ironclm's tri world

American Velodrome Challenge, Day 2

Hellyer Velodrome, San Jose, CA, USA, June 27, 2009

 

Saturday started early in the morning with flying 200m sprint qualifications. The nine fastest in every field qualified for the sprint tournament.

 

Men 200m

 

US National Champion Jimmy Watkins set a new Hellyer Velodrome track record with 10.84 sec.

Jimmy	Watkins	10.84
Giddeon	Massie	11.34
Karl	Erickson	11.39
Peter	Billington	11.42
Daniel	Walker	11.50
Giovanni	Rey	11.57
Kelyn	Akuna	11.61
Stephen	McLaughry	11.64
Allen	Vugrincic	11.84
Michal	Rohoň	11.85
Sam	Milroy	11.90
Nicholas	Harter	11.95

 

Women 200m

 

Australian Scratch Champion Laura McCaughey set the fastest time for the women. US National Sprint Champion Cari Higgins did not start after her crash on Friday.

Laura	McCaughey	12.5
Jen	Featheringill	12.8
Elisabeth	Williams	12.86
Tela	Crane	12.95
Cristin	Walker	13.0
Elizabeth	Newell	13.1
Annabell	Holland	13.2
Andrea	Fisk	13.4
Shelby	Reynolds	13.5
Kendi	Thomas	13.7
Heather	VanValkenburg	13.8
Jane	Chateaubriand	14.1
Camille	Hook	14.3

 

Master 200m and San Jose Bicycle Club Master Sprint

The master men finalized their sprint tournament before lunch as they had Keirin racing coming up in the afternoon.

Stephen	McLaughry	11.6
Brian	Abers	11.9
Terry	Tenettte	12.2
Mark	Godfrey	12.3
Pekka	Jaske	12.5
Andreas	Vogel	12.5
Arden	Arindaeng	12.6
Mark	Rodamaker	12.6
John	Simmons	12.7
Alex	Millar	12.8
Tim	Montagne	12.9
Gavin	Scholle	13.0

 

Portland

’s men swept the podium:

1	Stephen	McLaughry
2	Brian	Abers
3	Mark	Godfrey
4	Pekka	Jaske
5	Arden	Arindaeng

 

The afternoon session started with the men and women sprint finals.

 

Milroy Construction Men's Sprints

Jimmy Watkins clearly beat Olympian and Friday night’s Keirin winner Giddeon Massie. The race for bronze was much closer, but eventually up-and-coming Daniel Walker won 2:0 over Kelyn Akuna.

1	Jimmy	Watkins
2	Giddeon	Massie
3	Daniel	Walker
4	Kelyn	Akuna
5	Peter	Billington

 

Zin Surgical Women's Sprints

The women’s sprint was a down-under affair. Australian Laura McCaughey beat recovering Kiwi sprinter Liz Williams 2:0. Jen Featheringill took third.

1	Laura	McCaughey
3	Elisabeth	Williams
2	Jen	Featheringill
4	Tela	Crane
5	Cristin	Walker

 

Sport Velo Women's Miss & Out

As in Friday night’s Point race, this was a battle between home favorite and world Cup bronze medalist Shelley Olds and Australian Laura McCaughey, with Laura prevailing again.

1	Laura	McCaughey
2	Shelley	Olds
3	Jennifer	Triplett
4	Cari	Higgins
5	Beth	Newell
6	Karla	Kingsley
7	Kira	Prokopakis
8	Cristin	Walker
9	Liz	Williams
10	Kendi	Thomas

 

Testarossa Men's Scratch

Local Hellyer track star and World Cup bronze medalist Dan Holloway, escaped from the field early on and managed to gain a lap on the field. Hayden Godfrey won the field sprint for second.

1	Dan	Holloway
2	Hayden	Godfrey
3	Grant	Boursaw
4	Steven	Beardsley
5	Steve	Pelaez
6	Iggy	Silva
7	Ryan	Luttrell
8	David	McCook
9	Maurice	Monge
10	Giovanni	Rey
11	Brian	Peterson
12	Derek	Dixon

 

Western Athletic Clubs Master Keirin

Hellyer’s Brian Peterson attacked right after the motor came off, took the lead and stayed in the front all the way to the finish line.

1	Brian	Peterson
2	Stephen	McLaughry
3	Mark	Godfrey
4	Brian	Abers
5	John	Simmons
6	Mark	Rodamaker
7	Michael	Hernandez

 

Testarossa Women's Scratch

This race was a great example of team tactics--while everyone was expecting another duel between Shelley Olds and Laura McCaughey, Shelley's team mate Hanan Alves-Hyde went off the front with Julia Manley and Tela Crane, eventually outsprinting her two break-away companions.

1	Hanan	Alves-Hyde
2	Julia	Manley
3	Tela	Crane
4	Laura	McCaughey
5	Shelley	Olds
6	Jennifer	Triplett
7	Cari	Higgins
8	Andrea	Fisk
9	Jen	Featheringill
10	Emily	Charbonneau

 

startcycling.com Master Points Race

This was a classic battle between sprinters and enduros. While 8 riders took points in the first two sprints, local pursuiter Michael Hutchison took off winning the other two sprints and cementing first place.

