Velo-City 5

This is becoming my favorite event. I picked up a Roadie magazine around 5 years ago with a rundown of the first one, simply put: Messengers Hit the Track. It's grown to a nationwide series thanks to Squid and CycleHawk, but it's still kind of a 'get to know ya' event for riders who have never put their mad skillz around the banks of a velodrome. It's free (you even get a free tube, so you come out ahead) and as long as you don't simultaneously drink and race, raucous behavior is encouraged. It's still 'real' racing, but it's a welcome break from the usual scene. This year my team hosted the event at Kenosha's Washington Park velodrome, with separate divisions for messengers and citizens.

I wasn't expecting too much, as this only was my second actual track event, but I came away with zipka last year, so I wanted to show stronger than that. When I saw four Pegasi in my field, I thought, great, they're gonna have all kinds of plans. Add in the fact that last year's messenger winner, Al Urbanski, wasn't eligible for the messenger field, and it looked like trouble: a cat two and two cat threes (Ted Burger & Andrew Yeoman) in my field.

The schedule included match sprints (top two advance in the first couple rounds, then 1v1 for the last two), a 10 lap scratch, and a 20 lap points race. There was also an open/exhibition miss & out.

I got through the first round of two-lap match sprints, then drew Burger and Yeoman. I had a plan for going against a stronger, more experienced rider, but not against TWO. I didn't select a very smart lane, faked, went uptrack, and got to bumping elbows with Burger. I knew we were way too focused on each other, and I should have said something to Ted because Yeoman was just sitting back watching us play games. He took off with 200 to go and it was over. Ted was the only one with either the power or the position to get him. eh, not my kind of event anyway.

The scratch was ok, I knew the field would sort itself out so I tried to be patient. In the sprint, Al Urbanski was gone, Burger was chasing him, Jake Blaze (a fellow cat 5 :) had been third wheel but couldn't match those two, so my race was to outkick him for third. I had it in the bag and at the last second Yeoman flew past me, but not in time. Whew. That'll teach me to pull up when I think I have my man. He came out of nowhere, and I thought he had me for sure.

I was *really* looking forward to the 20 lap points race. I don't start too hard, and I don't really have a true sprinter's finish, but I love to suffer in between. I had a plan. Unfortunately I got boxed in three laps in and fought my way out in the wind just in time to get swarmed on the first points lap. I was almost DFL but was biding my time anyway (a little too much biding in retrospect). I set about leapfrogging 2-3 riders at a time to get up there. Team Pegasus more or less took the first batch of points, then Al attacked. Burger, Blaze, and scraps of Pegasus became the lead group. They realized what Al was doing and started chasing. It was kind of a blur for me because I just chased for lap after lap. I almost had them at 10 to go but they ramped it up again for the points lap. At five to go, same thing, but they sprinted later and rested faster, seemingly content to just let Al go. I caught them easily, and I wasn't really feeling great. I didn't want to get up there just to get burned on the final sprint so I just rode through. I don't know how but I BLASTED through and I heard "What? Where did HE come from?" Ted was just finishing a pull and I thought for sure Yeoman would get my wheel but I looked back and saw nobody.

Four to go and I'm chasing Al. Trevor Rolette, (a junior from ADT, and Al's new teammate) had been motopacing earlier and had jumped into this race, gotten dropped, and now Al was pacing him so he could stay only one lap down. I caught them just in time for the final lap. Al went, Trevor couldn't match it, and I hammered to finish within about a length of Mister Urbanski (of course I was "sprinting" and he was looking over his shoulder holding me off). Even though I only scored three measly points for 17 laps of work, that was my favorite part of the day. I think I found my favorite track event. Hard to believe it was only a four mile race, it took me longer to write it up than to race it.

The miss & out was open to mess and nonmess, for no omnium points. Only 11 people opted in as it was late in the day. Al drilled it at the front, I was going to take turns with him, but Burger came up and did it for me. I still had a tankful when it was down to five of us. Jake started to come past me and I was boxed in and Brian Ellison came around the outside so I got 5th. Just a brain fart there, plus I'm still a bit nervous on the track, so I don't glance back as much as I ought to for this kind of race.

Good times. I was hoping not to get hawked here and there by a couple of experienced cat four riders, and I mostly didn't. The final standings in non-messenger were: Al Urbanski, with Ted and Andrew tied for second, and me in fourth. I'll take that. Blaze was the dark horse of the day, you'd never know it was like his second day of track racing, and he finished just behind me in fifth. Should be an interested summer, if I can just convince my bones to get used to midweek night racing.