Not the Slowest

After a wet and semi-successful week at my 1st Master Nationals I have finally gotten a moment to reflect and dry off.

I train and race at Kissena and also have spent some quality time at T-town being coached and done a few events there.

a) A fact that I am aware of even before the event was that this is an event of the best riders who can attend. Not everyone has the time or resources to get to a National event and that's an issue if one really wants to know "Am I the Best?" Not at all knocking anyone, but we all realize that there is truth in this. Even in NY where I race, there is a 7 hour drive from upstate to Kissena for our States and that again makes it tough on many.

b) Women where are you? Yup just as in our track it's tough to get a large field of the ladies. Yes, I understand that there are family issues, lack of interest, work etc same as the men but somehow the USAC or local level people need to work on this and that includes Road, CX etc. Those women who come are really really good and that's good for the sport and all of us.

c) Our Senior Masters are pretty amazing. I mean the 70-85 age group, good for them.

d) Aerobars. Lots of them in the 500m TT. When I saw the JR worlds on TV last month there were a few using them in the women and I figured that since it was on a 200m track it made sense. I am getting used to aerobars so perhaps next year I will switch on a 333 or smaller but the higher seeded racers (55-59) 65% of them used these at Indy. The better times were on the aero-bars.

In regard to the event itself:
Rain was a tough one as it came down hard and heavy. All in all the event was really well run but a few thoughts.

e) When the rain stopped, there were not enough volunteers to dry the White Band or track. I saw one leaf blower then later two. No squeegee in use. If they know this track dry slowly (they said this), then perhaps having 6 leaf blowers and 4 people with squeegees working the track.

f) Last day was a total wash out and everything was cancelled, can't help that, same for Saturday but maybe a few events ran.

g) Sprints suffered the most in Cancellations due to rain, I came in 9th and the rain forced a cancellation of the 1/8 and went to quarters. I understand but there was time at night for a 3 up sprint or so. That's life, I accept it but it sucks

h) Communication: Once things changed due to rain or for whatever reason an email should be sent to the riders, Not later but right away. This can be improved and should be. I'm sure many of the racers understand this.
USAC>>>>Why does it take day(s) to post results. You hve already posted them at the track, signed off on them, so whats the issue? Even a photo of the final place/time sheets would be appreciated.

i) One big complaint I heard (didn't effect me) was the visibility around the track from the tents. It was really hard to see what was happening onthe track on turns 1-2 even across home-back due to the tents. This plays in on Mass start events. We needed the tents and am not suggesting to lower them, but it makes things tough for a) riders in Mass start events b) Officials seeing any issues on the track as their view is blocked.

j) Officials did a great job, explained things when asked and toughed out the heat and rain with us.

This was a great week of learning, Made a new PR in the 200 and will improve in several events to be focused in the fall. However I also lerned to double check your gearing cause I left a 15 tooth on my wheel for the race when I swore I had a 14 on. Oh well, that's life.

carleton

For the 500M, the rule of thumb that I use is:

- If you have a powerful and brutal standing start, use drop bars because you won't be able to have the same aggressive standing start using aero bars.
- If you are better at finishing strong and keeping a sleek aero profile, then go for aero bars.

Narrow drop bars like the 33cm and 35cm options available today are the best of both worlds.

The 500M is an anaerobic (sprint) event.

Not the Slowest

Noted, I'm still a work in progress. Bars are not a must for today as I still have lots to improve on my start gaining max power. FYI my 2K TT event was "fine" but will get fitted at some point as I have a new frame. Held back on the power just to make sure I stayed smooth which I think I did.

Racer Ex 

6th in the scratch, 4th in the 2k to 3 world champs, 3rd if I hadn't ridden around like a drunken sailor. 55-59 group had 22 guys doing the 2k.

Sunday was sad. Had the strongest 55+ TP field I had ever seen. Utterly stacked, including the current WC's. Really thought our team had a good shot, we smoked through states on a slow track with a time that was right there.

Counter points...I thought they did a pretty good job on the communication regarding the rain delays. Guy in charge was juggling a lot. This is my 4th or 5th Nats and by far the smoothest, at Frisco one year rain pushed out our 2k for a day and a half and the communication was pretty much "show up and sit".

tobukog

6th in the Points Race, 2nd in the Scratch. The Points race was tough, really tough, where I got off sync chasing the moves of the pursuiters and locked into a battle for 2nd and 3rd place points. Then when we'd catch the move another move would go and I'd be unable to react. Pretty much broken down by the end of the race. Lost 5th by a margin of a bike throw.

Geared up for the scratch and decided to hide, which was pretty terrifying at one point when we split into two groups and I was a quarter lap down. Moved up with 10 to go and was near the front with 3 to go. At 2 to go, a rider made a strong move -- probably a race winning move -- and I was the only rider in position to semi react. I chased him at 3-4 m until 300m to go, when a strong move came over the top. I was still able sprint for 2nd. Maybe next year.

The rain was disappointing: I was excited for the team pursuit after following the Olympics and thought I could do a decent Madison. But at least I got to race, which many weren't able to do after traveling so far.

SprintzNKiloz

Thanks to the above who came out and made it to my home away from home. I felt that they did do an excellent job communicating delays and schedule changes. I'm surprised though someone said the track was a slow drying track. Normally if we can get some sun on it, it's about 15 minutes to being dry. But that was the Saturday/Sunday catch. The rain never let up. I felt that the competition that showed up was pretty amazing in terms of depth and caliber. I didn't see too many people that looked like they should have stayed home.

tobukog

To add, all the events seemed to go smoothly and the officiating seemed solid. The results were posted quickly and I really enjoyed the more intimate feeling compared to road or (cx)nationals.


As a track, I thought Indy was really raceable -- it was possible to win out of turn 4 just as it was possible to win from the front. It didn't seem super fast time wise, but it just felt like a really good even well rounded track. I'm surprised some people thought it didn't dry quickly -- judging by the surface I would have guessed that it would have dried quickly. Honestly, I think Indy is a great place to hold Nationals. It's drivable from much of the country. It's not at altitude. It's a good solid track with good facilities that doesn't really favor a certain type of rider or skill set.

Nationals did give me an acute case of bike/wheel lust: there was so much expensive carbon riding rolling around it made my 10 year old deep rims seem like I was on wooden rims. Ok, maybe gold labels. I do love the rumble of disk wheels....