1	Michael	Hutchinson
2	Pekka	Jaske
3	Daryl	Hemenway
4	James	Keiser
5	Aaron	Hunter
6	John	Simmons
7	Michael	Hernandez
8	Brandon	Correia
9	Andrew	Nevitt

 

John Peckham Memorial Men's Points Race

Before the night’s last race was started, NCVA President Brian Peterson remembered friend and team member John Peckham.

James Stangeland won the first sprint and he would score 3 more times which was enough for a decisive win. Dan Holloway and Jame Carney battled it out for silver and bronze respectively.

1	James	Stangeland
2	Dan	Holloway
3	Jame	Carney
4	Grant	Boursaw
5	Steve	Pelaez
6	Benjamin	Jacques-Maynes
7	Iggy	Silva
8	Giddeon	Massie
9	Jason	Allen
10	Karl	Erickson
11	Ryan	Luttrell

American Velodrome Challenge, Day 1

Hellyer Velodrome, San Jose, CA, USA, June 26, 2009

 Men Keirin

 Some very fast men lined up for the Men’s Keirin. US National Champion Jimmy Watkins, 2008 Ominum World Champion Hayden Godfrey, local power house Pete Billington qualified for the final. So did up-and-coming rider Daniel Walker, who sent Olympian Gideon Massie to the reps.

 Massie made the decisive move in the final and won the $1000 purse, local fast man Steve Pelaez was holding off Hayden Godfrey.

	NUMBER	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME
1	94	Massie	Gideon
2	110	Pelaez	Steve
3	66	Godfrey	Hayden
4	137	Watkins	Jimmy
5	135	Walker	Daniel
6	34	Allen	Jason
7	42	Billington	Pete
8	98	McLaughry	Stephen

 

Women Keirin

Proman teammates finished 1st and 2nd in the Women’s Keirin with US National Champion Cari Higgins taking the win and US enduro track star Shelley Olds taking second. Jen Featheringill completed the podium.

	NUMBER	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME
1	73	Higgins	Cari
2	108	Olds	Shelley
3	63	Featheringill	Jen
4	140	Williams	Elisabeth
5	134	Walker	Cristin
6	64	Fisk	Andrea
7	96	McCaughey	Laura

Women Points 15k (45 laps)

The Women’s Points Race came down to a battle between Aussie Scratch Champion Laura McCaughey and US National Champ Shelley Olds. It came all down to the final sprint which was neutralized due a crash involving Cari Higgins. The race was re-started with 5 laps to go and Laura McCaughey took the opportunity and sealed the deal. Cari Higgins was up and riding again after her bike was fixed.

 

	NUMBER	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME
1	96	McCaughey	Laura
2	108	Olds	Shelley
3	73	Higgins	Cari
4	130	Triplett	Jennifer
5	104	Newell	Elizabeth
6	44	Boursaw	Amara

Men Madison 20k (60k laps)

The Men’s Madison race was the last race of the night and certainly one of the high-lights. Very quickly it became clear that this would be a battle between the Garmin team of Dan Holloway and guest rider, Bissell’s Ben Jacques-Maynes and the New Zealand Subway-Avanti team of the world champs Hayden Godfrey and Jason Allen. It all came down to one point which was battled out in the last sprint when the Kiwis took the victory.

Men Miss 'n' Out

The Men Miss ‘n’ Out saw a huge field of 35 racers. The pace was very high right from the gun. Many of the sprinters didn’t last for long and some of the big names got eliminated early. Pro-riders Ben Jacques–Maynes (Bissell), Roman Kilun (OUCH) and Iggy Silva (Rock Racing) nearly made it to the end. The final came down to Jame Carney, Dan Holloway and Dave McCook. But it was really Carney and Holloway who took the sprint to the line with Carney nosing out Holloway.

	NUMBER	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME
1	47	Carney	Jame
2	75	Holloway	Dan
3	97	McCook	David
4	79	Jacques-Maynes	Benjamin
5	82	KILUN	Roman
6	124	Silva	Iggy

Masters Miss 'n' Out

The Master Miss ‘n’ Out turned into a local Hellyer affair with the final five all from Hellyer. Finally, Briggs and Peterson sprinted it out, with Briggs taking it by inches.

1	46	Briggs	Patrick
2	111	Peterson	Brian
3	72	Hernandez	Michael
4	68	Hall	Doug
5	103	Nevitt	Andrew

Masters 10k Scratch

Local Eliot Logan was taking it long with four laps to go, creating a 100m gap but he was caught with 150 m to go by the charging field. Former Olympian Mark Whitehead crossed the lined first.

