Category: 3
Result: 4th

We had a big turnout at the track on Wednesday - me, Scott & Ziggy in the 3's and Brad in the 4's. All told, there were 61 riders there last night - wow!

The 3's had 3 races in our omnium before we combined for the closing points races. First up was a 12 lap scratch, and we hatched a plan: wait until 3 to go then do a team sprint from the back of the pack, Zig first, Scott pulling off at 200m to go leaving me to blaze to glory.

And it almost worked. We hung at the back, happy to let people try to get off the front and others chase them. There was a small break and a pursuit in progress as we charged over the top from the back of the pack line astern. Coming from the back with such good speed, we caught people by surprise as I had hoped we would. Ziggy pulled for his lap, launching Scott with me tight on his wheel. Scott, despite my vocal encouragement(!), was slowing as we approached the bell, so I had to jump earlier than planned and managed to hold on for second with a final dig to the line. People seemed impressed by our teamwork.

Next race was a short points race, 16 laps, sprints every 4. I tried to get a break established after the first sprint. Ziggy came across to the break, but I had done too much. He got some points in the 2nd and 3rd sprints - I slipped back to the group. It all came together again for the final sprint.

Third race for us was a de'il, and Ziggy and I worked well together on the front keeping the pace high. I got slightly washed away when I pulled up to let Ziggy through and didn't take the opportunity I had to get back on the front and as a consequence, let myself get boxed out into 7th place of 16. Zig survived to get 5th.

The final race was the scoring 3's and the P12 for a points race. I followed one of the Jamaican riders as he tried to get off the front, but he was just playing and sat up after a while. At this point a break did establish itself in pursuit of Daniel Holloway who had attacked at the whistle, and Ziggy was in it! I hung on in the main group feeling a little under geared at times with 49x15. There was a period in the race where we were flat out and I was could feel my vision beginning to gray out at the edges due to the effort. This is something I sometimes get at the track, probably something to do with the high rpm's.

My 2nd in the first race was good enough (just) for 4th on the night in the 3's and another upgrade point.

The turnout at the track is nothing short of amazing. The racing is competitive and there is a large women's group. The time pressure on a Wednesday will ease when the Friday nights start up, as not all groups will race on both nights. The Pro/1/2's will be rested to provide the high-speed spectacle on Fridays - are we seeing a renaissance in local track racing?

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