Finish Line or Succubus - You Decide -- Log

Once again, Sprinter's Dream was the theme on the track for tonite's racing...and i left all my fast-twitch muscles at home!

Actually, they're over on Newton Heights. hahahah

We had a great turnout, despite the dark clouds - 14 A and 9 B riders. Bart, who's been kicking serious butt in the B's has been 'promoted' to the A group...muahaha.. (Fantastic work buddy!)

First race of the night was a short scratch race...my favorite (not!) Normally, it's 15 laps of hell. (One lap = 1/3rd of a kilo, so 5 kilo's in all...barely gives me time to warm up!!)

The pace was pretty moderate tonite, with constant short attacks... It was actually pretty fun with people going off, and chasing them down, only to see it happen again.

With about four laps to go, the pack slowed down, and i was feeling peppy, so i gunned it a bit, made a quarter lap, but no one was with me, and i certainly didn't have it in me to hold off the pack...i dropped back in. Sat in for a few more laps, then the bell, and everyone was off, and i was spent...haha I was around 9th place. Stupid scratch race. =P

Next up were the Chariot races (one lap, all-out sprint from standing start), we were split into two heats. In mine, Clarkie gave me a fantastic push, and i ended up at the front until the last 30 meters, then three guys whooshed past, and that was that. (Needed to be in the top 3 to continue.)

On a really funny note, Matt (pictured at right at the recent Nationals, very nice shot Andrea!) was held back for a good couple second by his holder, Gerry, in his first Chariot heat....everyone had a good 20 meters up on him by the time he actually started rolling....and the powerhouse STILL won by about three bike lengths. Simply incredible...Matt is the man. =)

Last race of the night was a keirin (6 laps, motorpaced the first 4), and there were 9 of us...one big heat.

We get rolling, and i'm in a really high starting position, so didn't have a lot of options for positioning... Ended up behind Clarkie in a second line behind the durney(motorpacer) which isn't such a bad place to be...i'm getting a draft, plus i'm boxing a few riders in!

We do our four laps, the durney pulls off, and the race has begun! Two laps to go!

Riders jostle for positions, some moving up, others down...intensity picks up... I'm trying to get on a fast wheel....Clarkie pulls up, he's finished with with pulling...speed picks up more, and there's half a lap to go! Five guys take off in front of me, and suddenly i'm alone!

Still having a little pepper in my legs, i gun it! I wheel around Dr Walker and Bart is ahead by a bike length...the finish line is quickly approaching....and not getting any further or slower!! I dig deep and spin hard..! 10 meters and i've caught his wheel!! I drive for the line, and beat him by a tire! That gave me 4th place, behind Matt, Jeremy and Marcus, woohoo!!

I've been having some pretty good success in Keirins, i really love how they wind you up..it's much easier for me to keep up with the strong guys when we're already going 50kph, rather than having to get there from 40kph...and then trying to get above 55! (Of course, big and rapid accelerations are the specialty of these guys...) I hit 55.5kph this race as well. Not a record, but pretty good for a guy with no fast-twitch muscles. ;)

The last race really made my night, and i went home pretty happy. =)

Also, i got my new jersey, looks similar to Matt's, above, but is short-sleeved. I like the new design, good work guys! Only problem is sizing.. Seems our sizing structure has changed to accomodate all the 'larger' folks out there. 'Medium' used to fit me quite snugly, but with our Super-Sized society, a Medium is now a bit loose. I'm gonna try to see if anyone got a small to try out and maybe switch...and hopefully it won't be too small. (It's currently a bit loose around the arms and chest, and long as well. I'll fill it a bit more as i continue to build my upper-body, but the length is hard to get around..)

Not sure what kinda training ride i'll do tomorrow...maybe i'll take it easy and go to the track in the evening to noodle around..we'll see! Looking forward to taking the weekend off, and tripping over to Vancouver. =)