doing some hot laps at the track

Last night was the first night the Peacock Groove and I have been able to make it to the velodrome for the Thursday night race series. There were eight women in the field, which I think is the largest field I've raced in at the track, and three of the eight were Bellas (me, Jodi, and Rocker...how's that for laying the smack down Annie!). As usual, we had 3 races throughout the night: (1) a 10-lap scratch race, (2) a chariot race, and (3) a 35-lap points race. And there were a ton of spectators...I might even go so far as to say that the stands weren't far from being full. It was unbelievable - I don't know where these people come from - and they really got into the racing, so it was pretty cool.

The scratch race is just your normal race...first one across the line wins. We rolled out, and no one really did anything, we just kind of rode around in a double-paceline, so with about 5 laps to go, I decided to attack, mostly because I was bored. But it was kind of a half-ass attack, so we re-grouped, and I tried to position myself for the final sprint. At the bell lap, Fast Ann and Elena (U of Mers) amped it up a bit, with Fast Ann at the front. On the back stretch, I started coming around Elena and passed her and had my sights on Fast Ann. I also knew that I was unintentionally giving Gilby a leadout, as she was right on my wheel, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I was able to hold off Gilby for second place, so I was happy with that.

The chariot race is a two-lap sprint race with a standing start (i.e. someone holds your bike, the officials fire the gun to start and the holder lets go of your bike, and you have to start racing from a standstill ...it's hard on a fixed gear bike). We did the chariot race in two heats...four women in each heat. Then the top two of each heat went on to the final chariot race later in the night. The other three woman in my heat were Elena, Gilby, and Amber (Alan). Let me just say that I think I've only done standing starts about five times in my life, so I wasn't really sure what to do. So when the gun went off, Elena let out a power-grunt, and I'm fairly certain she was going through turn one before I even got out of my saddle. But, I hauled some ass and almost caught up with her, and was able to take second and move on to the final race. Fast Ann had won the first heat, and Rocker had taken second, so it was the two U of Mers vs the two Bellas. When we lined up for the race, Fast Ann was at the bottom of the track, I was second (up track a bit), Elena was third, and Rocker was fourth. As we were getting ready to start, I was really concentrating on my start...I knew if I didn't get a good start I'd be screwed. So when the gun went off, I actually got a decent start and felt like I was neck and neck with Elena. But then I heard Fast Ann say "whoa!"...and I quickly realized that while I was concentrating so much on my start, I had completely forgotten to concentrate on riding a straight line, and had started coming down on Fast Ann and cut her off. I felt super bad because that's a total sketchy dill spank move (I got that term from Rocker and I've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it). I wasn't sure what to do, so I actually slowed down a bit for some reason. And while I was being a dill spank, Elena was out front getting a HUGE gap. But Fast Ann was able to rocket around me and eventually passed Elena and took the win, which made me feel a little better because I didn't end up costing her the win...but still, I hate being the sketchy chick.

Our last race was the 35-lap points race. In this race, there is a sprint for points every five laps. The points went four people deep for each sprint - the first person across the line gets 5 pts, the second gets 3 pts, the third gets 2 pts, and the fourth gets 1 pt. In the end, the person with the most points wins (and that's not necessarily the first person across the line on the last lap). On the first sprint lap, I was feeling good so I went for it...and much to my surprise (and probably everyone else's), I was able to take the 5 pts from Fast Ann and Elena. I then tried to sit in the back of the pack and recover from my sprint, but I wasn't quite recovered by the time the next sprint came around and Gilby took a flyer off the front in anticipation of the sprint, so I was hurting. I didn't get any points on the second sprint and maybe the third (I don't really remember). But I think I was able to get points on the fifth and sixth sprints. So coming into the final sprint, Fast Ann had already accumulated enough points to wrap up the win, but second place was still open to Elena, Gilby and me. Fast Ann was leading it out, and Elena, Gilby, and I were lined up behind her when we started sprinting. I didn't have enough to come around Elena or Gilby, but I think I had enough points in the end to take third in the race...don't quote me on that though, Gilby may have passed my point total with that last sprint, and I never saw the results. The cool thing about this race was that pretty much everyone was able to stay with the pack, so the sprints were all well-contested, and for once, Fast Ann didn't lap the field!

I was pretty happy with my results for my first night of track racing, but I felt a little sketchy. I made one other really sketchy move in either the Scratch race or the Points race (I don't remember which one). I moved up on the inside of the track when there wasn't much room to do so...in fact, I won't bore you with the track rules, but I think I may have even made an illegal move. I realized about halfway into my move that it was a bad idea, but it was too late. Like I said before, I hate being the sketchy chick and I spend way too much time thinking about it after the fact. But I definitely have some room for improvement!

Props to Jodi who raced at the track for the first time...she did awesome!! And Rocker was super stoked about the races - she told me afterward that the 35-lap points race was one of the most fun things she's ever done. I don't know if I'd go that far, but it was pretty fun.

I totally have a track hangover today.

SS