Category: B
Result: 2nd

This was my first Friday track racing this season. Friday night is the evening where there are real prizes on the line, and is quite widely publicised so that there are actually spectators in the stands. This evening there were more spectators than racers, which, given that there were over 40 riders, says something.

After feeling close to spinning out on Wednesday, I decided to gear up another step to 50x15 from 49x15, giving a couple of extra inches development. I was worried that it might be a bit too high for me, as I had problems turning this gear in racing last year, but I felt good warming up and did a couple of good jumps.

The B's had 4 events this evening, the first being a 10 lap scratch race. With about 4 laps to go, young Daniel Holloway jumped off the front and we let him go for the win. With two laps to go, I was in second wheel of the chase group, and at the bell, I put in a big jump which was enough to comfortably give me second in the race.

Next, we had a 15 lap points race. I placed 4th in the first two sprints, and was positioning myself up for a good try in the third and final one, but a gap formed and then there was a rider playing silly buggers on the front of the chase group, so I was nowhere in the final sprint, and probably got 6th in the race.

Then came the 7 laps to win and out. There were the usual short-lived jumps as people tried to catch each other out, but no one committed to a long-distance attack. With two to go we were fairly strung out, but round the first bend, things slowed at the front. I was at the back going quicker, saw a gap and launched from a lap and a half out. I was very surprised to feel good legs with 3/4 lap to go, and was able to hold a high speed all the way to the line for a clear win!

At this point, I was a clear second in the night's omnium, and to keep this place, I determined that I should score at least one point in our final event, the miss and out. This, together with the point a lap, is traditionally my worst event due to the constant accelerations required. Fortunately, I managed to get onto the shoulder of the rider on the inside, and was able to defend this for a good number of laps, enough so that I got my objective of a poiint for 5th place. It turned out to be finely judged, and I kept second on the night in the B's by 1 point.

The final event for the A's was a 10 mile (48 lap) scratch race, for which there is a record time of 20:03. The A's decided among themselves that they would attempt to break it. There is a reward of $100 always on offer for doing so. Apparently the standing record was set with a bunch of about 40 riders, so the 18 or so A's had their work cut out for them. Their initial pace was good, at one point they were well ahead of the required schedule, but the pace claimed rider after rider until there were only 3 riders left. I do two a disservice, as I can only remember that Glen Winkle of USPS masters was one of them. It was a close-run thing, but they missed out on the record by roughly 10 seconds (half a lap...). A good try, and it got the crowd quite excited seeing the A's working together so well.

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