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Another night at the track! We did a--
SNOWBALL
Each lap, the sprint for points gains in value.
1st lap = 1 pt, 2nd lap = 2pts and so on.
SCRATCH
Simple-- winner on the final lap is the winner!
MISS N OUT
Each lap, the last person is eliminated (they have to get off the track!) until 3 remain-- who sprint one final lap for the win!
Three Woman Break in the Scratch
Kym (center) came around me for the win!
The Miss n Out was surely my favorite race-- and not because I won, but because I was nervous! The good, thrilling kind of nervous. The kind of nervous that plays selectively with your senses so that you are acutely in the moment, feeling deliciously alive. Then focus gives way to chaos and it's happening, you're there, it's moving, you respond, you try to make good decisions.
Having no teammates and being a marked woman, I could not risk getting boxed in-- so I sat at the front and middle of the wide group. I caught a lot of wind, but it guaranteed my place in the final 3. Then the sprint lap came, and I thought, "HEY! I'm still on the front!? ..why does this always happen? Ah, well.." so I just went for it, cranked it up, and had JUST enough to hold off Hong! She's got some sprint, though-- and after I lead the final laps, I thought she was gonna get me. As a veteran trackie from the shop put it, "DON'T GET COCKY." ..I can't just ride in the wind then sprint/take a flyer. Well, I can (blush)-- but it's not a good habit. Especially when the racing gets faster. Smart cookies like Kym have learned to pick my wheel while I'm floating in the wind like a hawk. She beat me in the Scratch! I need to buy her a beer. If I win just one more week in Women's Cat 4, though-- then I'll be upgraded and it's on to Cat 4 Men and Friday Nights with the 1/2/3 Women!
I hope to be competitive with the men and just be able to HANG with the women. AND, it'll be TWO nights of track racing a week! SWEET!!
Last Wednesday, for the first time (ever?!), enough Category 4 women racers showed up to actually require TWO separate groups! An 'A' group and a 'B' group (evenly split, neither faster than the other). AWESOME!
Side note: racing "categories" are to group people by their ability and experience. All (female) racers must start in Category 4 (men have a Category 5) and work their way up. So while I may quickly upgrade to Category 3, there aren't enough Category 3 women out there to be a group of their own-- so they (we) often get lumped into Women 1/2/3. This happens in just about every cycling discipline-- road, cyclocross, etc. So instead of relying on your category to maintain a level playing field, one just has to pick a race that tends to attract more 3's or 2's or 1's. If I wanted to place well, I could race the 1/2/3's at the Elkhorn Stage Race, if I just wanted to turn my poop runny while dogging at the back of the pack-- I could race the 1/2/3's at Cascade Classic.
Unfortunately, sometimes these options are not available and the chasm between 4's and 1/2/3's is just plain difficult to cross. It's a rough bridge to the other side-- a lot of people fall off it and it's lonely to hang out on it.
Once I upgrade to a 3 on the track, I will be eligible to race on Friday night with the 1/2/3 women-- where there is a high concentration of 2's. My racing experience will go from demolishing the 4's with breath to spare to just-hangin' with the 1/2/3's. I'll be able to ride with the group and be active, but the chances of me actually winning a race will go from virtually guaranteed to slim. However, women can also race "down 1" category with the men. So to bridge the gap, I will also be racing with the Category 4 men on Wednesday nights.
Anyhow..
It was my first Wednesday night with the 4 ladies.
The first event of the evening was a 'Win and Out'-- and I thought about this particular race allll day at work! The way a Win and Out works, is that every bell lap, the sprint is to place. So the first bell, the winner of the sprint takes first place and the winner peels off the track while everyone else keeps rolling. Second bell, the winner of the sprint takes second place, they peel off, and so on. So if you want to win, you've got to put it ALL on the line! And what happens if you use all your gas to win, only to fall into second place? Whoa-hoh! Better hope the pack doesn't tear you apart before you're ready to gun again. For all your effort, you could slide into 5th because you gambled on 1st.
