Category: A
Result: Mid-pack

The team was well represented at the track this evening with 3 riders. Pritpal and I rode in the A group and Charlie was in the C group.

It was great to be back down and racing at the track this evening. Today was my first time racing as an A, given that I am now a Cat. 3. Speaking of which, there was a nice moment for me this evening when John Simmons gave me my upgrade sticker confirming that I am truely a Cat. 3. All the hard work last year was worth it.

I had been unsure what gear to ride so last night put on the default "I can't decide gear" of 49x15. This turned out to be fine, though I might tweak it up to 50x15 next week. The racing opened with a 15 lap scratch race for the A's, and I was very pleased to be able to sit in for the duration. The good news was that I am not out of my league. Next up was a 5-lap snowball and I again stayed with the pack.

A large part of the evening was devoted to the Madison. There was a lot of talk about exchanges and the we got onto the track to do some. PP, Charlie and I had some fun doing exchanges between us. Charlie was doing really well for his first time doing hand-slings.

There was then a short 20-lap Madison which PP and I rode. PP started the race with me on relief. I have to admit that seeing the bunch whizz pass me rapidly and thinking about having to jump in for an exchange was rather daunting. However, when it came time for our exchange, the pack was a little broken up and the exchange was fairly easy. Being our first racing Madison, we got some of the timings wrong coming off relief, but we survived. The Madison is a hard race - I was tired afterwards and was most surprised when Charlie said afterwards that we weren't last.

Finally, we had a de'il and I achieved my goal of not being the first rider eliminated. I was the second and was very happy. I had a great time racing this evening - the track is so much fun.

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