	NUMBER	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME
1	139	Whitehead	Mark
2	46	Briggs	Patrick
3	138	Watkins	Sean
4	111	Peterson	Brian
5	127	Tanaka	Alden

RR: Tuesday Night Racing 06/23/09

Nice and warm to start. A little windy, but that died down some. Alternate Tuesdays are women-specific races with an emphasis on beginner women and Cat. 4 women so we have a chance to race against our peers, instead of the Cat. 2 women or the men. Thanks Michael for putting these races on! Last night we had fifteen women, split into two groups, with a few people doing both A1 and A2 scratch or points races.

8 lap Scratch:
We rolled off the rail and in my group were a number of the gals who had done the beginner women's camp last month. There was one gal who is training for multiple century rides so she has good fitness and another gal has been road racing and time trialing all spring, so she has really good fitness. Nearly the entire group (8 people?) stayed together for most of the 8 laps. I was using the first race mostly as a harder warmup and with two laps to go, things sped up quite a bit. I was able to stay with the front few and the Tina and Maryanne pulled away at the end of the last lap and someone pulled a little ahead of me for 3rd. I got 4th. Felt pretty good, especially breathing-wise. Hard to breathe in the last two laps when we ramped it up to 27-28 mph. First couple of laps were to shake things out, then the middle 4 laps were about 23-24 mph. A good warm up!

Match Sprint #1:
3-up with Elizabeth and new gal Casey. Elizabeth and I have match sprinted against each other quite a few times in the past month. I started out in the middle with Elizabeth in front and Casey behind. We got to just before turn 3 and I slowed way down and Casey went by and both of them were ahead of me and I let them get a 2-3 bike length gap and in the middle of the turn I stood up and hit the gas as hard as I could go and was gone before they could react. Rode like hell for a lap and eased up in turn 4, then I could hear everyone yelling that Elizabeth was gaining, so I picked it up. Win!  Afterwards everyone there said it was a great ride. Very happy about this one.

12 lap Points, sprint every 4:
Pretty much the same group as the scratch race. I knew to watch Maryanne and Tina and pretty much stuck with the group. On the first bell I got gapped a little, but was able to get up for 4th. 1 point scored!  We then regrouped and I forget what happened on the second sprint. Tina went early (one lap before the bell lap) and stayed away. Maryann tried to follow her but went too late, then everyone else went and I think I got 5th on the last sprint. So either 5th or 6th overall maybe. Michael didn't have the points totaled and I'm not sure. Points racing involves a lot of math on the fly, so I'm not yet up to speed on that aspect of racing. I was happy that I scored at least once, as this would be only the second time ever that I've scored any points in a points race.

Match Sprint #2: 
2-up with Casey
For this one, my plan was to go early. Got just an OK jump, but rode hard for the lap and a half. Win!

Next was some Madison practice for the boys, but Daniel wasn't there and since I'm not very experienced at throwing/getting thrown, I just rode around to stay loose.

Match Sprint #3:
2-up with Elizabeth.
Legs were starting to get tired, but overall I felt pretty good. She took the back and so I led out and was doing a good job keeping an eye on her. But then just before turn 4, I'd been looking left and had drifted down below the blue/stayer's line and I wanted to get a little higher so I had my front wheel turned just a tiny bit too much up track and she saw that and took off, and by the time I got going she was gone. DAMMIT! I was gaining on her at the end, but she'd gotten too good of a jump. I was moving pretty good though, especially going into turn 3….my back wheel skipped and I was flying. So I feel good about all of it except for that little mental lapse. And to give her credit….she's been a very good student, always asking me questions when we ride and then putting different things to good use. I'll have to stop giving her my secrets!!

After that we packed up and the 5 Mice who were there went for Mexican food. A very fun evening and some good racing.

EDIT:

WOMEN'S OMNIUM 1 (15 riders)
		Name	Team		OMNIUM
	1	Marianne Hernandez	Davis Bike Club		21
	2	Tina Huang	n/a		12
	3	Cathy Morgan	Team Roaring Mouse		10
	4	Kathryn Grass	Hopkins Honda		7
	5	Angela Aldrich	SugarCRM/SJBC		2
	6	Rubi Ramirez	n/a		1

RR: Low-Key Racing

Keith puts on an occasional low-key racing day where the goal is to get some racing in, try new things and use it for a training day. No official results are kept and there is no set race schedule--make it up as we go, depending on who shows up. Yesterday was sunny, warm (high 74), very windy (16-17 mph, gusting to 24 mph according the Natl. Weather Service website) and the turnout was about 8 in my group and 6-8 guys in the "A" group. I goofed around and didn't get there until late, right when the paceline warm up was starting, so I changed and jumped on the track, just as they were starting. We did thirty laps, I think. I had 20 minutes on my computer. At the end we were doing 23-24 mph. Felt pretty good, but cotton mouth (from the new asthma meds).

Keith divided us up into two groups (A and B). I was in the B group with 3 other gals, junior Zeke that we've raced with a lot, a younger junior kid, a new guy I don't know (New Guy #1 - "NG1") and one more guy that has been out there some (though he may have done the first couple of races in the A group). Changed gearing to race gearing.

Race #1:  handicapped scratch race (I forget how many laps, 7 or 8 maybe?)

