to most. The race was not to be held on Toronto’s city streets, but was to be held on the frozen waste of Lake Ontario.
The first thing I thought of was the scene from the movie the Dead Zone, when the psychic foresees young children, who had been playing ice hockey, break through the ice to their deaths.
Crossing on the ferry on the night of the race, the crunch of ice ringing against the hull, I half expected to see bikes racing across the malformed ice, bunny hopping from ice flow to ice flow. The race course turned out to be a figure eight ice rink, properly maintained with just a sprinkling of granulated snow on the inner canal of the main island.
Racers clocked around the rink, the spikes in their tires holding the corners as they sped around the course. The poster had announced only studded tires would be allowed to race the track, but there were a few hard core riders that attempted the track with only rubber for traction. These cyclists showed their best, with the most ambitious riders being Roddy Roadster doing 360’s going into the corners.
The track was completely unlit and when the spiked tired bikes started, all that could be seen was helmet lamps going around the track. The most inspiring competitor was Chris Yates who blew everyone away with his track bike, easily taking the turns, making it appear he was riding on pavement instead of ice. Kevin X took the second heat taking the course with what appeared to be practiced ease.
The final heat was dominated by Kevin X until he flatted and the entire pack passed him. The winner of the competition was Dave De Yonge of Spinning Wheels.
The turn out wasn't great in comparison to other Valentine day races, in all perhaps 30 cyclists participated. The worst part of the race was the huge problem of the riders flatting out. But now these racers have the knowledge to construct better tires for next year. The car drivers and pedestrians of Toronto are safe for Valentines day races have been transported, for the foreseeable future, to the canals of the Toronto islands, but then there is always Halloween.
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