Derny racing, circa 1920s:

Derny racing, Dortmund 2005:

Photographer: Gerhard Ramme
Image source: http://www.stayer.de/

I envy Edmond Hood. Whether he’s providing insight into the first salvo of Belgian semi-classics from bergs and bars, detailing his runner duties amidst recent winter 6 day events at Copenhagen, Berlin, or Ghent, or shedding light on the truly hoopty technology proliferation of derny racing, this man has an uncanny knack for illuminating the details or the side stories noticeable only to seasoned Euro pro tifosi.

Those derny bikes have a freak-in-the-basement-with-a-welding-torch quality that would make Graeme Obree proud. It also seems interesting to me that the design of the bikes as well as the dernys hasn’t changed all that much over the years (at least to my untrained eye).