Ride The World Cup #3

Won the last points sprint

Big turnout at Hellyer today, no doubt helped by the worthwhile occasion (Shelley Olds fundraiser), beer/BBQ and Frankie Andreu's special guest appearance. Strong field in As and Bs (15 B riders).

Teammates: Liam and Jake in Bs. Nole in As. Ashley and Cathy in Cs. Ashley won the Cs scratch.

First Bs race was 40 lap points race with sprints every 5. When the first attack came on the second lap, the guy in front of me unclipped while standing and flipped over his bars. I dodged up track. He was unhurt and the race was restarted. I got 2nd in sprints #s 1, 4, and 7. 4th in sprint 2. 1st in the final sprint, for 4th overall. Race decider was an unmarked guy rolling off the front after sprint 2 and soloing for 20+ laps, catching the pack, which worked sporadically but basically gave it to him. Liam put in some good attacks to string things out with a lap or 2 to go. Nice to see him in Bs now.

1st: Judd Kincaid 2nd: Ray Gildea 3rd: John Cheetham 4th: me. Jake was around 6th.Photo of results here.

Lost the scratch race by a few inches

Second race was motorpaced scratch for 40 laps. Motor started pretty slow (22mph was what was called) and attack came around 4 laps in. I was first to follow and we had a break of 4 strong guys that grew to 6 (including Jake), working pretty evenly with 1/2 lap pulls. With 10 to go, Jon Arcellana attacked and I closed. We were 3 (Jon, me, and Ray), still working well. The motor had sped up over the course of the race, and we caught Liam (teammate) dropped from the pack and he led out from 2 to go. Jon led out the last lap, with me on his wheel. I moved to come around in turn 3 (150m) and was coming up well, but didn't quite pass.

Got 2nd, losing by around a foot. Initially was too close to call. Hoping Garrett or one of the other photographers got a shot of the finish.

Prelim Omnium result: 2nd, behind Ray Guildea (2nd and 3rd). At least that's my guess.


Tactically, I played both races pretty well except for my part in looking around as Judd easily rolled away in the first race. I followed wheels well and several times was headed into the sprint 2nd wheel, with a strong leadout. Given the tactical advantage, I should have had the 2nd race. I just didn't quite spin the pedals fast enough.

Break working together

All in all, I felt good on the bike, with no noticeable fade at the end of the second race (fewer surges meant I actually felt better than in the first). It was the first time trying out my new position on the track bike. When I got fitted by Dario at Whole Athlete the other week, he dropped the saddle a bit on both my road and track bike (I'd been really high), changed up my cleats, and dropped the track bike's bars a couple spacers. It felt both more aero and more comfortable/powerful. Win-win.

More photos on Flickr here.