A 6-day in Italy.
U.S. National Team: Shelley Olds & Christen King
Italy was everything I imagined it would be. Beautiful. I set off on a Saturday morning and arrived in Italy Sunday mid-afternoon. After we built our bikes up and settled into our apartments in Lucca, we headed out for a spin to wake up the legs. I met a couple of the ladies from the road team who reside in Lucca for much of the year and they welcomed us and led us on a perfect ride through the country to the infamous, Leaning Tower of Pisa. The scenery was unbelievable. Little villas in the hills with vineyards and fields of sunflowers all around. Everything was so flush and green. It was picturesque. I just rode and tried to take it all in and realize how lucky I was to be there.
The road team departed the next day for a race in the Czech Republic and Christen and I had the whole place to ourselves. We figured out rides to do by looking at a map of the area. But, not knowing that there would be a roundabout at every intersection, it proved difficult to leave town and find our route. Eventually, we met a nice man on a bike who spoke English and we were able to find the road to the coast. The riding was perfect. There was an even mix between flats and hills and we explored all of our options during the 4 days we spent in Lucca.
We left Lucca on the 9th and drove up to Fiorenzula, where we would be racing track for the next 3 days. The event was a big deal for the men. It was a 6-day with 2 Madisons and a total of 6 races a night for each team of men. There was some good competition and the organizers did a great job of putting on a show. Our races started Thursday night and ended Saturday night with a Points Race Finale to determine the overall omnium winner.
The track was a 400m outdoor with steep corners and very shallow straightaways. The entire track, turns and straights, was much longer than anything I had ever raced on before. I knew it would take some getting used to. The first race of the night was a 20-lap scratch race. The field contained Ukraine, Spain, Czech Republic, and Italian riders, with several of the women who will represent their countries in the Points Race and Pursuit in Beijing.
I was a little disappointed after the first race because I expected it to be faster with more attacks, but the field was content to ride passively around the track. I thought maybe everyone was just feeling each other out and the later races would be different. I was wrong. The next races were the Elimination races, otherwise known as the Miss n Out. After riding this race several times recently at my local track with big groups of men, I was sort of dreading the race because I know how fast and tricky it can be. It turned out that forcing myself through those previous races actually paid off and I had learned a few things about the race. I managed to hang on and ride smart down to 3 riders left, but just didn't have the legs in the final elimination. I also made a tactical error against a very smart rider from the Czech and realized quickly that I would have to outsmart and outride these girls if I wanted to win.
And so the racing went on. Christen and I raced hard and aggressively, trying to ensure that the races would be exciting and active. We learned a ton from each other and raced well together. After every race we would cool down together and reflect back on the race, pointing out mistakes and things we did well. We also became close friends with the Spanish rider who we called, "Lady." In fact, all of the riders in our field were extremely friendly. It was a much different atmosphere than the intensity of the World Cups.
In the end, I finished 4th in the GC and Christen was 6th. We are definitely better riders because of the experience and for sure make a great team. I was lucky to have been paired with such a professional and self-sufficient rider who has a ton of integrity and class and has as much passion for the sport as I do. This experience has given us a huge gain of confidence in our riding abilities and allowed us to understand the sport of track cycling much better. It is unfortunate, but you just can not find the same level of competition in the women's fields in the U.S. and there just isn't enough racing. This opportunity to race internationally before the start of the World Cup season is going to benefit us as riders so much. I only hope that we can continue to provide this stimulus of racing for ourselves and other U.S. track riders, because I believe it is so important.
I would like to thank USA Cycling, especially Jim Miller and Clay Worthington, for making this happen for us and I hope that they will call on us again in the near future for more international racing opportunities. It was an absolute honor to represent the U.S. in Italy. I would love nothing more than to race again with Christen King, but this time in a Madison as part of another 6-day event. I think we could have a lot of success in the event. It is incredibly fun and we compliment each other very well as riders. What better way to showcase such a cool American event than to have two competitive U.S. women recognized internationally?
The road team departed the next day for a race in the Czech Republic and Christen and I had the whole place to ourselves. We figured out rides to do by looking at a map of the area. But, not knowing that there would be a roundabout at every intersection, it proved difficult to leave town and find our route. Eventually, we met a nice man on a bike who spoke English and we were able to find the road to the coast. The riding was perfect. There was an even mix between flats and hills and we explored all of our options during the 4 days we spent in Lucca.
We left Lucca on the 9th and drove up to Fiorenzula, where we would be racing track for the next 3 days. The event was a big deal for the men. It was a 6-day with 2 Madisons and a total of 6 races a night for each team of men. There was some good competition and the organizers did a great job of putting on a show. Our races started Thursday night and ended Saturday night with a Points Race Finale to determine the overall omnium winner.
The track was a 400m outdoor with steep corners and very shallow straightaways. The entire track, turns and straights, was much longer than anything I had ever raced on before. I knew it would take some getting used to. The first race of the night was a 20-lap scratch race. The field contained Ukraine, Spain, Czech Republic, and Italian riders, with several of the women who will represent their countries in the Points Race and Pursuit in Beijing.
I was a little disappointed after the first race because I expected it to be faster with more attacks, but the field was content to ride passively around the track. I thought maybe everyone was just feeling each other out and the later races would be different. I was wrong. The next races were the Elimination races, otherwise known as the Miss n Out. After riding this race several times recently at my local track with big groups of men, I was sort of dreading the race because I know how fast and tricky it can be. It turned out that forcing myself through those previous races actually paid off and I had learned a few things about the race. I managed to hang on and ride smart down to 3 riders left, but just didn't have the legs in the final elimination. I also made a tactical error against a very smart rider from the Czech and realized quickly that I would have to outsmart and outride these girls if I wanted to win.And so the racing went on. Christen and I raced hard and aggressively, trying to ensure that the races would be exciting and active. We learned a ton from each other and raced well together. After every race we would cool down together and reflect back on the race, pointing out mistakes and things we did well. We also became close friends with the Spanish rider who we called, "Lady." In fact, all of the riders in our field were extremely friendly. It was a much different atmosphere than the intensity of the World Cups.
In the end, I finished 4th in the GC and Christen was 6th. We are definitely better riders because of the experience and for sure make a great team. I was lucky to have been paired with such a professional and self-sufficient rider who has a ton of integrity and class and has as much passion for the sport as I do. This experience has given us a huge gain of confidence in our riding abilities and allowed us to understand the sport of track cycling much better. It is unfortunate, but you just can not find the same level of competition in the women's fields in the U.S. and there just isn't enough racing. This opportunity to race internationally before the start of the World Cup season is going to benefit us as riders so much. I only hope that we can continue to provide this stimulus of racing for ourselves and other U.S. track riders, because I believe it is so important.
I would like to thank USA Cycling, especially Jim Miller and Clay Worthington, for making this happen for us and I hope that they will call on us again in the near future for more international racing opportunities. It was an absolute honor to represent the U.S. in Italy. I would love nothing more than to race again with Christen King, but this time in a Madison as part of another 6-day event. I think we could have a lot of success in the event. It is incredibly fun and we compliment each other very well as riders. What better way to showcase such a cool American event than to have two competitive U.S. women recognized internationally?
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