The two juniors had a headstart (young junior on the rail with us, one lap up, Zeke a half lap up). I told Keith that was way too much of a lead for Zeke. It was. He kept his half lap and maybe added to it. Young junior fell off the pace pretty quick and the other 5 of us stayed together the entire time, working together to try to catch Zeke. Until the bell, the it was sprint on. I came around and dropped into the pole and held off everyone until about 3 inches before the line where NG1 caught me. Damn! Keith said it was only a couple of inches. So, second in the group sprint, 3rd overall with the handicap.

Race #2:  handicapped win & out, 6 laps then the bell.

Keith changed the handicaps--None to Zeke, young junior with a full lap, Katie with about 1/4 lap. Start was from the rail and start right off (no rolling around to turn 3). Well, I got a crappy start off the rail and Zeke in his junior gearing and ability to spin about 140 rpm was gone. Everyone was chasing him and the group got all split up pretty quick. I ended up riding solo the whole way. My legs felt terrible! I couldn't get the gear to turn over and I was thinking, "Is this a 49x14?????"  [A way bigger gear] I actually checked after the race (it wasn't).  DNP (did not place)

Race #3:  Chariot race 

Group 1: 4 people

Got a bit of a push from Ted and I had a good 500M start! I immediately pulled away and kept the hammer down. Legs felt great on this one! WIN!!!!!    ;-)

Race #4:  Keirin (with MarkR as the 2-legged motor)

Zeke jumped on Mark's wheel and I stuck like glue to Zeke. When Mark pulled off, it was Zeke, me and "one more guy-OMG". I knew that Zeke was going to go when Mark pulled off so I was ready and I stuck with him. He pulled up track in turn 3 and I stayed in the pole lane. OMG tried to come around me but I went with him, keeping him high, but that also meant that I was taking the wind too. Then he got a bit ahead of me and Zeke was right on his wheel and Zeke went around him for the win. I couldn't get around either of them and eased up a little bit and NG1 came up on me and I think I held him off for 3rd. NOTE TO SELF:  Never let up until after the finish line!

Race #5: Two-man pursuit (coed), 6 laps

By this time, a number of people were finished for the day, but there were 4 of us from the B group left so we split into coed teams and did a 6 lap pursuit. Katie and OMG v. me and NG1. We started on the front side from the rail and were rolling about 23-24 mph. Each time we came by, Keith gave us a status update. We were ahead but kept having to push hard to stay ahead. We creeped up to high 24s and maybe hit 25 mph. We'd been doing 1/2 lap pulls from the start and when we got to 1.5 laps to go, I gasped out for NG1 to take a full lap pull if he could. So he did and then I was able to slightly recover and we picked it up the last 100 meters. We won. And if I was going to have an asthma issue, this would have been the race. But, I felt OK, so I was pretty happy about that. 

Luckily, I recovered pretty quick for....

Race #6: MATCH SPRINT!   v. Katie

She won the toss and picked front position. Fine with me!!  We rolled out and I stayed behind her a good bike length, shadowing her every move. Then with 1.25 laps to go, she picked up the pace and I jumped and held her off the rest of the way. WIN!!!  ;-)   Happy with this. Rode smart and had a decent jump and kept it rolling.

That was it. Cooled down and helped Keith put everything away and then came home. Lots of fun. Thanks Keith!

RR: Sprint Tournament #3

Sunny, warm (75F+), very windy

17 people.

I got there fairly early and WIN #1....I changed the cog by myself!! Small victories, you know.

I did about 15 minutes in the warm up gear with one jump and then changed to the race gear and did another 10 minutes with two short jumps. Legs felt pretty good, but I was a little concerned about the wind (normal turn 2-3 headwind but strong, probably the strongest wind I've felt there in a long time). 

Flying 200 to set the brackets: I started out OK, first lap go easy, float the pedals, don't use any extra energy. Second lap, pick it up and get speed up earlier. I knew I sat down too early and was thinking about that so my line wasn't the best. Pedaled like hell and tried to hold it. Max speed was 30.3 mph. 200 time: 15.08. That put me 15th out of 17. Everyone's time was slower today though and Kevin thought about 1/2 second average off the last sprint tourney. Goal had been to break 15, so oh-so-close. Race wheels or less wind? Probably. Que sera, sera.

Today's format was a double-elimination, divided into two groups. I was seed #7/9 in the second group. Changed gears to a bit smaller gear.

First round: Me, Kelly (#1 seed), Tracey (? seed)

I knew that both of them were a lot faster than me and both had better jumps, so John told me to go early. We rolled out and I was in the back, Kelly in front and Tracey in the middle. Between turn 3-4, Kelly faked going early but then he went up high and I took off and Kelly didn't pass me until just before turn 3 on the last lap and Tracey came around me coming out of turn 4. Rode hard and felt pretty good about this one.

Second round: Me, Elizabeth (#9), Dorrit (#8)

I rolled off the rail in second position and was keeping an eye on Dorrit and Elizabeth got a pretty good jump as I'd let her get a little too far ahead. I chased and got on her wheel and coming out of turn 4 I moved up on her hip, but I couldn't get past her. Another 25 meters, and I think I would have. I didn't ride smart. Not winning that round meant I was out of the tournament.

