Smithers MINNEAPOLIS

Ah, another night on the boards.

Geeze, I hope it’s the heat that’s got me so beat. I just haven’t felt good in a race since…let me think…I guess that race in Milwaukee over the 4th of July weekend.

No MP tonight so I was riding oh solo mi o..

First race of the night was a 10 lap scratch race. I got off the front on the second lap with a guy but he seems to be more of a pure sprinter and did not have any interest in working. I sat up and let the pack catch back on, rolled around for 7 more laps and then sprinted. I ended up 4th but missed third by -> <- this much. Guess who I lost to? Pure sprinter dude. Dag yo!

The second race was the dreaded and hated handicap race. In this race there are 4 riders who are seeded based upon their estimated fitness and speed. It’s a 3 lap race and the fastest rider get put on the starting line and the slower riders are spaced ahead of him on the track at various intervals. The theory is that the faster riders will catch the slower riders in front of them just in time for a sprint at the finish line. This works well when the track program has tested each riders speed with a 200 meter sprint, but at our track it just seems to be an arbitrary seeding. On my qualifying heat I was put on the 65 meter line with a rider 15 meters in front of me, a rider 15 meters behind me and a rider on the start line. The race started and I caught the rider in front of me within the first lap. At the sprint on the line I was able to hold off this guy and the guy that started 15 meters behind me. The guy that was stuck on the start line never caught up and I think his given handicap was a bit too much to really be fair. In the final I was the poor slob who got stuck on the start line with three riders spaced in the 75 meters ahead of me. The race started and I thought I had a good start and a chance to catch these guys. I knew that if I did not catch them quick they would catch each other and work together as a 3-some to keep me from getting on. And that is exactly what happened. They got together and I never had a chance. Oh well.

The final race of the night was a 50 lap points race with the sprints for points every 10 laps. I was going to try and get a lap of the field and spent 5 laps or so off the front but could not make the attack stick. I was feeling like total junk by this point so I just rolled around for the rest of the race.

In between the handicap races and the final points race was the madison race. The madison race consists of teams of 2 riders who take turns taking part in the race. In order to switch off between the two team mates they conduct a maneuver called the ‘hand sling’ where one guys basically whips his team mate into the race. It looks really easy when it’s just two guys riding around on the track but when there are 8 teams with 2 guys each and they are at race speed and every team is whipping guys in and out of the race it looks simply terrifying. I swear it’s pure pandemonium. The track director and various other riders have been nagging at MP and I to take the madison class so we can race up there but we have resisted so far. Tonight’s exercise in madison racing did not really turn me around on the event either. Guys were all over the place and there were numerous instances of tires rubbing on other tires and guys yelling at each other and guys dropping down on top of guys and guys swinging up on other guys. I thought it was pretty ugly at that point but then two of the most experienced track riders on our velodrome proved that it can get uglier. As the one rider swung uptrack, the other rider who was behind him started to swing down track. The rider moving uptrack was fine but the rider moving down track had his wheel washed out from under him and dove, left arm first, down the banking of the track. By the time he stopped sliding he had lost skin on his arms and legs and broken his right collarbone. Not too good. A few of us helped him collect his stuff and get out to the parking lot as he was not able to use his right arm at all. A very nice woman who was watching the races volunteered to take him to the hospital so I could keep racing and I went over and picked her up and brought her back to her car after the racing was over. So if anyone is still wondering if I want to do the madison race, the answer is still no.

So my goal was to race Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and not have any ‘incidences’ that would ruin my vacation next week. Mission accomplished. Now it’s off to the beach for sun, sand, french fries, salt water taffy and a bunch of other stuff that is bad for me. But that is what vacations are for. We found a really cheap beach house to stay in this year so I am totally stoked!