Cat 3 is faster, but luckily, so am I

I raced in the Master's races on Wednesday night, which contains all riders 35+, and consists of many cat 3, 2 and 1 riders. It was the hardest night I've done on the track this season, but I managed to do well in two of the three events and took 7th in the omnium out of 19 riders!

Here's the report I sent to the team on Friday night's racing:
If you haven't been checking http://velodrome.org/cms/node/85, you might not know that the Pasta team is holding down 2nd place overall for the season so far. And based on the continuing success of our track riders, I don't see how we can go anywhere but up!

Friday night had the best spectator turnout so far this year, owing in part to the first Kiddie Kilo night that was not cancelled due to rain. Some of you may know hat Team Cucina Fresca member John Klupar, our representative on the MVA board, is now running the Kiddie Kilo, as part of his ongoing duties to ramp up and grow the Junior Program at the track. He's done a fantastic job taking a disorganized and directionless program and given it some new hope for real development. Give him a hand if you're able. The kids (especially the girls!) are the future for our track.


On to the racing:

The 4's had both a Tempo race (sprint every lap, two places deep for points) and a 4x5 Points race (four sprints, one every five laps for points, 4 places deep). The Tomatoes were represented by John Klupar and Jerry Shafer, both of whom were active and scoring points. I believe Jerry had his best night ever, scoring on at least two of the points race sprints. He was grinning the whole night!

The 3's had a 10 lap Snowball (progressively increasing points, 1 place deep, sprint every lap), a Miss n' Out (pulling down to 5 riders, one rider out per lap, then two laps to the finish), and a 25-lap scratch race (essentially a crit on the track). The number of Cat 3's Cucinas grew by one this week with the arrival of Niels to the ranks. This makes four of us in total, with a field size usually in the upper teens, which means we are able to "be a team". In the Snowball, Mark snuck away for a point, was reeled back, then I attacked on the 5 point lap and took it solo, pulled up (should have kept going), and attempted to block for Niels, who was stuck in no-man's land between the field and a break of three for a few more laps, before it all came together for a field sprint on the 10 point lap.

Chris Hill put in his second appearance this season in the 1,2's, despite being recorded as "Chris Cunningham" on at least two occasions other than the ones in which he actually appeared (but hey, Cucina Fresca got the points). He got this all straightened out, and was out there duking it in the field that was missing both Kenny Williams and Grant Boursaw. I didn't get to see much of Chris's first two races, but in the points race he scored on multiple occasions, despite still running his 50x15 (will someone give Chris a 51?).

The start of the Miss n' Out - finally, heat and sun!
(that's me, just left of center, in the red/white/black with a tomato)

In the 3's Miss n Out, my plan was to not get dropped on the first lap. Amazingly, I met this goal, as did Niels, as we made the final selection of five riders. I stayed on the front for the remaining two laps, hoping Niels was the sound on my wheel, and while he did get an excellent 4th, a sneaky Gibb Clark of Garage was actually enjoying my draft, and later sprinted by me. Still, this gave Niels his first omnium points in the 3's, and I now had two 5th place placings from the first two races.

And then there were five...

Our last race in the 3's was a 25 lap scratch race. Somewhere around lap 10, after a prime on the 1st lap, and another prime had gone by, Niels got away with a guy from Recycled and a guy from HB. Brian and I moved near the front and added to the blocking being done by Recycled Cycles. A few laps later, when Niel's breakaway had almost a half-lap, the Recycled guy popped, and now the blockers became the chasers, for about two laps. They gave up, which allowed Brian and I to patrol the front, sitting on and slowing down. At one point, the break of two was nearly lapping us, and despite another prime, the field never got closer than a half-lap. The sprint began to wind up in the field, and I was sitting in 4th position, ready to pounce for 3rd place when my chain bounced off! Initially my reaction was that of the roadie and I tried pedaling a bit (as if my derailleur was going to recover my chain - except for the distinct lack of a derailleur). Frustrated, I coasted from 200 meters out to the finish and went from hero to 10th. All was not lost, as our intrepid Niels sat on his companion for the final lap and took the sprint for 1st place! As Mark was saying, he'll "probably do much better when he gets over his first race jitters!" Niels enjoyed his envelope of cash, I whined about my chain to whomever would listen, and overall we totally rocked for the night. My wife, Bree, reminded me that I should just be happy my wheel didn't lock up at 35 mph for what could have been a horrendous crash. OK, honey, I get it...

J-Dub's taking the track class tomorrow, and Travis starts his Monday night track hazing period next week. Soon we will be well over 10 riders strong at the track and if all goes as it has been, we'll occupy that #1 team spot by the end of the season!


Emy finally gets her Kiddie Kilo Night!

Emy in the Kiddie Kilo - not afraid to ride on the banking!

After having been rained out the last time, this was the first running of the Kiddie Kilo (one lap around the track for the sub 8 year olds, dived into age groups, and by number of wheels (2, 3 or 4). Emy was riding with my boss Bruce's daughter Alex, who recently took off the training wheels, and had a great time. She is especially proud of her pink "Cupcake" cycling jersey she picked out with Bree at REI earlier in the day. I'll try to get a picture posted tomorrow. Bruce's son Chase was in the Kilo too, as was another coworker's (Chris's) son and daughter. Bilko, the announcer, was pretty excitedly cheering on Jasper Gallagher as he cleanly took the >2 wheel category, an ear-to-ear grin beaming on his face. Future track star there, for sure!