Me, Francine and Christina in Turn 4 Photo: M.FerrenWe had an amazing night for racing at Northbrook Velodrome - weather was perfect, decent size fields and the points race state championship on the line. I knew it was going to be a special night when I pulled up and saw Wayne Simon (Mr. Pink) in the parking lot. In the three years that I've been racing at the track, I've never seen Pink out there and had no idea that he raced on the track at all.
We started with a 12 lap tempo for the women - a race that I and most everyone else - cannot stand. It just hurts - a sprint on every lap for points, 2 for first and 1 for second. Whomever has the most points at the end is the winner. I'd resigned myself to sitting in and just rolling around in anticipation of the upcoming 35 lap points race but when things got slow with 6 to go I went to the front on a sprint and basically dragged everyone around for the remainder of the race. In the end I'd accrued enough points to actually win. Very cool.
In the points race I played it safe - my MO of late has been to go off the front solo and suffer a lot. Not last night - I worked a little and was able to snag all the first place points every 5th lap and won the state title. It was a very gratifying win - track is not a true focus for me this season and I'm just trying to make sure it's fun.
The P1/2 men did their 75 lap points race after us. Representing for PACT/Dishnetwork were Dan, Mike, Ted and Adam. I don't actually know how things ended up - the team rode strong and managed to get in a few different breaks. I was busy just watching them work together to advance or maintain position and protect each other in break situations. They're all smart, experienced racers and did a great job last night. Not to be overlooked was Val Brostrom's effort with the men - she rode strong and looked great the entire race. Way to go, Val!
We started with a 12 lap tempo for the women - a race that I and most everyone else - cannot stand. It just hurts - a sprint on every lap for points, 2 for first and 1 for second. Whomever has the most points at the end is the winner. I'd resigned myself to sitting in and just rolling around in anticipation of the upcoming 35 lap points race but when things got slow with 6 to go I went to the front on a sprint and basically dragged everyone around for the remainder of the race. In the end I'd accrued enough points to actually win. Very cool.
In the points race I played it safe - my MO of late has been to go off the front solo and suffer a lot. Not last night - I worked a little and was able to snag all the first place points every 5th lap and won the state title. It was a very gratifying win - track is not a true focus for me this season and I'm just trying to make sure it's fun.
The P1/2 men did their 75 lap points race after us. Representing for PACT/Dishnetwork were Dan, Mike, Ted and Adam. I don't actually know how things ended up - the team rode strong and managed to get in a few different breaks. I was busy just watching them work together to advance or maintain position and protect each other in break situations. They're all smart, experienced racers and did a great job last night. Not to be overlooked was Val Brostrom's effort with the men - she rode strong and looked great the entire race. Way to go, Val!
My 'Magic' socks - too bad the Cubs have been playing like ass of lateThings finished with a 9 lap scratch race for the women. We were all pretty tired after the points race so we basically pacelined for 8 laps and then I managed to jump early and hold on to take the W. I really wasn't feeling super last night so I was happy to escape with a solid performance - not quite sure how I managed to pull it off. Must've been the socks....thank you :)
