Originally Posted by queerpunk

Yeah... those guys are great. and it's definitely a robust field. Roger - wow - what a show of brute force he put on. I've raced with riders of that caliber before, but what's really new is the breadth of the field. The incredible talent of the midpack riders. It's deep, it's really deep. Strong guys losing a lap one race and then throwing down big time for the next.

I was sitting 10th in the Omnium going into the points race, and guys behind me in the overall were up the track scooping up points while the field was chasing pretty enthusiastically. I've got almost 10 mins at about 52kph average in my data.

Combine that with a big track, a big field, big gears, and a bit of banging around as everybody is looking for opportunities in a big field - it's a very exciting new awesome hard challenging environment.

I mean, every time I've raced a new field (not juts a local field; the first time i raced regionally, or nationally, etc) it's been exactly that learning experience.

And nothing drills it down more than the elimination, where everbody's hammering, not sprinting - the speed is constantly high - everybody is fighting for position - it's a huge field... the difference between an elite elimination and a local one is light years.

it feels great to have had some top tens in a few of the races - and to feel outgunned - and to know that i'm stronger than i ever have been before, and also that there's room to build from here, through the season, and into Nats.