Category: A
Result: Mid-pack

It was good to get to the track this evening after a bit of a stressful day at work. Nothing quite like a hard workout session to clear the mind...

I rode the A's and Scott was there riding the B's. There were again 4 groups (12 women!) and 4 rounds of races making for a busy evening. My general comment about my racing is that I am too willing to work hard - I am going to have to learn to ration my efforts to when they will really count.

First up was a scratch race, and though my memory is a little hazy, I think I tried to get off the front around mid distance, but failed. It was then a little tough to hang on to the end, but I did. Second was a 15 lap tempo, quite often the race I really dislike. However, this one seemed easier than usual and I was happy to roll round mainly in the bunch, though I am sure I was on the front of the bunch chasing an escape at some point.

Third for us was a lotto race - a short points race where the sprint locations are unknown. I didn't get any points, but again, was mixing it at the front of the bunch at various points.

The final event was the longer points race, though with time pressing, we only got 30 laps. I really like these events to be longer - 40 is a bare minimum if you ask me. Scott, being a B+ joined us for this race, and I half-jokingly suggested that he did a "Steve Woo" and attack immediately after the whistle. And he did....

He was chased however, and I sat in the chase taking the opportunity to be at the front leading into the first sprint. To my surprise, only 3 riders came round me and I got a point. Of course, I knew that I would pay for my effort, and immediately after the sprint, the attacks came. I held position in the bunch, but unfortunately, the race had already left us behind, with a group getting away.

Thinking back, there was no properly organised effort to being the group back with the group being a bit on the big side for this to happen. There were times when we were riding hard, but a lot of the time it was people trying to get clear, rather than an organisation of the chase.

It didn't help that the lead group had Larry Nolan and Daniel Holloway in it, which did make closing the gap more than a little tricky in the first place. In hindsight, I made a mistake to work when I did and wasn't able to respond when that group was established. I was, however, able to cover a lot of the moves which happened subsequently in the main bunch and was able to contest the bunch sprint at the end of the race.

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