But instead of that being the end of the day, Kevin did some other matches in between the official tournament matches. Elizabeth, Dorrit and I had another 3-up and this time I rolled off the rail in the front and kept the speed up from the start and between turn 3-4, I slowed WAY down, almost to a stop and made both of them go by me. Once they did, I jumped and held them both off. Very happy with this effort. I think I played it smart and did pretty much everything right. Best effort of the day.

Kevin called another match up between me and Tracey but she had to get home. So instead, Kevin asked me if I wanted to do another 200. Sure! I kept it in the smaller gear to see what difference it made. This effort was much better technically, but my time was slower (15.4). One thing I'm really happy with is that I don't think I slowed down in the second 100m. It would have been interesting to have the times of the first 100 and the second 100 to see.

Called it a day after that and did a cool down.

The good news: Legs felt good after having cement block legs on Tuesday and Wednesday and then a couple of days total rest. And asthma issues were minimal. Coughing after every effort, but nothing during. So I'm happy about that. Also, my knee, which has been hurting when walking or even sitting (but never riding), felt great today!

Tuesday Night Racing

I've been dealing with breathing issues and after a visit to my pulmonologist on Monday, hopefully we are on track to get it under control. So last night's racing was going to be a test--could I even go hard without wheezing/coughing/being unable to breathe?

Tuesday Night Women's Racing and Madison Practice is the alternate Tuesday nights. Michael just started up this series to give the women (especially the new women) more opportunity to race against each other (instead of coed racing which is good, but sometimes not so good).

I got to the track and got in a good warm up, first in the warm up gear and that felt pretty good. I changed to the race gear and in the warm up it felt ok, but a little big (47x14). It was cool and really windy so I switched over to a smaller gear (46x14) and raced on that.

12 women, 4 of them were track Cat. 3 plus one of the Proman gals, who may be a 2 on the track, but she was there to mostly mentor. The rest of us were 4s with a number of very strong riders. First race was a 15 lap scratch. I felt ok for about 10 laps then couldn't go when there was an attack. Breathing was actually pretty good, but I was on the conservative side. Use this race as a warm up. Legs were pretty tired.

Second race, a 12 lap points race, points every 4. I did OK for about 5 laps then got gapped on the second sprint. I took a lap and got back in when the group came around again and ended up scoring a point on the last sprint. My breathing pretty much OK--I just couldn't go super hard and that's when I got gapped (though my max speed was 29.9 mph so we were going pretty hard). But no coughing until after the race was over. Last week I had started to cough and wheeze during the races, so this is improvement!

Next we did some match sprints. I was in a 3-up and was watching Carol and junior Becky got behind us and took off. That was very smart of her. We chased and I couldn't quite come around them at the finish, but we were all within a wheel of each other. Good effort!

Then we did some Madison practice. What is the Madison?  The madison is a conventional race but, since the innovation in New York, with riders in each team riding part of the distance, handing over to the other member, resting, and then returning to the race. Teams are usually of two riders but occasionally of three. Only one of the team is racing at any time and the replacement rider has to be touched before he can take over. The touch can also be a push, often on the shorts, or one rider hurling the other into the race by a hand-sling.  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_(cycling).

We were practicing the "hurling" part. We got into one long paceline on the stayers line in the middle of the track and when you got to the front of the line, you dropped down to where Daniel Holloway (Garmin U23/US National Team, guy who was off the front for 75 miles last weekend at Philly and recent finisher of the U23 Paris-Roubaix) was and he was doing the throwing. He did the Madison circuit this past winter, racing with Colby Pearce. The first time it was pretty stressful as you had to keep holding onto the bars with your right hand and put your left hand out and down by your hip. Your partner comes alongside you and grabs your hand and they are moving forward and they then sling you forward. I did it twice. Kind of fun! A really big WHEE factor!

Last we did a combined points race with the guys as there were only 5 guys there and half the women had left. (Very casual night of racing, but a lot of fun.)  We are all in a group and the guys weren't supposed to attack or anything and then all of a sudden we see Daniel taking off attacking. Why is Daniel attacking??? We could then see that he's pushing junior Becky and they get a gap on the group and it was pretty funny. We finally chased them down after a few laps and I was able to lock onto Ben's wheel (he's a good draft) and on one of the sprints, I got 4th. On the last sprint, Bev attacked and I tried to follow but got to the edge of coughing, plus my legs were not responding at all so I just rolled it in.

A very fun night and a lot of good group riding practice. Encouraged about the asthma. Hopefully we'll get that under control.

American Velodrome Challenge

International Stars And Top US Cyclists To Complete At American Velodrome Challenge In San Jose, CA

The American Velodrome Challenge (AVC) will be held at the Hellyer Velodrome in San Jose, CA June 26 and 27. The event will feature sprint and endurance racing including Montano Velo Keirin, Concept Cyclery Women's Points Race and Peckham Memorial Points Race, as well as SportVelo Miss-n-Out, Scratch, Madison and Sprint events. Racers will compete for nearly $15,000 in cash prizes.

