sarals 

Hi everyone,

Here is the race report from my 2018 UCI Masters Track Worlds. I promised to keep it short, and I will. If you care to read about my year long process and journey, I have a short essay on my Facebook page.

Athlete: Sara Stearns
Event: 2018 UCI Masters Track World Championships
Races Entered: 2 Kilometer Individual Pursuit; 500 Meter Time Trial; Team Sprint; Flying 200 Meter Time Trial; Match Sprint Tournament
Dates: October 6 - 13, 2018
Venue - VELO Sports Center Velodrome, Carson, California

I arrived in Carson on Friday October 5th. I met with my training partner Barbara Gicquel, and we did a short recovery ride on our road bikes. The next day, Saturday, October 6th, we rode together again on an openers ride along the River Trail from El Dorado Park in Long Beach to Seal Beach and back.

Sunday October 7th, 2K IP

I have not trained for the 2K IP, and like any event, it requires it. It is eight laps on the 250 meter VSC track, and the start and pacing are important. My intention was to use the race as a warmup, to get the race jitters out, and not get too embarrassed. In this case, if it could go wrong, it did. I misread the schedule, thinking the final in the evening was the race (no, there was a qualifier in the morning). Several frantic "where are you???!" texts from friends at the velodrome that morning alerted me to my screw-up. I hurried to gather my stuff, and got to the track in an absolute frenzy. I spoke to the Chief Commissaire about riding, and she agreed to a "time only" ride at the end of the mornings competition. Things then went further downhill. I ripped my Castelli PV Bodypaint skinsuit trying to get it on, and had to use safety pins on the zipper to keep it closed. Other little annoyances kept popping up, and then I finally got on the track. I went out WAY too fast, in fact I rode a respectable Kilo, and then I blew up. The last four laps were total agony, and I finished with a ridiculously slow 3:35. Oh, well. It was done, and hopefully I got the brain fade out of my system. My skinsuit was trashed, though, so I was going to have to wear non team skinsuits for the rest of the week.

Wednesday October 10th, 500M TT

Unlike the 2K, the 500 meter TT is an event that I DO train for. The organizers had mysteriously given the 65+ women our own field, and that was huge. It was also the ONLY time they broke any fields out above 55 for the masters women. I was sixth or seventh to ride off. I was starting on the back straight. Bonnie Woodbury, who I rode against the previous year, was starting on the front straight. I got a great start, rode a very good first lap (fastest in the first lap of everyone), and then rode the fourth fastest second lap. I finished with a time of 42.89, which was 1.2 seconds faster than last year's Worlds, and .9 seconds faster than my previous PB at USAC Track Nationals. It also won me the Bronze Medal, and a podium spot next to Lan Tran, the Champion, and Jan Palchikoff, the Silver Medalist and current world record holder for 65+ women in that event. They rode 42.1, and 42.5 respectively.

Thursday October 11th, Team Sprint

The team sprint is a two rider, two lap race. The length of the race is determined by the length of the velodrome. At VSC, it was going to be 500 meters. My partner was MaryAnn Levenson. She was rider two, she would ride both laps, and I was rider one, starting from the gate and getting her up to speed. We got a great start, but MaryAnn never got on my wheel, she chased most of my lap. Still, she finished strong, and we ended up seventh overall (55+ field) with a 42.5. Last year, we would have won a Silver Medal with that time. This year, because there were nine teams, four below age 60 and one below 65, we ended up seventh and out of the final. None of the 65+ teams made the cut.

Friday October 12th, Flying 200 Meter Seeding Sprint and 1/8 Finals Match Sprint

I was anticipating the 200. I had a goal of breaking the World Record for 65+ women, which is a 13.71. At the very least I wanted to break into the 13 second bracket. Lan Tran, who is a very gifted sprinter, had already ridden below 13.71 in club races and in training, so we had a rivalry. Also, I had been anticipating a rematch of the match sprint tournament Lan and I contested at Nats, where she bested me two to one in the match sprint duels. However, earlier in the week, the UCI Officials had changed the age grade from 60+ to 55+, which effectively eliminated all of the 65+ women from the medal round in the match sprints. For the 200, I geared up to 92 inches, bigger than I ridden in competition before. In training I had shown I could spin that gear, and my coach was confident I'd post a great time IF I rode a good windup and then a good sprint. I rode a 14.083. It was a PB by .2 over what I had previously ridden, and .7 better than last years Worlds and Nats. SO CLOSE to the 13 second bracket. Lan Tran rode a 13.77, SO CLOSE to the World Record!!

After the 200, I decided to withdraw from the sprint tournament, because I'd be paired in the first round with a 56 year old Australian women who rode a 12.6 in the 200. The best I could do would be fifth, and I would not get to race Lan. Two of us withdrew in protest from the tournament.

My 2018 Worlds ended with the 200. If the UCI does not address the age group inequities for masters women athletes above 60, I will NOT be doing another Worlds. It is in Manchester, UK, for the next several years, and I am not traveling there to contest one time trial.

Thanks for reading!! Have a good off season, everyone!!