I have wanted to go to track nationals ever since
2006 but to me the track represents fear and intimidation. Being an
adrenaline junkie it also represents a pretty big rush, and the idea of
overcoming the fear and accomplishing something so hard is a huge draw for me.
Other drawbacks are that it's quite a lot of money to spend to go compete at
something where I don't know what I'm doing, and falling at the end of
September I'm usually tired from the year of racing on the road and the idea of
staying sharp and fit until then is overwhelming.
This year some things changed. One is that I
got a spot on the Garner Cyclery Track team, and was able to ride with and get
invaluable advice from some very experienced track racers. I sought out
and received excellent advice on everything from training, equipment, how
to warm up, and all of the logistics involved. And one of the positives about
crashing in the middle of the season and taking 4 weeks off, is that now I was
feeling pretty fresh and good. I'd had a really positive experience at Omnium nationals back in August, and felt like
this was the year to head to Los Angeles!
I had attended nationals last year as a pilot on a
tandem with my visually impaired partner, Kim Borowicz. The original plan
was to go and ride with Kim again this year, and also compete in the individual
endurance events. However, Kim got sick and was unable to train, and did not
get better in time to make the trip. It was such a bummer, and I debated
whether or not to go. At the final hour, I just decided to go anyway.
Lucky for me my Garner teammates Jeff and Jason G let me tag along with
them.
Garner Cyclery teammates Jason Garner and Jeff Whiteman
I was going to compete in the Individual Pursuit,
the Scratch race, and the Points race. My events were going to be on
Thursday morning, Thursday night, and Saturday night. I was hoping to
find a team pursuit team to jump in with on Friday, and I could have been
convinced to jump in the Madison race on Sunday, had I been able to find a
partner, but everyone there was pretty much set with teams. While
watching the team pursuit I was overcome with the very strong feeling that WE
NEED MORE WOMEN FROM CHICAGO GOING TO THIS!!!! Goal for next year: we
need to field a women's team pursuit team and at least one or two madison
teams!! There is no reason we can't make this happen and be competitive!
Because the training is so specific, most track
racers specialize in either the sprint or the endurance events. I am an
endurance rider and Jeff and Jason G are sprinters, but Jeff also jumped in the
scratch race, which is an endurance event.
My first event was the pursuit. The pursuit
is a time trial event where you and one other rider are on the track at the
same time. You start on opposite sides of the track and
"pursue" each other. The start is a standing start, and then
you go as hard as you can for 3 kilometers. Everyone goes at least once,
and then the top 4 riders go on to a final round, to determine first through
fourth places. If you get passed by your opponent in the qualifying
round, you keep going so you can get a time. If you get passed in the
final round, they shoot the gun, the race stops, and you have a winner and a
loser. Most people have predetermined splits and they have a coach
on the track with a stopwatch yelling out their times. Since I have only done the pursuit one other time,
we decided that I would just wing it and based on my time I would figure out
splits for next time.
Before each event, you must get your bike checked
to make sure that your position is legal. If you've seen the movie The
Flying Scotsman, you know what I'm talking about. Prior to coming
to LA, I had actually sawed off the front of my saddle, because I was unable to
get it into a legal position otherwise.
Sidney helping Peter make my saddle UCI legal
Since I hadn't competed on my bike in it's current
position, the first thing I did when we arrived Friday morning was have my bike
checked to make sure it was legal. The officials will do this as a
courtesy, but you still need to get it "officially" checked
immediately before your event. I was told I was good to go. When it
was time to go, Jason G took my bike over to the bike check and I went and sat in
the waiting area. I could see there was trouble, and I saw Jason G and Jeff
getting tools and adjusting my seat. I was so grateful for their help and
I did not get nervous. Had I been involved I would have been completely
frazzled. Apparently my seat was not horizontal, and the officials had
changed their mind on whether or not I needed to have it fixed to compete.
