122

That is the number of laps that my Garmin 305 says I did at Hellyer last night. Quick math: 122 time 333m is 40.6km. And since the timer was initiated near turn 1 that number does not include cirles of the warm-up/cool-down circle. Just the on track warmup and the two points races. Lots of left hand turns.

There was a good sized crowd again last night, heavily weighted towards the ‘B’ group. Larry wanted to keep the ‘C’ group for the women and junior, for the most part, so I got asked to take a trip with the ‘B’s; Larry tried to get some of the ‘B’s to go with the ‘A’ group, but he did not have many takers. There was no one with the last name of Jacques-Mayne in the field so not sure why there were not more takers. That meant a ‘B’ field on the large side (25 riders) with a lot of talent.

In the first race of the night, the first ‘C’ race, it was mostly a question of whether newly minted Proman rider Hanan would be content to keep a 100-150m gap off the front or try to lap the field. She seemed content with the former. With her and a rider wearing a Cal kit off the front, the field sprint was for third place points and Sabine seemed hungry to collect a bunch of those. Angela was saddled with a real hamster gear on a rental bike and could not spin fast enough; the rentals are a nice convenience when needed, but definitely not a good option for competitive riding.

I lined up with the ‘B’ field for their first race knowing I would get spanked. Lots of good, fast track riders: Aaron, Justin, and Shelley to name a few. Once the first attack started I was left to try to keep with the pack, and was successful for a while. But I seemed to keep getting behind someone who would be gapped, have to sprint to get back, and then try to recover. After 4 or 5 of those in short succession I did not have enough juice for the next one and ended up OTB in a 4 man paceline fighting to keep alive.

The major, unnecessary, excitement of the night came between turns 3 and 4 on the penultimate lap of that first ‘B’ race. On the back straightaway there was a lot of positioning going on, everyone trying to get ready for that last lap sprint. Knowing I could not keep up in a short sprint, I went high to move forward so I could try for a long sprint. And just as we made turn 3 I heard the unmistakable sound of wheels touching just off to my left and maybe a bike length in front. And then the bikes and riders were flying. In the end everyone was up and walking, but definitely something that gets the adrenaline flowing. The reconstructionists view afterward was that one rider in the sprinter’s lane paceline went slightly up track to scrub speed before turn 3, someone behind him saw that as an opening to take, and the crash occurred when the first rider came back down to the lane after the turn. Perhaps someone needs a remedial beginner’s session if that is indeed what happened; just because there is an opening does not imply that you should fill it.

I then jumped into the second race of the ‘C’ group, without a rest and with just one quick hit on the water bottle. The field included Hanan and the rider in Cal kit so I knew that 1st and 2nd place points were likely theirs. Some others in the field can spank me good in short sprints, especially since I had a hamster gear (83″). Again I figured my best strategy was to try long. The first 4 points laps all played out the same: as we crossed the start/finish line and got the bell I would spin up and away for the 333m TT, somewhere near turn 3 Hanan and the Cal guy would come around me, then I would fight for 3rd place points against whomever was left. And I was successful the first 4 times. But predictability can be a liability. Coming to the line for the start of the 5th points lap Donna took off about 50-60m earlier than what I had been doing. I seized the opportunity and grabbed her wheel, came around her at the 200m line, and from there it was a repeat of the first 4 points laps. After that sprint I decided that was enough for me, so on the 6th and final points lap I slid back and let the others contest the finish. It was a blast, even though I was really dehydrated and having a major allergy attack. Thanks Larry and to all the riders out there.