Without question, I think the Madison is the most fun, exciting and best event in all of cycling – having said that – let's talk about my time at the Dick Lane Velodrome last night!
The night started off with the worlds fastest warm up. Now, I'm not in any way complaining because the warm ups are USUALLY to slow which allows people to ride like rookie bafoons. Well, I shouldn't pick on them because in the combined B-C category where I am racing, there are new riders – who haven't learned to regulate their speed. You get a lot of slow downs – which suck, but whatever…. anyway, it was pretty smooth, just faster than usual.
The 8 lap scratch race was FUN! I absolutely hate when the field rolls around above the blue line and waits for a sprint so I took matters into my own hands and jumped on the bell… Christina rolled with me in a break destined for failure – but we rolled off the front for 3 laps, I will be honest, I gave it 64.8% … not any more. When the field came back – I quickly began looking for the right position and screwed up. I got on a safe wheel, but not a fast wheel. When the rush came I had a choice – contact or safety. I chose safety. Others said they could see me contemplating threading the needle… eh, not going to risk others skin racing for 5th…
The Win-and-Out is the dumbest race on the planet – in my opinion, but its on the ticket so I gotta do it. This dude (I don't know his name, but he has a german accent so I will call him Heinz) rolls to the front and pulls for 7 laps at a moderate pace. Much like you will see riders in the Tour de France doing next week… he kept the pace just high enough that attacking would be almost impossible, but at the same time – he was not putting me in a spot of bother… I was feeling good. Okay… so what's in the pistons? Let's find out. I concoct a perfect plan to attack with 1.66 laps to go. I'm sitting fourth wheel, I come out of turn 2 and instigate the plan only to see the guy in SECOND wheel do the exact same thing. He winds it up to about my max speed but I get his wheel. I do everything I can to hold his wheel and and realize there is NO way I will ever come around him – which means I will have to do a "bonus" lap and race for second so I back off a LITTLE. About 3 people pass me and I am on a wheel – life is good, but I don't get second – so another bonus lap. Holy crap… I'm about to detonate…. Well, I did, but 4 laps at top end was good! Great training!
The Madison… I love the madison? Have I ever mentioned that? Wow – my partner and I had never ridden together, but we both had some experience. Our first exchange almost made me crap a little… full on – 35 degree banking and he came in too slow. I gently persuaded him to go faster (yelled a lot) and he did. The next exchanges were EXCELLENT! I had to use my brain a lot as we were IN the game. We did well in all the sprints and when the dust settled – 3rd place! *BAM* That felt GREAT!
The last event … the second most evil race in the world … the Tempo… it was fast and furious from the gun and I only had 10 laps of gas left in me.
I had a metric ton of fun last night and felt good to be racing, not just sitting in and hoping they didn't go to fast. I'm not where I want to be, but I'm enjoying the journey – the destination … bah, who care! The journey is what is all about!
If you read this far, thanks. I appreciate your support. I understand on the big scale of bike racing – this is a pimple on a flies buttocks. That being said – It is an awesome feeling to push myself that hard and see what I can do! I love this sport!
Results: http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/results/Results.php
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Results : Dick Lane Velodrome – Fixed Gear Bicycle Racing (East Point) Atlanta, GA
Name, TotPts. 1. Mikey Waine, 283.8. 2. Michael Barman, 239.4. 3. Brody Hartley, 207.0. 4. Valentin Todorow, 188.0. 5. Andy Bailie, 179.8. 6. Wayne Whitesides, 177.0. 7. Howard Buckley, 176.2. 8. Jon Woodroof, 141.0. 9. Chad Conley, 130.0. 10. Joseph Marshall, 129.0. 11. Nick Oestreich, 118.0 …
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Love track racing. Local Velo not convenient for me at this point in my life, but one day…