Riding in Circles, 22nd May 2013

Riding in circles

A couple of days after we got back from the Outback Odyssey, our local cycling club had decided to hold a track meet. Now common sense would indicate that undertaking high intensity track cycling a couple of days after completing an almost 300km epic mountain bike journey may not have been the best idea. But I’ve been told many times that I lack common sense so I decided to give it a go. CLP however, was definitely out and it was only under sufferance that I agreed to him coming down to take pictures (all pictures included are courtesy of him).

The Competition

Also the competition

This track event was actually part of a series of omniums that were being held over winter. An omnium is a series of track events where you get points for each event that go towards your total. Events can include things like time trials, points races and eliminations. For this omnium we were going to race a heart starter (a scratch race that’s raced first, hence the name), a team time trial, a points race, an elimination and a scratch race. Yep, I’m a sucker for punishment. The points race would be the one that counted toward the omnium series.

The Debutante

Have to say I wasn’t expecting much but it was nice to be out racing with friends. It was a mates first time out racing at the Superdrome (congratulations Rob W) so it was a nice friendly atmosphere for us in   D grade. The heart starter was under way and as usual I struggled to get on the back when the bunch started, everybody seems to start so much faster than me. We rolled around for a few laps with me taking my turns on the front as an opportunity to slow things down. 

D grade looking Pro!

Two laps out from the finish I found myself on the front, which past experience told me is not a good time to be there. I figured I’d go for broke, and took off. I think I caught the rest of the group napping as they didn’t seem to really respond for about half a lap and by that time I was well and truly on my way. Unfortunately a couple of the riders decided they actually wanted to chase me and caught me coming around the final bend, which resulted in me coming third. Not too bad for someone who thought they would be dropped after the first lap!

Next up was the team time trial, which is always interesting when you’ve never ridden with the people in your team before. Same as with the first race I struggled to get on the back. We seemed to get the hang of it after a while, but I think we were a bit worn out from the first race and the other team beat us.

A Grade - more Pro

The main race for the night (at least the one that counted toward the series) was next and given that my chest still felt like it was on fire from the first race I didn’t have high hopes. Still, all that seemed to disappear once we started rolling. There was a little bit of confusion as to which laps were the points laps, so I was figuring I’d just listen for the bell. However I was on the front at 2 laps to go to the first sprint and thought what the hell, let’s try that surprise attack again. This time it worked well (either that or they were as confused as I was about which laps were sprints) and I collected 5 points in the first of three sprints. I went on to collect another 3 points, which resulted in me coming second. I believe that’s my best track result to date!

Rob W doing awesome!

If I wasn’t exhausted before, then I was now and I was looking forward to the elimination race so I could take it easy. I think I wasn’t the only one and there was a bit of a competition as to who could be eliminated first and have the longest break. I didn’t win this, and I think I was eliminated about 3rd to last. Congratulations to Rob W who hung on for 3rd in this race, not bad for his debut.

Still rolling!

Finally we rounded out the night with a scratch race, and though I gave it my best, there wasn’t a lot left in the tank by that point in time and I actually have no idea where I placed. All in all it was a good night with good company. It’s never boring riding in circles!