Track Nationals

I am in Burnaby, BC, for the Canadian Track National Championships right now. This is my 2nd time at Nationals as an Elite rider.

For the 3 days leading up to Nationals, I took part in a National Team camp that was all about team pursuit. We practiced starts, flying kilos and the like. We figured out teams for nationals, and I will be riding with Matt Potma, Mike Sidic, and Zach Bell.

As for today's racing... it didn't go so well. My plan was to start off at 14.5 second laps, and gradually bring it down to 14.0 s laps, depending on my legs. The person who road opposite me decided to ride 13.5 s laps to start, and end up at 15.0 s. Unfortunately, this meant that he passed over me at about 13 laps to go, and proceeded to slow down right in front of me. I was stuck behind him, knowing that if I were to pass him again, I would be DQed. I couldn't allow myself to just take a time of 5 minutes, almost last place pursuit. I ended up passing him, just to see what kind of time I could do. I ended up getting a time of 4:52, but a result of "Relegated".

Hopefully the rest of the week goes a bit better.

Friday - Team Pursuit, Scratch Race
Saturday - Points Race
Sunday - Madison

T-Town

I am in Trexlertown for the second time this season. I have been here for a week now, and training has been going very well. The first race night consisted of a 10 km points race, a 10 lap scratch race, and a 5 mile scratch race. My best result came in the final scratch race, coming 3rd place after almost lapping the field.

Top five positions for the final scratch race were:

1 - Shem Rodger - New Zealand
2 - Michael Frieberg - Australia
3 - Stephen Meyer - Canada
4 - Epes Harris - USA
5 - Jason Christie - New Zealand

Since Friday, I have been motor pacing twice, with a lot of other riding on the track and road.

3 Quebecors came down today, and two more Ontario riders should arrive tonight, so we will have a big Canadian contingent for racing tomorrow. Tomorrow's racing includes Keirins, a miss-and-out, and two scratch races.

Results are at www.thevelodrome.com

Steve