Category: 4
Result: 2nd

Ed Steffani was the person with not just the idea of creating a velodrome in San Jose, but also the ability through his job to make it happen. He died a few years ago and this annual race meeting has now become a memorial event. I believe that Ed used to run it, as there were quite a number of references made to what he would have said in reply to some of the comments from the riders.

After my first night of racing at Hellyer a little over a week ago, I decided that immediately using my usual gear for racing (49x15, ~88 inches) was a big too large, as I really needed to work on my spin. This I did when I was down at the track last weekend, riding 49x16 (82 inches), a gear which is on the small side for racing. Today, after warming up, I changed to 50x16 (84 inches), still on the small side, but I again wanted to work on my spin.

It was a long day - in general, the race meetings in the evenings at Hellyer last about 2 hours which gives the riders in each category 4 or 5 events. Today, I rode 9 events, and I am now knackered (but I am making sure that I am eating enough!).

First event was a flying one-lap time trial. With my small gear, I was not very quick and did something like 24 seconds for the 333 metres. Second was something approximating a sprint event - two heats of a 3-lap scratch race with the first 3 advancing to the final. I didn't advance. Third was a 15 laps points race, with sprints every 3 laps - this is a hard race, as there is no rest and I got dropped early on and retired.

This, the great thing about the track is that there will be another event along in a minute or two..., which for me was a 25 lap "Lotto" race. A points race, but with an unknown number of sprints at unknown locations during the race with the only definite sprint being at the end. This allows the promoter to get the racing going by putting a lot of the sprints early on and this is exactly what he did. I hung on for the full distance, minus the couple of laps I lost to the leaders, but I think I got points in two of the sprints, so there was a chance that I might have scored a point or two to the overall omnium.

Next for me was the unknown distance race. This was the shortest unknown distance race I have ridden, as the whistle sounded to start us and then the bell rang immediately for the last lap. I don't think people were paying much attention to the type of race, as a couple of riders jumped, but not all-out. Fortunately, I was well placed near the front, high on the banking in a good position for a jump, and I did. I won!

Next was the win and out, in a nasty format. 10 laps to win and out with a sprint for each of 5 places - I finished the distance (14 laps in total), but didn't place. Hot on the heels of the win and out was a handicapped unknown distance for the cat 4 and 5 riders. 6 of us did this race, separated into groups of two. I and one other were the scratch group (longest distance to travel) and we managed to catch the pair in front of us before the bell. I very narrowly lost the sprint for 3rd.

Second to last for me was the point-a-lap, which was ridden by mainly the cat 4's, but joined at the last minute by two cat 3's. They jumped off the front one at a time to ride away - most of the rest of us content to sprint on the last lap. The leader lapped us just before we had two to go and suddenly, as the laps are determined by the leader we were on our last lap. He won the final sprint, but I got second int he sprint and enough for 4th in the race.

Finally, most people did the final event, the Australian Pursuit. We were sent to our respective stations - I had the job of trying to catch Daniel Holloway.... no chance. At the start, he was off like a greyhound and eliminated his first rider before he had travelled the length of the home straight. In all, he eliminated three riders in his first lap. Me? I was eliminated after 2/3 lap as the legs were getting a tad tired by this time. Daniel Holloway went on to win the race, but only after a rather epic battle betweeen the pair of riders behind me for 2nd. Brian Krause, after a lot of riding, finally wore down his man to get 2nd and then graciously set up to let Daniel claim the win.

Thanks to my win in the unknown distane, I managed 2nd in the Cat 4 omnium, beaten into it by Brian Krause with his second in the final event. This was a great day of low-key track racing, nothing even approximating a worrying situation, let alone a crash. A lot of fun was had by all, which is the way it should be.

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