In the endurance women's events, Shelley Olds (Proman) will be back to defend her Concept Cyclery Points Race and Testarossa Scratch Race titles. "Pocket Rocket" Shelley Olds says, "The AVC is one of the highlights of my season every year. It combines highly contested racing with a great atmosphere for spectating. It's fantastic to have a race of this caliber at my local track." With $1,000 going to the winner of the Concept Cyclery Women's Points Race, the race is guaranteed to be rocket fast.  The women's sprint events will see Jen Featheringill (Bike Central) defend her Keirin and Sprint titles against USA elite national champion Cari Higgins (Proman) and Cristin Walker, the USA U23 National Sprint Champion.

The Peckham Memorial Points Race will see the 2008 winner Kenny Williams (First Rate Mortgage) defend against the 2007 winner Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (Bissell). Also chasing after the $1,000 that goes to the winner of the Peckham Memorial Points Race will be Jason Allen (Subway - Avanti), a track World Cup Gold medalist, Daniel Holloway (Holowesko-Garmin), US Elite Champion and World Cup bronze medalist, and New Zealand's Hayden Godfrey (Subway - Avanti), the 2008 Omnium World Champion. Godfrey says, "I have heard great things about the American Velodrome Challenge and I'm looking forward to compete in this year's event". Other nations represented at AVC include: Canada, Slovakia and Germany.

Gio Rey (Montano Velo) will be back to win after being pipped at the line in the 2008 Montano Velo Elite Men's Keirin. Expect Jimmy Watkins (Empower Coaching), current USA Sprint and Keirin champion, and his Team Sprint teammate Kelyn Akuna to make the race fast. 

Rick Adams, co-promoter of the AVC said, "I am proud of the local business support to bring high level racing to Hellyer." Bruce Hollibaugh, Concept Cyclery’s owner said, “Sponsoring the AVC helps our community prosper and sponsoring the Women's Points Race aligns with our many successful women customers.”

Racing will be on Friday (June 26) from 7pm - 10:30pm and Saturday (June 27) from 6pm - 10pm. There is no entrance fee to the velodrome and food and drinks will be provided. Park entrance/parking at the County park is $6. Complete information can be found at www.ridethetrack.com/avc

Hellyer Velodrome is located at the Hellyer County Park, 995 Hellyer Ave San Jose, CA 95111 and can be easily accessed from Highway 101, exit "Hellyer Av."

 

 

Contact

 

Andreas Vogel

AVC communication

andreas.vogel@gmail.com

415 341 3438

 

Rick Adams

AVC promoter

oldtrackie@gmail.com

 

Hellyer Velodrome, San Jose, CA

http://ridethetrack.com/AVC

 

Tuesday Night Points Racing

My June schedule has me racing a lot, which will be fun. And it will be interesting to see how I hold up. A big weight lifting session on Monday left me with tired legs, but the Tuesday and Wednesday races are training races, so just train through it. Mateo and I headed down to the track and we got there in good time and got ready to go and on the track for a warm-up and my legs felt pretty good. Lungs did not. Guess I need to go back to the asthma doc and see if she can change up meds or something.

I got in a good warm-up, over 25 minutes with a few hard efforts, then it was time to line up for the first race. Since there were 10 women/juniors there, we got our own race, with three men riding with us (yea Mike and Jonathan), but not affecting the outcome of the race. 30 lap points race, sprint every 5 laps. That's a lot of sprints.

Race 1:
Had breathing issues on first sprint trying to go with the jump. Rolled around the rest of the race solo to get more warm up in and hit the inhaler after and about coughed up a lung.

Race 2:
Much better. I attacked the field early to see if I could breathe (better!) and held them off for about 3/4 of a lap. Comments later was that it was a good, strong attack. Carol, Evan and I got gapped, so we did a half-lap rotating paceline to the end to stay away from the field and not get lapped. Happy with that effort as we rode pretty much a perfect paceline.

Good training effort for the night. Thanks Larry!

RR: Get Ready For Summer #4 (Velodrome)

Warm and sunny and breezy with a lot of allergy crap in the air.

10 people in the "C" category--4 women, 1 junior and 5 men.

Started with a fairly big gear (51x15).

Close to a 30 minute warm up with two jumps in the 51x16, then another two in the 51x15. Got in the paceline for about 6 laps before swapping gears. Felt pretty good in the warm up.

Race #1: Keirin (this is the race behind the motorcycle for 3 laps, then he pulls off and it's 1.5 lap sprint)

Not sure how Rick divided up the heats, but I ended up in the first heat with Alyssa, new gal who is really strong, young Zeke, who is improving every week and 3 guys. The usual moto driver is out so there is a new guy and he's still learning. He ramped us up really fast to 28-30 mph instead of hitting that on his last lap. We were flying from the start! At the start, I'd drawn position #2 which is what I wanted. Alyssa had never done a start like this (you are pushed or thrown) and Gio pushed her hard....right into me. We didn't hit, or if we did it wasn't much, but I had to scrub off speed and go down track, so I was playing catch up and got on the back of the group. Then the speed ramped up fast and I was hanging on and when the motor pulled off, the three guys sprinted away from me, Alyssa and Zeke, so I just sat up as only 2 went automatically to the final and the rest of us went to the repechage.

