Being There: Tandemonium!

It’s that time of year where we load up the office workers and make the pilgrimage to the Valley Preferred Cycling Center to see the ‘big bikes’ competition. The velodrome, located just outside Allentown, PA, played host to Tandemonium!, the tandem track bike headline event. 

Before we picked up our media passes, the employees of creakybottombracket stopped just off of the velodrome’s turn three to McCall Collective Brewing Company, a community effort wedged into an old post office. We knew we were in the right place when bikes were piled up near the entrance. 

A dazzling sunset added to the great night of track racing.

We then showed up to the velodrome fashionably late and were ushered to our seats on the backstretch bleachers. Wait. What? It seems our PR department failed to get media passes for a chance to rub elbows with professional track riders while putting hands to the track tandems. Not getting a media pass is a ‘tomorrow’s problem’; in the meantime the night was full of enjoyment - on the outside of the track. Also on the schedule card was the men’s chariot race; women’s elimination, points race, and flying mile; as well as the men’s scratch race. And it wouldn’t be a night without Gabe Loyd calling the shots with the trackside microphone.

The night began with tandem sprints where two crews matched up for a best-of-three race. The numbers of the session are insane - with Joe Christiansen and Ryan Jastrab of Star Track. The teams produced nearly 61 kph/ 38 mph of top speed. Christiansen and Jastrab would continue their winning ways in the ten lap scratch final to take home the Tandemonium! bragging rights. How unique to broadcast Tandemonium victory from the top step, except you have one other person also broadcasting victory. This is the precise draw for the evening.

Tandem sprint race down the backstretch.

Over to the single bikes, and the winners earned their podiums. Jadian Neaves took home victory in the men’s chariot race, Jillian Halm won the women’s elimination and points race, Candice Votava won the women’s flying mile, and Nik Reinert won the men’s scratch race final. 

Tandem scratch final was the last event for the big bikes.

Once the sun had set, the steamy Friday night came to an end and comfortable temperatures took effect. This is a benefit of an outdoor velodrome. Kids spent time tumbling down the grassy hillside next to the turn, bugs flitted and fluttered, the rust-colored full moon was about to make its appearance. People who wore tie dyes were granted free entrance, so the spectator areas were dotted with the artistic shirt. It was the perfect celebration of track racing on tandems.

In recent years, I’ve wondered about the longevity of tandem racing at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. Nearly ten years ago, our crew expressed concern after ‘only ten’ tandems showed up. This year, six bike bikes raced for glory two at a time. Our team car was loaded up at departure and pointed south. The night wore us down, or maybe it was the heat. The memories of a dark sky with a bright velodrome illuminated by twinkling lights produced the softest bed time thoughts. One final thought returned to the notion of a tandem slapped around the track at nearly 40 mph, and it was concluded, the best spot was in the grandstands after all.