big chainring 

Thanks Matt.

Regarding the question of racing in the 70's.
I think that the Bike Boom got a lot of young people interested in racing. Also, In the Chicago/Milwaukee area we had a lot of families with German/ Belgian ancestry. Otto Wenz was a huge promoter of cycling in Milwaukee and I believe was responsible for starting the Milwaukee Super Week races. The Chicago scene was also promoted by several Belgian and German families. I learned so much from these "old timers", though they were'nt that old at the time.

Also the liability issues of today were'nt as prominent as they are now. I remember it was sometime in the late 70's when it became necessary for paramedics to be on hand at racing events. You couldnt promote a race without having paramedics and an abulance on site. Entry fees went up and the number of races reduced. All kinds of legal fees and insurance with towns and cities where the races were held also incresed.

At Northbrook track now they limit the number of riders per event to 40 for insurance reasons. Back when I raced there we would have 60-70 riders in a race.

And racing was pretty cheap back in those days. A couple dollar enrty fee and you were in. Traveling was cheap too. Shared car and motel expenses with other racers made the whole thing very affordable.