sarals 

Athlete: Sara
Date: 08/09/17
Venue: Hellyer Park Velodrome
Race: Fast Forward Wheels Wednesday Night Track League Omnium

This was the last mass start event, until Masters Districts in September, that I will contest this season at Hellyer. I wish I had done more! They are super fun, quite a fitness test and workout, and damn the age disparity, I go out and count wins as staying in and on and finishing! I learn something each time I do it, too. As always, the night's racing menu is announced the day of, and tonight's races included a snowball, a scratch, and points races. Ten, ten, and twenty eight laps respectively. Tonight's women's field was small, I think there were eight or ten of us, so the field was a combined cat 1/2/3/4. There was some serious talent and speed in that field, which I was aware of, and it didn't matter to me. I'd stay in and fight it as long as I could.

Coach was in attendance tonight, as were some of the P/V men, Erik S. and Bill B. among them.

I did a ten lap warmup on the track in a light gear, 78 inches, to get the legs going, heartrate up, and to gauge how I felt. How did I feel? Not great. I've had some chronic back pain as of late, I was mentally tired from a long work week, and my legs were a little knackered from a hard workout at this very track the day before. Hey, you run what you brung, right?

I switched to my race wheels and gearing after the warmup. It was a bit windy, so I opted for my trispoke for the front rather than my five spoke, and I used my trusty Zipp 950 disc for the rear. I was riding an 86 inch gear, my go to, for now.

Race One - Snowball

In this race, points are awarded to the rider who crosses the line first on each lap after the initial neutral lap, and the points available increase for each succeeding lap. That makes for a fast race! And it was, right from the whistle. Coach suggested I get off the front on the first lap to try to take a point, and then ride it out from there. I knew that would take an all out effort, it would be a 335 meter sprint, and I'd be baked from it and would need recovery. So? It's nothing if you don't try! My plan was to go from high on the track, use the banking to help me accelerate, and hopefully catch everyone off guard. I was at the rail, third wheel, and I never got to the front. There were three lines of riders, one group of four was in the sprinters lane, a group of three on the stayers line, and me with one or two other riders at the rail. The riders in the sprinters lane went before I could find a hole to dive through, and I chased for a solid lap. I was not far behind those leading four riders, and was actually closing on them at the line, but that big effort did indeed do me in. I rode the stayers line for the rest of the race, trying to keep my tongue from getting tangled in my front wheel.

Race Two - Scratch

I like scratch races, because they are straight forward races, and as close to a crit without brakes as you can get. They are super fun. This one was ten laps, with a random prime thrown in. We rolled from the rail, were whistled live in turn two, and the pace quickened but didn't go crazy. I was at the rear of the pack, hunting around for wheels. I didn't want to be low on the track, even though that's the shortest route around, because I didn't want to get forced to the front and I wanted an out to the right, up track. All I ended up doing by using that strategy was sit on wheels, trying to hang on. I was not being tactically astute, and because I was tired mentally, I wasn't doing a good job catching the nuances of the pack. I rode hard, stayed on for seven of the ten laps, even did a lap at VO2max, but I was terrible when it came to actually racing. I had enough fitness to contest, but I didn't do it. I finished, though.

Race Three - Points

Points races can be tough, because there is a sprint every so many laps. In this one, it was every six. Points are awarded through fourth place for the top four riders in each sprint lap. It was fairly long, 28 laps, but I suspected there would be lulls and because of that opportunities to recover and to stay on, maybe even attack off the front (for a change). Well, things never go to plan, and I ended up in sprinters lane and on the front by the third lap. I tried hard to sweep off, but I got blocked each time. I was feeling it, and off course, when I was suffering the most was when the pack went. I fought to grab a wheel and stay on, but I slipped off the back. I went up track and recovered for a lap or two, and then saw a chance to get back on as the (now splintered) pack came by below me. And I did. However, I got popped off again, but I found the wheel of another rider and we worked together for a good while, exchanging every lap. At one point, I was sufficiently recovered to try to bridge to the second group of riders, who were about 1/3 of a lap ahead of me. I put in a solid three lap effort, dragging the other woman with me, and sure enough - just as I made the catch, that group hit it, and I was OTB again. The effort had taken it's toll, and I had a tough time staying with the girl I'd been working with. At that point in the the race there were only three to go, so I did what I could to get those laps done and finish. And I did.

For the first time in the Series, I finished all three races.

Thinking things over afterwards, I concluded that my tactics and awareness were non existent, I was of a mindset to settle and little else. I had the fitness to contest, at least for a time, and my bike skills on the track have gotten to the point where moving around in a group at speed is second nature. One gear, no fear, brakes are for wimps! I have two more opportunities for mass starts at Hellyer before Worlds. I've entered a points race and scratch race in the Masters Districts. I'm going to use what I've learned to try to make something good happen. I had originally planned to only race sprint events at UCI Worlds, but you know - I'm going to enter the 55+ scratch race there! And I'm going to use what I've learned from the WNTL races in that race.

Thanks for reading!