SOCAL ELITE STATE TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS - WIN!

SoCal State Track Championships
3K Individual Pursuit, Points Race, and Scratch Race

Rob, Gio, and I decided to make the trek down to L.A. this past weekend to race the Socal State Championship Event. We all wanted to get some track time and some competitive racing on the ADT track before the National Championships coming up in a few weeks. What a great weekend of racing. We arrived early at the track on Saturday morning and began warming up around 8:00 a.m. My first event was the 3k pursuit, which I entered primarily to practice pursuiting on that track in the gearing that I will use for the Mass Start Test at Nationals.


I'm always a little nervous getting on the track for the first time, but it is definitely getting easier every time. We were able to warm up for about 1.5 hours, so I was really feeling comfortable in my new tt positioning and on the steep bankings by the time my race came around. I got a good start and rode the first half of the pursuit a little too fast. My splits were fairly consistent, but not as much as I would like them to be. I started fading with about 1k to go, but still managed to hold on for a 3:58:7 and a personal best. This was 5 seconds faster than the last pursuit I did a weekend earlier. I held on for 2nd place after all of the other riders had finished, only being beat by Dotsie Bausch of Colavita. I was very pleased with my improvement and am starting to be more and more comfortable during my pursuits.


Next up was Gio in the Keirin. What a cool race to watch. He made it through the qualifying heats with ease and picked the 1st position behind the motor for the final. He gave that position up at the start to another eager rider who took it from him immediately off the start line. Gio sat comfortably in second wheel for the majority of the race until one lap to go when he engaged in a mean sprint against Justin Williams of Rock and Repubic. Justin took the win and Gio held on for second, demonstrating great strength and tactical savviness.


Then it was the Points Race heats. Gio and Rob were in different heats, but both qualified easily. Rob was looking for some added training and nearly won his qualifying heat by battling and scoring on almost every sprint lap. Then my points race. There were only 8 of us, but the field was stacked with National caliber races like Becky Quinn, Christen King, Neva Day, Cassandra Hollman, and Catherine Fiedler. I was patient on the first sprint lap, but ready for the counter. Little did I know, I was riding an 83-inch gear and intended to be riding an 88, at least. I was spinning all over the place. It was an interesting experience. For the rest of the race, I contested every sprint lap, taking 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place points. It wasn't enough to challenge Becky Quinn though, who would end up taking the win. With 2 sprints to go, one rider attacked off the front. This rider wasn't a threat to Becky, but was a threat to me, so I got on the front and raised the pace to bring it back. Every half lap I would look to the riders behind me for help, but no one would. In retrospect, I should have scored the early points in order to be more aware of who else had scored what, which would allow me to play a more defensive role. I learned a lot in this race. One thing or sure, I will not be racing with an 83-inch gear at Nationals.


Check out Rob's blog for the men's points race report: http://web.mac.com/robevans1/ODHBikes/Blog/Entries/2007/9/15_So_Cal_Championships%3A_Day_1.html


Day Two: Team Pursuit and Scratch Race

On Saturday, two girls asked me to race the Team Pursuit with them on Sunday. I was more than happy to do it because I absolutely love this event. I was the only one of the 3 of us with tt bars and helmet. I passed on some tips I had about the race from doing it back at home the week before. We started with me in the middle of the 2 of them and the first girl sprinted hard off the line. It would have been better to wind it up a little slower rather than jump so hard off the line, but oh well. It took about a 1/2 lap for the 2 of us to latch back onto her wheel and then she pulled off and I was on the front. I led for a lap and then exchanged and after one more exchange, one of the girls pulled out. Now we have 2 girls and 10 laps to go. I put my head down and started driving it hard for a lap, making sure my teammate was tucked in closely behind me. After the exchange, I felt I was the stronger of the two of us and indicated to her that I would take 2 lap pulls. We eventually finished the race, almost 10 seconds off the fastest time of the day, but still a second place overall. Becky Quinn, Neva Day, and Christen King made up the winning team.
I approached them after the race and expressed my interest in doing this event with them at Nationals in a couple of weeks. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to race the Team Pursuit at Nationals. It's a great race.


Finally, the Scratch Race. A chance to get a victory. I am now prepared with the right gearing and super-motivated to get a win. With only 40 laps in the race, I knew I could race hard and had every intention of keeping the race fast and attacking left and right. After following a small attack, the pack came back together and I attacked immediately. My gap grew to about a 1/2 lap over about 6 laps, but with 30 laps to go, I knew it wasn't going to stick and I wasn't going to lap. I backed off a bit and waited for the pack to catch me. I was able to get back on for about 1 lap before the next attack and I went with it. The field was broken, but managed to come back together and bring every attack back. It was an extremely fast and aggressive race. With about 14 laps to go Christen King made a strong move to get off the front and I was the only one to go with her. She drove the pace hard for a couple of laps and I helped. We were eventually caught with about 6 to go and I attacked immediately.
I got off the front quickly and the chase hesitated. I gained about 1/2 lap again and was keeping it there. With 3 to go, I knew I had to commit so I turned it up as much as I could and gave it everything I had for 3 laps. I was able to hold off the field and ride in with about a straight-away ahead of the field. It was very satisfying to have timed my move right and been able to hold on for the win.


It really was an amazing weekend. I met so many cool riders, mechanics, officials, and coaches. It was a really great atmosphere to be in just weeks before Nationals. Huge thanks to all of the officials, volunteers, and announcers at the ADT Center who organized a great event. Also, thanks to Tim, Team Manager of the Bicycle John's Cycling Team, Kara, Catherine, Cassandra, and Becky for being so cool and supportive all weekend. And of course, thanks to Rob and Gio for taking care of me and making it such great weekend.

Thanks for Reading - Shelley