Rep ride:  I drew #6, at the top of the track. Not my favorite spot. Start was OK. Zeke on the motor, Katie behind him, Alyssa behind Katie and I sat off Katie's shoulder. Again, he ramped it up pretty fast and about 4 laps in, I started to not be able to breathe so well and ended up having an asthma attack. Rode it in and off the bike and I got the inhaler and started to feel better and figured there was time to recover to do the next race.

Race #2: Scratch 15 laps

The race started out fast, but slowed down and sped up and they kept doing that the entire race. About 5 laps in, I had another asthma attack and really couldn't breathe and came off the track and about coughed a lung up. Zeke's dad came over to see if I was OK as did a couple of other people. I finally quit coughing and thought about bagging the rest of the races, but instead, I switched to the 51x16 and figured I'd do at least the Miss&Out and it might be a short race, so no problem.

Race #3: Miss & Out (10 riders)  [Every lap the last person across the line is pulled out of the race. Think musical chairs on bikes.]

Rolling off the rail, I went straight to the pole and stayed there. First sprint, easy, not really a sprint, just picked it up a little and hey, I'm still here! Second sprint, about the same. Third sprint, a little harder, but damn, I'm still here! Fourth sprint, getting harder, but still OK. Fifth sprint, how many are left???? Had to pick it up. Sixth sprint, I just got pipped at the line! Ended up 5th. One Ominum point!! Salvaged the day.

Race #4: Snowball 12 laps

I wasn't going to do this race but I'd felt better in the M&O, so I decided to do it. I also wasn't sure how the race worked, except that every lap the points increased. Matt explained how it worked (yes, increasing points each lap, but points only to the first person across the line, everyone else gets a big, fat zero) and we rolled out and I was again in the pole on the front. On the first lap coming out of turn 4 I decided to jump early as everyone seemed to be sitting around and I held off Katie for the point! The speed then picked up as one of the stronger guys took off and everyone tried to chase and I got gapped as I didn't want to bury myself and go into "unable to breathe" mode. But Rick and Matt kept yelling at me to ride hard to stay away from getting lapped and so I rode a hard pursuit, but unfortunately, I got caught with 2 laps to go. Damn! Ended up throwing up at the end of that race. Rick later told me how the race works and that if I'd stayed away and not gotten lapped, then I would have ended up 4th. Nuts! 

I rode two very smart races. Tactically really good. Now if I just had the legs/lungs to go with the tactics!

A Lot to Learn With This Bike Racing!

A couple of race reports from this week.

Memorial Day Crit, Morgan Hill, CA

Monday, May 25, 2009, 9:30 AM start 
cold, foggy, windy (like 55F) 
40 starters + 2 mentors

I got 30 minutes of warm up in, but could have done a bit more. I had on the long-sleeved skinsuit and fleece knee warmers and I was still cold. The course was right turn, left curve, right hard turn, another right, long straight into the wind, right turn into a long straight to the s/f. The first turn was about 100 yards from the s/f and I still have a few issues with big groups of unknown riders and didn't really want to be in the middle of all that, so I sat on the back. Not the best place to be since it yo-yos a lot more.  About 10 minutes into the race I started to cough due to the cold and got gapped a bit and then in the windy section, the gap got too big and I couldn't catch back on. I sat up as I knew a few others had popped off earlier and ended up working for a few laps with Velo Bella gal who was doing her 3rd ever race. Into the pit until the group came around and then we got put back in when the group came around and I stuck with the group the rest of the way.

Cyclosports Crit, Livermore, CA

Saturday, May 30, 2009, 10:50 AM start (but delayed by about 15-20 minutes)

Warm (maybe 70F), sunny, but very windy.

3 right corners plus one sweeping right at turn 2. Between turn 2-3 was a straight on headwind, probably 15+ mph and very slightly uphill at the end. Between turn 3-4 was cross-wind from about 11 o'clock and more than slightly uphill.

W3/4s combined but picked separately. The field was probably 15-16 total, about equally spilt between the categories. A majority from one team.

25 laps of a 0.66 mile square.

I lined up in the front row and we rolled out and I was right there in the first 5 people for a few laps. Then a Metromint attacked and the others blocked on the front and no one wanted to do anything. I did about 1/2 a lap at the front to pick it up a bit but then moved back. After about 8 or 10 laps, I was moving further back each time on the incline and I finally got gapped and couldn't get back on. The officials said they weren't going to pull anyone so sit up and catch back on. Which is what I did but I only lasted about 1.5 laps and got gapped again on the same place, so I rode it in and finished.

