Track Nationals round 3

At the beginning of the semester I decided that I did not want to go to track nationals. Even though I love track racing, I do not like going to a big event that I do not specifically train for. Last year was a major disappointment for me dropping from 1 spot out of the podium in the kilo to outside of the top 20. Going straight from mtn bike and cross to a big track race is pretty tough and even though I did not want to go through the same disappointment again, I decided to suck it up and go anyway to try and help get my team at least a few extra points.

This is the time of year where rollers become a necessity. It is also the only time of the year where I actually ride rollers. It is much easier to do on track bikes and this year I was able to ride with only one leg! (a big accomplishment for me)

Most of the track races at nationals are time trials with little warm up time on the track. You must constantly be spinning on the rollers to stay warm and ready to go. The first day was the 4k and Kilo. My results were mediocre at best in these races with only a 1:12 in the kilo. Though without the proper training I didn't expect anything better so I was ok with it. It was a good opening effort to get myself ready for the rest of the races.

Friday morning was the men's team persuit and we actually had a decent shot in this race. We had a strong team featuring Kip (2009 MWCCC road champ), Will (Ironman), Filip (strong TT), and myself. Despite not really practicing the event we managed to get a pretty decent time which ended up holding up for 3rd overall so we got a cool medal.

Me, Will, Kip, FilipThese things get bigger every year, I swear...

After the team persuit, it was time to get to business in the points race. Kip and Fil were in the first qualifier and got in to the final pretty easily. I managed to win an early sprint by breaking away in my heat and was able to relax for the rest of the qualifier so we ended up with 3 in the finals for later that night. The points race final is always a brutal race, especially after doing a full set of individual and team races leading up to it. I knew it was going to get really fast and getting points was going to be really hard so I attacked right from the beginning. The field instantly brought me back and there were some counters. We kept going to bring them back and as soon as it slowed down I went again. Matt Brandt, a fellow MWCCC rider bridged up to me and we were able to hold off the field until the first sprint to get a few early points. The rest of the race was a blur of being maxed out in my 96inch gear sprinting just to stay on the wheel in front of me. I felt pretty good now and then and tried a few other moves but nothing seemed to work out. Ended up 15th overall, which is my best finish in the points race at nationals so I was pretty happy about it.

All in all it was a pretty good trip. I enjoyed myself and was able to be somewhat competitive so that was nice. Good thing I raced at the track all summer, I'm sure that helped. Well, now it's back to the mtn bikes!