Jason G finished the adjustments and had my bike ready
within minutes of my start time! In the starting gate I thought of
everyone that helped me get there, and all the effort it took. I was
ready! But when the gun went off even though I'd practiced a ton of
standing starts, I still messed it up. Bleh. I ended up getting
passed about 2K in and when she went around me I was able to kick it up a notch
and match the pace she was keeping....obviously I was not going hard enough in
the beginning. I think she was also using me as a carrot and probably slowed
a bit after she passed me. But I was in a tough spot, as it's illegal to
draft or repass someone after they pass you. When my competitor's race
ended on the opposite side of the track, I still had half a lap to go.
Instead of pulling up track and out of the way, she sat up and slowed
down, blocking my path. I was yelling at her to get out of the way (if I
really was doing a pursuit effort where did I get the breath to yell???) and
finally at a quarter lap she pulled up. I was mad, but mainly I was mad
that I'd gotten passed. I should have been going harder from the
beginning. Even with those mishaps I still posted a 4:10 which was good
enough for 11th place, and it was 8 seconds faster than my last pursuit.
about to get passed in the pursuit
photo courtesy of Erika Fulk
Next up was my scratch race, the race that I felt
most confident in. I've raced a ton of scratch races in my life and it's
also the race most like a criterium, which is what I consider my specialty.
However, it's also a mass start race which means there's tons of riders
on the track, and the possibility for crashing. Crashes happen all the
time in bike racing, and I feel way more confident about how to avoid them on
the road. I'm getting better on the track, but I still have some very
real fear. I was feeling good until 20 minutes before the race, and then
the panic set in. Somehow I got to the line, and when the race started I was able to settle in and be ok. The race was fast and I rode hard.
I did have some some good efforts where I tried to bridge up to two
riders who were off the front, but I was unable to close the gap, and spent the
second half of the race unable to move up and finished at the back of the pack.
I was disappointed since I had had high hopes for this race.
Scratch Race: If only that was the finish line :)
photo courtesy of Erika Fulk
My final event of the week was the points race.
Jason G had gone over a plan for the race with me and I felt really good
about it. Going into the race the fear was there and I couldn't shake it. I
followed the plan as best as my legs would allow, but my legs felt terrible.
About 30 laps into the 100 lap race, I felt the fight go out of me.
About a lap after that there was a crash and 3 or 4 riders went down.
In a mass start race, they allow 5 laps for crashed riders to jump back
in, and after I rolled around a couple times watching them on the sidelines,
not getting up right away, I just decided to quit. They all ended up
being fine and jumping back in the race, but I pulled myself from the race and ended my nationals experience
disappointed but safe.
Jeff and Jason G rode well in all their events, but
most exciting was their medal in the Team Sprint!
Jason G and Jeff and their Oregon guest rider Dan Birman winning Bronze in the Team Sprint
Liam Donoghue, John Tomlinson, Tom Briney, and Dave
Moyer from XXX did Chicago proud in the team pursuit, and Liam had fantastic rides in the
Individual Pursuit and Points race, earning a silver and bronze respectively. Chicago rider Danny Robertson from WDT won bronze in the Keirin, and
silver in the team sprint. Great job Chicago! Only thing missing was more Chicago women!
Hanging out with Jennie Reed
Another highlight of the weekend was getting to
meet Jennie Reed, who most recently won a silver medal in the
Team Pursuit in London this summer, and was a super good sport about getting
her picture taken with me :)
And I got to see my old friend Laurel who is from
California and one of the people who got me into this whole bike racing thing
in the first place. She was there competing in the team pursuit.
In the end I was pleased with my effort but
disappointed with my scratch race results, surprisingly happy with my pursuit,
and just plain bummed by my points race. I learned a lot and gained a TON
of confidence. I am hooked, and I definitely want to train harder and
come back next year!
When I think about it how many people helped me get
out there, I get a little choked up. Just know that I thank you all
from the bottom of my heart!
