track hack

track hack: [trāk hāk] n. to cough harshly, usually in short and repeated spasms, after fiercely exercising on a paved, circular racing course.

Brittany Allen (800m/1500m rock star), introduced me to this phrase during my freshman year in college, when I ran track. After college, I thought track hack was out of my life forever. But last night, it returned in full form, lasting until 11pm.

Yesterday was Wednesday night racing at Hellyer. It was a great time - Angela and Doug came down - it was great having them cheer for me! My friends Amy, Betsy, and Kevin also drove all the way down from Oakland! It was also great to see Karla, Katie, and Dean again. (All who raced awesome!)

Scratch Race: We started this after I warmed up for approximately 7 minutes at too low a speed. Nothing like the first race to whip you in shape. And, man, was it fast. Or at least I thought so. I figured I'd just sit on Karla's wheel the entire time...which is what I did. It was good to see how she moves around and stuff. Well, I finished at the back end of the main pack and was seeded into the C2 group. I was happy I wasn't with the C1s cause then I could focus more on racing rather than hanging on.

Tempo Race: In this race, points are scored each lap. First place got 2, second place 1. This was all until the last lap where top 4 scored. I knew I had to stay near the front so I could score some points. It turned out Grey entered the C2 race by accident, so he was off the front the whole time. That meant it was the rest of the pack working for 2nd place (one point) every lap. I knew I wouldn't score the first lap, so I didn't try and sat in. Then I would go for a point one lap, then sit in the next lap. This seemed to work well cause I could rest up and come around for a point every other lap. I had a really fun time in this race.

Win 'n Out: This was a 7 lap scratch race and then they rang a bell and the first person across won and was "out". Then another lap for 2nd place, then they were out, etc. Well, the pace started pretty slow for the first 1.5 laps. One of my goals for the night was to try and attack, so, although it was really early in the race, I figured I'd try it. I made a pretty big gap and sucked a shit load of wind around and around. I kept looking at the lap card thinking... "I wonder if they ring the bell at 1 and the win 'n out starts then...or if it goes to 0 and then they ring the bell." Thankfully for me, they rang it at one to go. Boy, was I tired from being all alone. I looked back and still had a gap, but Karla was coming up on me. She blew by me to get first, but I thankfully held on another lap to get 2nd. I was lucky a second person didn't bridge up with her, cause otherwise I would have been screwed. Well, I was happy I took control of the race and gave something new a try, instead of just sitting in like I normally do.

Points Race: In this race they combined the C1, C2s, and Bs who hadn't scored points. This meant it was going to be fast. It was 24 laps, points ever4 (or every 6...I can't recall). Well, scoring points wasn't really a possibility, so I just hung on for dear life. Just when I thought I'd be chewed up and spit out the back, the pace slowed. Anyway, I hung on the main pack, and I was pretty proud of that. 0 points, but that was a hard 0 points!

The best part of the night (in my opinion) was during the Tempo "B" race. Three people were competing for points. Shelley Olds just beat Dean for second place on a lap, and right after crossing the line he yells: "aw, you little shit!" It was pretty hilarious. It was cool to watch the A/B points race too--they are so fast! It was awesome to see Mary and Shelley hang in there so well.

Well, all in all, it was a really fun Wednesday night of racing. I think I improved a bit from last Wednesday and happy I got to practice making an attack and get more riding experience. Also, I guess I placed 3rd in the omnium, so I was pretty happy with that. Can't wait to race next week!