Category: B
Result: 3rd

It's Wednesday, so PP and I were again at the velodrome showing our FFBC colours. PP again rode the A's and I was again in the B's. This evening was an extremely nice evening to race a bicycle, staying pleasantly warm at least until I got into my car at 9:40. There were at least 10 riders in each group, making it a little less busy than last week, but still good attendance. I geared up to my usual racing gear (49x15, about 88 inches) after the spinning session of last week. I felt much better in the warmup this week, but made sure that didn't work too hard. Each group had 4 events and over the course of our events, I witnessed how not to work together as a team. The Travelocity/California Race Club had 3 riders in the B's and though one of them won our omnium, it wasn't through strong teamwork. In fact, I benefitted mightily in one event from their lack of co-ordination. I didn't figure in the scratch race - my legs were not yet ready to work. Perhaps I didn't warm up enough? The second race was billed as "Crazy Art", Art being the referee. This was a tempo (point-a-lap) with occasional sprints for laps with more points, 2 and 1 and 3,2 and 1 at the end. I hung in there for the first part of the race, and there was even a split in the field with me in the rear part. However, I followed the correct wheels as the race regrouped and with 2 laps to go, scored a point for a second place. My legs were feeling reasonable at this point, so I lined myself up nicely for the final lap and jumped at 230 metres to go. I took the sprint comfortably, ending up with 4 points total for the event. Maybe enough for a place, thought I? No, I won the event. 4 riders ended up on 4 points, and as I won the last sprint, I had precedence. The other events were a win and out which I didn't place in and a 15 lap points race. Apparently, I scored 6 points in this, but I can only recall that I scored 2. 6 points were enough for 4th in this event, and together with my win, this finish gave me enough points for 3rd in the B omnium. I was somewhat surprised. PP was riding strongly in the A's, though some mechanical problems meant that he wasn't riding his disk rear wheel and he said he could feel the penalty of using a normal wheel. At the end, there was a Madison and PP and I did some practice exchanges. We'll get good at them with practise, but we are not ready to race yet. PP had a blowout just as he was coming to a stop at the top of the track on relief. Lucky for him, he was moving very slowly and was at the railing at the top of the track - one of the Jamaican National Team also had a blowout in the Madison warm-up which caused him to crash. He was OK. Back to top