This is my first track event of the year. Last year I met a wonderful couple, Doc and Pat Dougherty, who live in Davie, FL. They allowed me to stay with them while I competed in my first ever track event last year. They then invited Uhl and me to come back and stay with them this year. We took them up on the offer and spent some great days in the Florida sun.
I flew spent 10 days in Florida. I wanted to get some practice on the track and my new track bike. Uhl flew in for a week. We did the tourist thing and visited the beach. We were there as the huge cruise ships left the harbor. We saw five ships leave, the first one was huge, and each successive ship got bigger. Uhl also saw a stingray in the water, not far off the beach.
We did the group ride on Sunday. There were 60 people on the ride. The goals for the ride were to work as much as possible and get a great workout. I spent the day attacking, bridging to breaks, and chasing things down. Not knowing the route, I was getting ready for my winning attack when everyone sat up. I discovered that the “race” had ended at some landmark we just passed. As the group was reassembling, this Jamaican guy rode up to me and said, “I have to shake your hand. You whooped on us today. You whooped our asses!”
Murphy’s law came into play with my track bike. Last year I used rented or borrowed track bikes at all the events. This year I was so excited to finally have my own track bike. Scott Warren, the owner of Javelin Bike, is our bike sponsor this year. We get to ride super light, super aero, speedy and beautiful Javelin road and time trial bikes. Scott also agreed to sponsor me with a Javelin track bike. The bike was supposed to arrive in plenty of time for me to take it to the track and play around with the gearing. Due to a shipping company mistake, I received the bike Thursday morning at 10:30 am. The racing started Thursday evening at 6 pm. The bike wasn’t built, so I had to find a bike shop to build it up for me ASAP. Luckily the great guys at Mega Cycle (Cy, Jorge, and Alex) took care of me; they built the bike while I waited. Everyone commented on how pretty the bike is. It is also very speedy. There is no equipment reason for me to go slow!
This is the first time that Uhl has traveled to a track race with me. It is so much easier with two people. Uhl also had the digital camera handy and took tons of photos. I was able to ride the bike before my first race, and it felt fast.
The Fort Lauderdale (Brian Piccolo) Velodrome is a cement 333m track with 33-degree banking. My racing started with the Points Race on Thursday evening. The women do a 20k race, which is 60 laps. We sprint for points every 6 laps with points going to the top four (5, 3, 2, 1 pts). I decided to see if I could sprint with the sprinters on the first sprint. I tried going early, thinking I could outlast them. I found out that I can’t sprint with them. So, I decided to try attacking. Unfortunately, I did it at inopportune times, so I spent a lot of energy and didn’t get a lot for it. Finally, with 14 laps to go, I attacked hard and got away. I stayed off to take the points on lap 12. Then Ashley Kimmet bridged up to me. We worked together and sprinted for the points on lap 6; Ashley beat me. We stayed away and faced off at the finish, and Ashley won it with me 2nd. The points race is determined by points scored. You can cross the finish line first and not win the race. Becky Quinn won it with 35 points, Becky Conzelman was 2nd with 24 points, Ashley was 3rd with 22 points, and I was 4th with 20 points.
Friday was the 3000m pursuit; the qualifying round was in the morning, and the final round (1 vs 2, 3 vs 4) was in the evening. It was really windy. It rained before the event started at 9 am, so it was delayed until the track dried at 10 am. The good thing about track racing is you never race in rain; the velodrome is banked anywhere from 33 to 45 degrees, and a wet surface on the banking doesn’t make for safe riding. The bad thing is you never know how long you will have to wait for the track to dry. I decided to run a 92.6 gear. For some reason, I was seeded poorly. I was in the first heat, paired with someone I didn’t know. In the pursuit two women start on the track, on opposite sides of the track, and they “chase” each other. In the qualifying round, everyone goes for a time, even if you get caught. In the finals, if you get caught the race is over and the person who caught you wins. I felt like I was having a good ride, especially considering the wind, and then I caught the other rider. Luckily I caught her on the straight away, but it still takes time to get around someone. I finished with a time of 4:10. Sarah Uhl won it in 4:07, Becky Conzelman was 2nd in 4:08, I was 3rd, and Mari Holden was 4th in 4:14.
Friday evening we had the pursuit final. I rode against Mari for 3rd and 4th place. I decided to try a bigger gear, so I used a 94.5. That was a huge mistake because the wind was even stronger than in the morning. I had a great start and was flying for the first four laps. Then the wind made it so I couldn’t turn that gear over, so I died. Uhl said that he could see me losing power and decelerating. Mari won 3rd place in 4:16, and I was 4th in 4:18. In the 1st and 2nd place final Sarah took off and quickly (in a lap or so) caught Becky. The gun was fired and that was the end of the race for Becky; Sarah decided to keep going for a time. She seemed to be going well, but the wind was too strong; Sarah’s time was 4:11.
Saturday morning was the 10k Scratch race; the scratch race is a 30 lap event with the first person crossing the line winning it. A cold front came through yesterday, so we raced in 56-degree weather. That is a shocker for Florida. Many of the real sprinters did the scratch race, so my plan was to get rid of them before the finish. There were attacks and I countered several attacks. With seven laps to go, I attacked right after they had just caught Mari. I quickly opened up a gap. Unfortunately, Becky Quinn came with me. I knew I didn’t want her in the finish, but my legs were too fried to keep attacking. We rolled along. Then Ashley Kimmet caught us. There were three of us with 4 laps to go. They took off on the last lap, and I couldn’t go with them. Becky won it, Ashley was 2nd, and I was 3rd.