RR: Track Masters Nats - 500TT and Team Sprint

500 TT:

A race against the clock, two laps of the track from a standing start.

Saturday I didn't have any races and the coach said to go to the track during the break between the sessions and do a workout to get more comfortable on the track.  Warm up, then do 10 laps in the aerobars in the middle of the track (at the blue/stayer's line), then 10 laps in the aerobars in the pole (down near the bottom of the track) and then 10 laps at the rail (the very top of the track).  I did this on Saturday and it helped A LOT. 

Sunday morning I woke up and felt OK and ready to race.  I drank some coffee, ate some eggs and veggies and got everything organinzed to head over to the track.  I wasn't racing until later in the session and you don't want to be out in the heat all day.  I got ready and then suddenly I started feeling sick.  I ended up getting a late start and did not feel good at all.  I got to the track and it was sunny and getting hot, but not too humid.  Since they changed the schedule (stupid idea!), for Sunday there were the kilos and then the 500s and then the team stuff and then madison, with awards intermixed in between, plus a break scheduled mid-afternoon.  Since so many people were racing that day, the place was packed with people so I set up the rollers outside next to the fence.  I got in a warm up on the warm up gear and felt so-so, actually wishing I was back at the hotel in the bed.  After an abbreviated warm up, I went to get off the rollers and the bike to change wheels to finish my warm up on the race gear and the bike was facing the "wrong" direction (which means I got off the bike on the right side) and ended up toppling over.  Dammit.  Never get on/off a bike or a horse on the wrong side!

 I brushed myself off (at least I fell into the grass) and changed wheels and had to rush to finish my warm up, plus I was still feeling like crap.  I got the bike checked and it was time to go to the ready area (like the baseball on-deck circle).  I was first to go in my age group, riding solo.  I used a gear that I normally ride since it wasn't windy but, that wasn't the best idea.  I got an OK start and stood up over halfway around the track and got into the aerobars after coming out of turn 4 and rode the rest in the aerobars (a big win!)  I crossed the finish line and felt like I'd had a decent ride but the announcer 48 seconds.  I couldn't believe it!   That was so freaking slow and I was SO SO SO disappointed.  I got off the track and stopped the bike and went to get off and SHIT…I toppled over AGAIN!  This time in front of everyone and on the concrete!  I walked over to where the Hellyer people were and lost it, sobbing my head off into a towel, still holding onto the bike.  The folks still in the area came over to see if I was OK and Keith came over to put my bike away.  After about 10 minutes I walked outside to call the coach but he didn't answer so I left a sobbing message on his voicemail.  What was done, was done and I ended up 4th.  Nice to be on the podium, but I'm still not happy with the time I rode.

 

 Team Sprint:

 I'd paid for the TS long ago and was planning to do it with Donna, but after her crash at Districts, I needed to find another partner.  I ended up getting Tracy from Tucson who is in my age group to race with me.  She was pretty gunshy about the steep track but I told her she only needed to do one lap in the pole lane and we were doing it for fun. (Yes, really!)

After talking to Kenny, he said to work on my start and chase Tracy down since there was a differential between our speed.  I told Tracy that I was going to delay my start just a bit but for her to go as fast as she could and I'd run up on her.  She said, "No problem" and we were riding around the warm up circle and heard them DQ one team, then we went up to the ready and watched Beth and Steph from Hellyer ride right before us and THEY got DQed!  The official said something about a zone violation so I asked him what they'd done to get DQed and he said they weren't a meter apart before the end of the pull-off zone, so I told Tracy to really pull off when it was time.  [TS is two riders who start together, one does one lap and pulls off in the zone and the second rider does a second lap solo.  Fastest time amongst the teams wins.]

On the start, I delayed just a bit but still caught her before turn 2 and sat in behind her, resting until my solo lap.  Once she pulled off, I stood up and hit the gas, pedaling through the turn like it was a bell lap in a points race, and rode hard the rest of the way.  We ended up 4th and had fun.

 

They tally everyone's results and award the BAR to the best all-round rider.  There were 4 of us tied with 16 points and then going to the tie-break, I ended up tied for 3rd (or 4th depending on which print out you look at) out of 7.  Pretty happy with that since that's the highest I've ever finished.  And, I have a clear idea of what I need to do in the next 8 weeks.  I submitted the online entry today for Masters Worlds in late October in Portugal.  That's when the competition gets really tough so I definitely need to step it up.