So I got some advice from an "old pro" at the shop and I visualized it, visualized it, visualized it.. because I knew I had just ONE lap to work with and win! No time to settle in. Then I found out that the bell laps were every other lap, not every lap! D'OH! There was going to be a whole EXTRA lap before the bell lap?! Secret plans spoiled! But off we went and I spent the first lap and a half wondering why people weren't doing what I wanted them to (I know, right?), until in the second to last corner I swore under my breath-- I was too caught up in having a 'plan' that I failed to really respond to what was going on around me, and there I was, several bike lengths away from the charge, approaching the last corner. Lucky for me, my strength saved me-- and I VVVVVVRRRrooom.. accelerated to first with a grunt. Then I got off the track. SWEET! ..I like that race. Can we do it again?
The second race was a Tempo. Every lap 2 points are awarded to 1st and 1 point to second. Whoa, scrambled eggs! Starbucks went whipping off the front from the whistle, while I picked daisies at the back. Whoops! She kept her gap and gobbled up the first 2 points. She was quickly caught, but the group mushroomed into conflicted agendas-- some wanted rest and some wanted action and it was crazy pants on the velodrome. If I were in a faster race, my poor positioning could have cost me the race-- I was just too far from the front-- but I took the fast lane and rode past the entire group, smashing into point after point, earning enough to win the race. WOO HOO!
And the last race, well-- watch the video! I sat on the front the whole time, which is a poor, poor tactic. But I didn't do it to be smart, I did it because I could. I didn't need the rest, I could patrol the attacks and avoid getting boxed in. There was, however, one point where I nearly screamed, "COME ON! ATTACK ME NOW!!" I made myself pretty vulnerable.
One more week with the 4 ladies methinks, and they'll move me up.
So.. after my first Thursday night of racing (last week), I left the track confident. I made moves, they stuck (sometimes unintentionally) and I won. I was batting 100% and felt like I hadn't even kicked in my 5th gear yet.
Based on last Thursday, I thought I had more gas and horsepower than the entire group-- which surprised me, since my legs are uber-endurance right now.. I mean, I got 4,200 miles of base this summer! On an 85lb rig! And I'm certainly haven't been training to race road (stage races, criteriums and such). With the slight exception of a casual cyclocross season, I haven't raced with focus since college (class of '07). I was pleasantly shocked to find I had any juice at all!
But really, what happened last Thursday-- I was patient and sat in for the first half of the race, made my move, then the group was too disorganized to nab me. Patience + smarts + speed + luck = win.
But last night? Oh last night, revenge was paid upon me and I got SPANKED-- Hagens Berman, I'm looking at you!
Here are just SOME of the things I did wrong:
I was not patient.
I didn't hold my wheels. (I let people edge me out and take my place).
I did WAY too much work on the front for no good reason.
I didn't position well for the sprints.
Once I didn't HOLD MY LINE. (Ride straight.) (Sorry!)
I marked (chased after) moves that I should have left and didn't mark moves I should have met.
Once again-- I rode an extra lap after one of the races finished. I even brought someone with me! :)
And I need to figure out when it's okay to "pass underneath," because most times it is NOT OKAY to pass on the inside.. except in a few gray area situations.
I'll let the video evidence say the rest:
*sigh. Well, time to go hit the track! Gonna get in a workout before watching the fast folks race.
Love to my ladies in Group 1. You're awesome. (and I'm sure you Group 2 ladies are nice as well.)
Last Thursday was the first night of the pre-season at the Marymoor Velodrome. The official season (when you earn points) begins in June, but all throughout May, beginners and veterans alike attend pre-season races to get the feel of the track again.
Thursday night is for all those who have just completed a track class (requirement for racing) and need to practice group skills, tactics and to keep pedaling after the finish line (or your bike will buck you off!).
The first 4 minutes are my 2 races edited down. The last 6 minutes is footage of Tom's last race, complete with commentary from his friends and co-workers.
Touring-- cush steel bicycles, upright and stable geometry, LOTS of gears, LOTS of gear, ride slow, ride long, see the world.
TRACK-- stiff aluminum bicycles, aggressive and snappy geometry, ONE gear, no brakes, ride as fast as you can for about 5 minutes in an oval.
