July 13, 2007

Back on Track

Last weekend I headed down to Trexlertown, Pennsylvania for their Professional track Race series. It was my first time back on the track since I competed in the Manchester World Cup in February. I've been doing a lot of road racing so my fitness is really good and it was time to test things out track racing.

It was "Tandemonium" weekend. The main event of the weekend was the US National Tandem championships. One of the teams broke the track's flying lap record that was set back in 1993, covering the 333 metres in a time of 17.35 seconds.

There was racing for the women (on regular bikes!) Friday night and Saturday night. Friday night we had 3 different mass start races. I used the racing Friday night to get my legs back in track mode. I raced well, following wheels, reacting and chasing things down and getting my head back in the game.

Saturday's racing included a few sprint type races -Keirin (the one behind the motorbike), Chariot (mass start 1.5 laps), 2 km scratch race and finally something a bit longer - the 5 km scratch race. By the last race of the night, the 5 km scratch, I was feeling quite warmed up and ready to go. I seemed to be able to pull things together and had a great race. It was fast paced throughout the entire race and with 2 laps to go there were only 3 of us left going for the win. I kicked it with 1 lap to go and drove it to the line. Australian Monique Hanley nipped me at the finish line in a very close sprint and I ended up 2nd - my first podium finish in T-Town!

Here's a link to a pic from cyclingnews.com.

For full results, report and photos, see cyclingnews.com.

Coming up:

- OBC (Ottawa Bicycle Club) Grand Prix Road Race: Gatineau, Quebec (July 14)
- Ontario Provincial Criterium Championships: Ottawa, Ontario (July 15)
- International Women's Challenge Track Race: Trexlertown, Pennsylvania (July 20)
- Tour de Toona Stage race: Altoona, Pennsylvania (July 23-29)