December 31/02 9:06 am - Class of 2023, Hamilton 2010 Update

Posted by Editor on 12/31/02
 

Class of 2023
Courtesy Tanya Dubnicoff

Kurt and Erica have a baby boy - Jeremy Christopher Innes! Born December 26th weighing in at 8lbs 1.5oz. The parents are doing fine resting at home.


Hamilton 2010 Update

We understand that numerous people have responded to our editorial regarding the lack of track cycling in the 2010 Hamilton Commonwealth Games proposal by sending letters to Minister Sheila Copps and others (see Daily News December 18/02 Noon EST - Hamilton 2010-A Commentary). The Australian web magazine CyclingNews.com reprinted the article, so international interest in the issue is growing. Chuck Bonnaffon (a longtime Ontario track activist) has been particularly active, and has solicited a response from the President of the Scottish Cyclists' Union:


Thank you for passing on the terrible news that Hamilton (Canada) does not have the foresight to include Track Cycling in its bid for the Commonwealth Games of 2010. If Scotland had thought that way in 1970 we would not have had World Track Champions in Chris Hoy and Craig MacLean in 2002.

Could you please pass on my comments on the decision that Hamilton is about to make to whoever has the most say in this important decision as I fear that if track cycling is not included in their bid, the bid will have no support from Scottish and British bodies.

"Cycling in its track format is one of the purist sports ever to be included in the Games as it has very little to do with chance, the element in road racing that can eliminate great champions from ever figuring in results. If a track rider can do the time then only a rider who can do a better time will beat them.

Scotland counted its cycling facilities as all the roads that existed in the land and used them for time trials, road races and all things cycling for many years. The" kinder garden" of the sport in Scotland was the road time trials that encouraged young riders into the sport with their parents blessing. Things have changed.

As roads became busier and traffic calming and control systems disrupted traditional courses and routes, the young riders were not allowed by their parents to compete on roads that were perceived as dangerous and unsafe for their children. The numbers coming into the sport in Scotland and Britain in general is tumbling as a result.

The Scottish Cyclists' Union (SCU) have been lobbying for some years now for traffic free cycling facilities so that this trend can be reversed and the need for a cycle velodrome (of the indoor variety) comes top of the list.

To say that after the games, Hamilton would be left with a "White Elephant" is a huge admission of defeat in marketing what could produce, at worst, a wonderful facility to get kids into sport and at best, a spring board for success at World, Commonwealth and Olympic levels.

Currently Glasgow and Edinburgh are both competing for funding to allow them to build an indoor velodrome in Scotland and we as the cycle sport authority in Scotland are backing both bids. Furthermore, since the UCI have endorsed track racing as a winter sport, more and more covered velodromes will be required to hold the World Cup and Championship events as well as provide training facilities for the elite riders prior to these events.

The SCU do not see a covered velodrome as purely a facility for the few elite riders we have, no we see the facility as a very important means of allowing school children and adults into one of the healthiest sports available to all.

Finally I was shocked to read that Canada was not included as one of the "powerhouse cycling nations" as we always regarded Canada as a force to be reckoned with at any Games.

Please reconsider your bid sports and include track cycling for the 2010 Games, not because Scotland is good at it, but because it is a sport worthy of inclusion"

Yours sincerely,

Ian Sinclair,
President.
Scottish Cyclists' Union


If you have not yet sent a response to the parties listed in the editorial, we urge you to do so.