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The end of the buzzer: The bell is back at Ghent six
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One of the most adrenaline-inducing sounds at a track race, particularly in a European six-day, is the ring of the lap bell. Whether it’s for an intermediate prize in a Madison, a lap to go in a points race, or entering the very final lap of the six-day, the bell gets spectators on their feet and sends the racers into a sprinting frenzy
For the last several years that exciting “clang-clang-clang” has been missing at Belgium’s Ghent Six (the Z6s Daagse Vlaanderen-Gent), replaced by an electronic buzzer. A fire caused considerable damage at the velodrome, including destruction of its old brass bell.
That unmelodious sound really grated on the nerves of one particular spectator, the American cycling memorabilia collector Brett Horton from San Francisco. So he set out to do something about the situation.
Last February, Horton was breakfasting at the Copenhagen Six with Belgian cycling legend Patrick Sercu, the all-time record winner of 88 six-day races and the current godfather of the six-day circuit.
“I mentioned my disdain that a six-day as historic and important as Ghent had a buzzer, not a bell,” recalled Horton. “He wholeheartedly agreed but said the velodrome owners would not spring for a bell. That was all it took.”
So, seeing a way in which he could return years of hospitality that Sercu had extended to Horton and his wife Shelly on their frequent visits to Belgium, he said, “I told him I would commission a proper bronze bell for the velodrome. I thought he was going to cry. The bell clearly meant more to him than he originally thought.” Horton located a foundry in New York and he commissioned the casting of a new 30-pound brass bell. On each side of the bell, in relief, is the logo of the Ghent Six. Around the rim is the Flemish spelling of the six-day, along with the name “Patrick Sercu” —the rider with the most wins at Ghent (Sercu won the race 11 times between 1965 and 1981, including four victories with Eddy Merckx). When Horton was at the Los Angeles track world’s in late March, Sercu had lunch with his California friend and surprised Horton “by inviting Shelly and I to ring the bell to start Ghent this year. Having been to enough sixes, I know that first-night honor is the U.S. equivalent of tossing out the first pitch at the World Series. Actually, given the choice, starting the Ghent six compared with the World Series, I would hands down take starting a six-day.”
The event has been played up in the Belgian press, with the angle of Horton being from the country that created the six-day’s two-man team format, had a bell commissioned from the state (New York) that is the sport’s birthplace (in 1899 at Madison Square Garden), and presenting the bell to the greatest six-day rider of all time (Patrick Sercu).
Horton will ring the bell tonight (Tuesday, November 22), when 13 teams will start the 65th edition of the Ghent Six. The world Madison champions Rob Hayles and Mark Cavendish of Great Britain are riding their first six-day race of the winter, and will be facing fierce opposition in defending Ghent champs Robert Slippens and Danny Stam of the Netherlands, along with hometown pairing Matthew Gilmore and Iljo Keisse, and Swiss veterans Bruno Risi and Kurt Betschart.
Also starting on the famed Ghent board track is this winter’s only two-time winner, Scott McGrory of Australia, who teams up with Germany’s world pursuit champ Robert Bartko, after taking wins with Gilmore in Munich and Rolf Aldag in Dortmund. The only current American six-day racer, Marty Nothstein, will be racing with Spain’s Juan Llaneras.
