This is the last wednesday race of the season. After this is the labor day meet and then the long, lonely winter. I was talking to Haley before I left for the track and she told me to win the race for her. She didn't specify which race, so I figured I would try to win all of them. I dropped back down to my 90" gear for tonight, figuring that I would be tired from yesterday's racing in t-town and it would better match the rougher surface. There was another big showing of riders including USMA again. Pink Rhino was well represented with Dave, Keith, Andy, Lucas, Aaron and Steve all in attendance, as well as still-on-the-fence rhino Jen. Also at the track was Eric, who I had been following on Strava for a while, so it was nice to finally meet him and Chris showed up as well, who was the cool guy from Colorado/Connecticut that Andy and I met on his bike shakedown ride a month or so ago.
The first race was an 8 lap scratch. I sat in for most of the race as other rhinos attacked off the front. Keith put in a good attack, and then Steve countered. I then countered both of theirs on the last lap to pass both of them for the win. I had a good gap to second place, so I turned off the gas on the homestretch, which apparently Steve also did, but he got pipped at the line by USMA steve. Sorry, team steve!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216633526
Next came the initial rounds of Chariots, run with three heats. I was in the third heat and got my push from Steve. He definitely has the technique down. Nobody that he pushed tonight got less than second place in their race. I started up near the rail, maybe two riders down from the top. When the whistle blew, I got a quick gap going and just kept my nose to the bars to roll in first.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216633523
A few other fields ran their races and then we had the finals for the chariot. I had steve push me again. I started in about the same place, near the rail. I got another good start at the whistle, with Ron ahead of me going into turn 1. The backstretch was a real drag race as we both were about even going into turn 3, but by turn 4 I was able to pull ahead for the win.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216633520
The final race was a 6 lap Point-a-Lap. Dave made a great attack on the first lap only to get pipped at the line by Mattie. I was mid pack at the start, so I worked my way up to the front for two laps. Mattie got the second sprint as well, but by the third sprint I saw him fading a bit as Andreas and I think Sean started coming ahead. I threw my sprint into the mix, taking the point and creating a gap at the same time. Rather than sit up, I put my nose down again and soloed the next three laps to take all the points for my final win. The final sprint counted as 2-1, and looking at the results, Keith was able to get that second point to give him third place.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216633516
This concluded the Omnium, placing me in first overall. I told Haley, and she was happy with the results. So was I, of course. I actually felt really good tonight. I wish I had felt this good at states. Keith, Steve, Andy and Lucas all finished 6-9th. Jen won her Omnium with a third and two wins. After packing everything away, we had a short team meeting to discuss sponsors and goals for the upcoming off-season. I think that went very well. We're hoping to develop the women's team a bit, which would be great.
Alright, that's it for the wednesday race reports. bittersweet, I'd say.
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