Road Trip!

4/30/2008 By Brean

It was my nephew's 7th birthday (Happy Birthday Justin!), so I combined visiting my family with racing on my old velodrome in New York. Racing there is a little different than racing at Northbrook. The racing is paced differently since there are no lights and they have to get as many races in as possible. The fields are smaller, but the riders seem stronger. It only costs $8 a week to race, and if you are a girl or old like me, that means you can race Mondays (masters and women) and Wednesdays (the twilight series). $4 per night of racing is right up my alley.

Monday night was rained out, so I took the opportunity to head out to Montauk, which is on the end of Long Island, and help my father with some things around the house. I got some really wonderful riding in, as well. On Wednesday, it was time to head into the city, but since the riding had been so nice, I couldn't help getting on the horse and riding 50 or so miles in the direction of the track. Long story short, I just made it in time to race after stuffing some pizza down my gullet. Didn't have time to drink water all day either. Not good.

First race was a scratch. I think I've gotten too used to the pace of criteriums lately because these guys jumped at the whistle and I barely caught the last wheel. After that, I just couldn't work my way around to the front and I finished just out of the money. It was hard.

Second race was a tempo. Again, this thing went off at the whistle and I was happy to not get dropped by the pack. At this point, I didn't even plan on racing the last race of the omnium. I was tired from riding too much that day and my legs were unresponsive due to dehydration. I felt yucky.

Third and final race was a points race with three sprints. Sick of my suckage, I decided to take the bull by the balls and be the one going at the whistle. Somehow, I held off the pack for three laps and took the first sprint. After that I just stuck with the pack and made sure my points stuck.

Then, the best part of racing at Kissena -- the group ride to Brooklyn. Which for me meant two more hours riding to Staten Island because my nephew was staying up late to see me. Sweet.

Somehow, that one sprint was enough to get me 4th place for the omnium, and my first upgrade point of the season. I'll take it.