Yesterday was a great day of track racing! I can say that objectively because I won a box of cliff bars! I also came in first in the "C2" omnium, so that is awesome. I also feel like shit today, so that is not awesome. Bike hangovers suck.
Anyway, to the races--Scratch Race: This was 8 laps. I jumped before the last lap. It seems everyone always waits for the bell to ring to pick it up, so I moved before that. It worked and I got a gap and won. I think some guy was behind me, but best to look forward and not back, so I didn't turn around. I am not sure how close he was.
3 lap Scratch Races: Here they broke the C2 group in half. The top 2 in each heat would qualify for the final. So, I decided I would do my best to place 2nd in the first heat. We were going kind of slow and I was sleeping and almost didn't get second, but luckily I got a kick at the end. In the final there were only three of us for some reason. Anyway, I totally missed the first guy jump like a ninny. [clarification: he didn't jump like a ninny, i was a ninny for missing it. misplaced modifier.] I drafted off the second guy hoping he'd pull me up, but he wasn't cooperating with my plan, so the last lap I cranked it and caught up to the guy with the gap and almost beat him at the line but didn't. Shucks. Someone after the race said when I am coming out of the final turn I shouldn't "go up track" so much and I wasted time/distance by doing that and maybe could've won.
Miss 'n Out: This was my first track race ever at the end of June, and I hoped not to do as shitty as that (where I was the 2nd or 3rd person eliminated). I learned my lesson to stay on the outside. I was doing pretty good. Right after an elimination (there were 5 of us left) someone I think must have hit my back wheel cause I heard a scrape of my spokes (or something else) and felt something hit my left quad. I gave out the infamous: "woah!" and someone said: "way to hold it," or something like that. This rattled me for the rest of curve and half the straight away, but no time to get rattled cause I didn't want to miss! Phew, another lap - down to 4. I kinda blew it on the next lap; we were all lined up across the line, and I didn't gun it enough. I was bummed because after that we had a neutral lap and would race for the win. Mike told me I should gun it especially when you are down to four cause you get a rest lap after that. Good point! Although I didn't place well on this event, I did much better than last time and was happy I didn't fall even with some bumping on the curve.
B/C Points Race: 25 laps, sprints every 5. This was going to be fast. I thought the C2 group was fast, and the C1s were faster. And the Bs faster still! Ooof. I held on last week, so I thought I'd try for a point this week. I thought the field might break up, so I figured I better go for a point early. As in the first one. With more than 1 to go I made a break, cause again it seemed good to do it before the bell as opposed to after. I was lucky and got a gap and came across the line first! I was pretty happy I got a point. The guy behind me then yelled at me, "Keep going!" I was thinking, "hell no i'm not pulling anymore!" and pulled up track and hopped on his wheel. I was gassed and knew I couldn't hold a break for 20 more laps. We held that break approximately one lap like I figured. After lap 10 sprint I was a bit worried I was going to get dropped, but I didn't. But I wasn't in a good place to get a point for 15. On 20, I was an idiot and sprinted for "fourth"-- I was stoked I got it, until I realized Grey and some other guy were on a break up track, so actually I was 6th. Stupid me. Anyway, didn't get any points for 25 either, just hung on. This was a fun race. I was happy to get some points early and happy to hang on the race of the race.
It was another great night at Hellyer-- people were all so nice to me giving me pointers. THANKS! Kinda shittin' my pants for this weekend...I thought some non-pro women would sign up, but I figure: "Hey, I've done three "C" races, I'm totally ready to race against an Olympian!" Well, it should be amusing at best. And humbling. After I looked at who was registered, I revised my goal for the weekend. Now it is: "Get a picture of Jennie Reeds quads next to mine."
Michiko told me this is how I am going to win the Keirin.
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