Tandemonium, bonus Dog Day of Summer this Friday at Valley Preferred Cycling Center

TREXLERTOWN, Pa. – The park rules state that dogs are not allowed in the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. That rule is meant to be broken this Friday night, again.

Back by popular demand, this Friday, Aug. 19 is another Dog Day of Summer in T-town as fans are invited to bring their dogs to the track. Admission for dogs is $1 and is a donation to the Sanctuary at Haafsville. Also, fans are encouraged to bring pet item donations to the track, which can be dropped off at the T-town Merch tent, and will also be given to the Sanctuary at Haafsville.

“We had an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from our first Dog Day of Summer as well as a lot of requests to have another one this season. We just had to oblige,” Juliann Masenheimer, VPCC Events and Communications Manager, said.

Fans and man’s best friends have some great racing to watch on Friday night as it is Tandemonium, one of the most unique events of the World Series of Bicycling season. The night features tandem sprints and the finale, Tandemonium, which is a scratch race with tandem bikes.

Matthew Rotherham, the current Univest men’s Rider of the Year leader, had a successful night a year ago on Tandemonium as the Great Britain native teamed up with Yorick Bos of the Netherlands and swept both the tandem sprints and the Tandemonium scratch race.

Both Rotherham and Bos are still in T-town, however, the duo won’t reunite this year as Rotherham is teaming up with his brother, Tom Rotherham, for this year’s tandem events.

“Tandemonium is a special event here in T-town,” Marty Nothstein, VPCC Executive Director, said. “It is such a unique night with the pros teaming up and all the tandem racing. It does not happen at this level at any other track in the country.”

The night’s program does feature professional racing with normal bicycles as well. Also, stagiaires make a return to the World Series of Bicycling as there are a few races for the category on Friday night.

The aforementioned Matt Rotherham is still atop the men’s Univest Rider of the Year competition while Mertztown, Pennsylvania resident Missy Erickson leads the women’s competition, also sponsored by Univest.

The best seat in the house, the VeloDeck, is open for fans to purchase upgraded tickets to for this Friday night. For $10 per ticket, a fan gets a seat in the hospitality area as well as a free beer at the Beer and Wine Stand. Tickets start as low as $5. Children 12 years old and younger receive free admission with an accompanying, paying adult.

Gates open at 6 p.m. with racing beginning at 7:30 p.m.

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