Mark Cramer's TROPICAL DOWNS
a novel of peril and misadventure in search for the elusive automatic bet.  For TROPICAL DOWNS Excerpt Click Here

New Series from Mark Cramer:

OUR PERSONAL “TOUR DE FRANCE”:
BICYCLING TO FIVE FRENCH RACE TRACKS IN SIX DAYS

The question was: which would kill us first, cycling up long hills in the Vexin and Normandy regions of France or betting on every race along the way?
Alan Kennedy works in the world of the arts, specializing in ancient Japanese textiles and other periods, styles and regions, writing articles and doing exhibitions on these themes. Like me, he’s an American living in Paris and plays the French races. Both of us read Charles Bukowski and listen to Charles Mingus, but the similarity ends when you see that Alan has long legs for cycling and the stamina of John Henry thanks to swimming laps and eating ripe fruit in season. You already know me but just in case, I was born in 1945 in upstate New York not far from Saratoga. While Alan is younger and stronger by six years, he still qualifies for AARP membership, so our journey, projected to be over 300 kilometers, should be of interest for the Grey Panthers.
In the realm of racing, Alan specializes in French Quinté races, a higher level handicap with an inflated purse.  It draws in serious handicappers but also captures the lottery market, with its big payoffs, given that the odds against picking the first five in exact order in fields of 14 or more, and then hitting the "special number" to win the bonus pool as well.  From the U.S. point of view, the Quinté is more like a Pick 6 that all of France follows. Alan profits from the extra information provided in these races to go against the current and make straight wagers.
I specialize in stakes races and the Multi, a 4-horse quinella (superfecta box), in which you can play straight with 4 horses or for the same 3 Euro bet, purchase tickets of 5, 6 and even 7 horses, which means buying in for a proportional piece. I prefer the more predictable harness races for the Multi. On a given day, the French racing system features one track for the first “reunion” for the best races of the day, and then offers a second and even third “reunion”, usually races at lesser levels.
The tracks we were planning to visit, if we managed to get there, would be carding mainly second “reunion” programs on those particular days, thus mostly excluding our main specialties.
Our choice of period was based on the aesthetics of the tracks and the geographical feasibility. The French racing association did not plan its schedule geographically to adjust to the needs of senior bicyclers. Our first racing day was actually a “first reunion”, but at a track, Compiègne, which is considered a level below Longchamp, Chantilly and Deauville, for example.
Even “second reunion” French racing is a quality product, but among the races we would be facing were several bottom level claiming events for “non-winners of” paltry amounts and even a few three-mile first-time-starter races for steeplechase horses. In one flat event, an 0-for-28 maiden was touted as the race favorite. At Deauville, the Del Mar of France, the prime track in August, we would witness several dirt races, with dirt events in France reserved for lower level horses. 
Handicapping such races figured to be a daunting task but even a rigorously disciplined race passer like me could not expect to pass a race after cycling 80 miles to get there. 
In the realm of aesthetic beauty, charm, history and diversity, no other country’s racing can compare with what we hoped to see in France, where even a bottom-of-the-barrel claiming horse is groomed to look like a Triple Crown winner.
In bicycling, I happily specialize on flat roads, and I thrive on downhill stretches. But this time I was going to confront a number of long and mighty climbs. Alan was brimming with optimism while I entered the adventure knowing that I might be obligated to quit at some point before we had covered the required distance for getting to all five tracks.  
The logistical obstacles were formidable. Getting lost on small forest roads could prevent us from arriving on time for a race card. On the other hand, rolling too quickly through old medieval villages, past stunning castles, and through fern lined green cathedral woods might be a crime against aesthetics.
Once out of the forests, we’d have to deal with the merciless sun. The average afternoon temperature between June 29, our starting day and July 4 with the final card at Deauville should have been in the low 70s F but the five-day forecast called for 10 degrees F above normal.
The message of our Tour de France would be by example rather than through sloganeering: the bicycle is one way to reduce carbon emissions while at the same time improving fitness and enhancing the quality of life. Doing an oil-free summer trip is good for the health, the pocketbook and one’s quality of life, with environmental benefits coming in return. Sorry Al Gore, I don’t consider this a “sacrifice”. We can stop global warming and have fun doing so. (During a climb, however, if you listen to my breathing, you might suspect that I am producing more carbon emissions than an SUV.)
Finally, we have a mission against the prevailing high-speed ideology. In the real Tour de France, incredible beauty passes by too quickly. How many castles has Lance Armstrong rolled by without stopping to gawk? Eight “Tour de France” without stopping to visit a single race track!
Alan sums it up in his own way: “For me it was a time to be removed from the ordinary world - having the physical (and mental) challenge of long distance bicycling in the heat, the mental challenge of handicapping the races, the overwhelming aesthetic experience of the French countryside, and the centuries of history that we were floating through on our bikes.”  
Stay tuned as the reports come in, both on handicapping against the tides of logic and bicycling against the odds of age.  Continued