Lesson learned: I asked a couple of good racers and coaches what they thought as they were there watching the race. Both said that if I had positioned myself on the other side of the road on the incline/crosswind section that I probably could have stuck with the group. Instead, I was sitting out in the wind on the hardest section, even though I was on a wheel. I didn't even think about that. Next time I'll know.

RIP Steve.....

"If Today Was Your Last Day"___Nickelback

My best friend gave me the best advice

He said each days a gift and not a given right

Leave no stone unturned

Leave your fears behind

And try to take the path less traveled by

That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day

If tomorrow was too late

Could you say goodbye to yesterday

Would you live each moment like your last

Leave old pictures in the past

Donate every dime you have

If today was your last day

Going against the grain should be a way of life

What's worth the price is always worth the fight

Every second counts cause there's no second try

So live it like you're never living twice

Don't take the free ride in your whole life

If today was your last day

If tomorrow was too late

Could you say goodbye to yesterday

Would you live each moment like your last

Leave old pictures in the past

Donate every dime you have

And would you call old friends you never see

Reminisce old memories

Would you forgive your enemies

And would you find that one your dreaming of

Swear up and down to god above

That you'll finally fall in love

If today was your last day

If today was your last day

Would you make your mark

On ending a broken heart

You know it's never too late

To shoot for the stars

Regardless of who you are

So do whatever it takes

Cause you can't rewind

A moment in this life

Let nothing stand in your way

Cause the hands of time

Are never on your side

If today was your last day

If tomorrow was too late

Could you say goodbye to yesterday

Would you live each moment like your last

Leave old pictures in the past

Donate every dime you have

And would you call old friends you never see

Reminisce old memories

Would you forgive your enemies

And would you find that one your dreaming of

Swear up and down to god above

That you'll finally fall in love

If today was your last day

RR: Get Ready For Summer #3 (Velodrome)

Another super hot day today, but I felt good this morning. Managed my hydration really well yesterday and last night. High of 95F yesterday and 96F today. Winds today were 12-16 mph according to the weather service website.

Warmed up in the warm up gear. My legs were a little sore but overall felt ok. After about 10 minutes, I jumped into the paceline which was ranging from 21 mph up to 25 mph. I felt pretty good and my legs were spinning fast. After 20 minutes total, I went to get something to drink and switched to race gear and did another 10 minutes, with two 100 meter jumps. Then it was time to get off the track. 

First races were the keirin (which we didn't get to do--bummer as I like that race). Instead, I turned the lap cards. After the keirin heats, it was the C guys' race, then our Win & Out. There were 11 women there for the Cat. 3/4 races.

Win & Out: I had no plan. Just see how I felt. We rolled out and did the two laps (or 3?), then the bell and one person took a flyer and won and was out, then the next bell lap and two people had a bit of a gap and the first across the line was 2nd and out, then the last lap and the sprint was on and 2 people got a gap but the rest of us were right there. Coming around turn 4 I saw the 2 with the gap and then one ahead a bit and I pedaled a ~little~ harder and nipped her at the line. I crossed the finish line and thought to myself, "Did I just get 5th?" I was pretty happy about that. Went to the tent and asked Annabell--did I get 5th? Yes. Yea! Made my legs hurt less.   ;-)

10-lap scratch: We were rolling around and the speed wasn't too high, maybe 21 mph and I'd been on the front some, but had moved up high. With 3 laps to go in turn 3, someone sped up and then everyone sped up and two people bumped hips (or hip/elbow). Not a hard hit, just a little bump. Not exactly sure what happened, but I hear the sound of a crash to my left and behind. Luckily for everyone else only one person went down and she didn't take anyone else down with her. After a break, we restarted and did 3 laps. The 3 laps were pretty fast from the whistle and I ended up 5th again. Super happy!!! Legs hurt again, but maybe not as much when I knew I got 5th.  

Miss & Out: I had a plan. Wednesday night my teammate had told me next time to take the pole and just stay there. So I did, riding right on the red line so no one could go underneath me and keeping an eye to the right on anyone coming up from the outside. There were 10 of us in the race and first person out, no problem, just riding tempo. Second out, again no problem. Speed had picked up a bit. Third out, I had to pick it up in the last 50 meters, but once across the line, I floated the pedals to get a little break. Next out, faster, but still in control of the field. Next out, getting harder. Next time around, I didn't get the pedals moving fast enough soon enough and just got pipped at the line. 5th again! 

Points Race: 15 laps, points every 5. Legs were pretty tired and loaded up by this time. The first 5 laps were OK and I think I was 6th in the sprint (the first 4 had a gap and only the first 4 get points, so I eased up a bit in the last 30 meters). The next 3 laps I started pedaling squares and then the next sprint, gone off the back of the bunch. The last 5 laps I caught on to another one of the gals and we traded half-lap pulls and if we'd had another couple of laps, we might have caught back on. I ended up 8th, but that was good enough to cement my 5th place in the omnium. The first step towards a Cat. 3 upgrade.

Omnium haul: A bottle of Testarossa wine, a bag of Clif and Builder Bars, SportVelo socks and Peets coffee certificates.  Thanks Rick and the sponsors!! A totally great day.