Sorry for the lack of updates lately - work has been a real time consumer, and with training stepping up in both time and intensity, I just haven’t been able to write as much as I’ve liked. Both my wife and I needed a break, and I needed some track time, so it was off to San Diego for 4 days of on-velodrome training, walks on the beach, fine dining, and hanging with old mates. The San Diego velodrome was having a one-day event on June 12th, and both my coach and I thought it would be a perfect way to get in some low-key competition, along with some heavy training, as well as having some good mental “off” time in the afternoons. So last Thursday we hopped on a Delta flight, and Thursday night I was training at the velodrome in Balboa Park.
Friday morning had some more training while we waited for an old friend to drive down from LA, and then it was out to dinner, and then home to an early bedtime, as racing would start at 9 the next morning. I awoke feeling much better than Thursday or Friday, and got to the track, where things were a little hectic and disorganized, resulting in not as much warm-up as I would have liked. The events were kind of compressed together too, which made recovery between them hard. Anyway, the first event was a 200m time trial, what used to be my main specialty, at least until this year. Leg speed training with no velodrome is hard, and my coach was hard pressed to come up with ways to do it without a track or a motorcycle. My fastest non-altitude time for a 200m was about an 11.7 or so, and I had done nothing this year to even threaten breaking a 12.0. But for some reason, even on a slow track and in a small gear, I rode an 11.6 – 11.7 (various stopwatches had me between 11.56 and 11.71, with the official’s saying 11.7). Either way, it was good enough for first place, and my first win of anything on a velodrome this year.
Next up was the 1k TT, and I was not looking forward to it – slow track, not so great warm-up, and only 5 minutes rest after doing the 200. Now here’s the interesting part – three people in the infield timed me at between 1:13.5 and 1:13.8, which was good enough for first place. The officials, though, had me down for a 1:14.5 and third. So, third place it was, but I do not know how the discrepancy came about. This is the downside to hand timing: too many possibilities for error. In this case, I don’t know who made the mistake, but the only watch that “counts” is the officials, so third place it was. After the 20 more minutes of rest, I then had the pleasure of riding a 4k pursuit, with no one to pursue. Since there weren’t enough officials, they simply ran us one at a time. With no one to be my rabbit, I rode a 5:45, which is great for me, considering the slow track, pre-lactated legs, and killer headwind coming off the ocean.
Then we got a break for about half an hour while they ran the B-category and junior races. The next event was a miss-n-out, also known as a “devil-take-the-hindmost,” an event where the last rider across the line each lap is pulled. For an interesting twist, the organizers declared there would be 4 laps of racing before riders would be pulled. And there would also be a prime on one of those laps. Joy. The bell for the prime goes off at the end of the very first lap, and I decide I’m feeling sporty, so I put in a big jump down the backstraight, for all of three pedal-strokes, and then I pull my left foot. Now, on a road bike, this is no big deal, but on a track bike, what happens is you then proceed to pogo-stick on your saddle for a couple of strokes while you try not to crash. I managed to get seated after tw bounces, and get my foot back in the pedal, in time to head straight up turn three with about a 10 meter lead (Good thing!), and no momentum. One other guy has jumped with me, and he comes under as I go up-track. I manage to re-accelerate and beat him to the line by a tire, and then look over my shoulder to see we have about 125 meters on the field. He was feeling sporty as well, so we give it a go, and stay away until they pull the second rider. At this point, my eyeballs are rolling up in my head looking for some oxygen to burn, and the pack comes slowly over us – in time to box me in for the next sprint, and I’m out with 7th place. Oh well, lesson learned – I need to ride more of these races.
The last event was a 60-lap madison. For the uninitiated, this is a race where you have a teammate, and you take turns racing. You exchange places in the race by slinging your teammate into the race in your place – you then rest for a bit, and then he slings you back in (Here's a video of an exchange). Other than that, it's run under the old points race rules, with laps taking precedence. It’s an intense interval workout, because you use no effort at all to go from stopped to race speed. I partnered up with an old friend (and several-time Olympian and World Champion – I told you, sprinters are smart!) Shaun Wallace, who is one of the SDVA board members. After 30 minutes of pedal-to-the-metal racing, We end up winning by taking the first three sprints and then lapping the field. It took us 20 laps to do it, which hurt. Well, it hurt me at least – Shaun still needed to go do a training ride afterwards. But I did my share, and got a great workout – the old Steve would have never even finished one of these things.
So that’s my weekend – two firsts, a third and a seventh – finally, a win. It seemed a long time coming!
See you on the road.
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