BVC Maydays - Well if they are going to let me do it...

Two races tonight. A 35 Lap Scratch Race and 5x10 Points Race. Not a big B group. Only 16 riders. But faaasssttt...

The first race was a 35 Lap Scratch Race. Pace was high and everyone was antsy with more than one sketchy move observed, luckily no harm no foul.... I was nicely positioned with 4 laps to go, high up near the front... But with three to go the pace picked up and there where too many people pushing into the front. Some riders peeling off the front pushed me up. So I ended up out of the running.

The second race was a 5x10 Points race... More my style. Long enough for me to get going and other people to get tired out ...

Things started at a nice pace, about 43-44kmh.

But then got going for the first sprint... and followed through at a new and improved 47-48 kmh pace... This resulted in a split in the group and unfortunately I was still at the back... I ended up having to bridge back to the front group (about 5-6 riders.) Took me 6 laps, at 47-48kmh. Tough... but kept getting closer with each lap.. And eventually was close enough to make one final kick and get on.

That was about lap 25 or 26. Just followed the group through the next sprint. Catching my breath and getting my heart rate down (hit 185 when bridging...) Then managed to get well positioned going into the second last sprint. With 3 to go, started from the back, went high, and just treated things like I was doing a flying 200... up up up... Then dived over a lapped rider and got an immediate big gap... Just carried that through to the sprint.

The group pushed hard to catch me, so I sat up and let them after the sprint... And then with 3 laps to go.. managed to get into a good position... Near the front this time. With 3 to go, moved up just a bit to the blue, and then jumped with 2 to go... Got a big gap, yadda, yadda, yadda.

This is my signature move... you would think that they wouldn't let me get away with it :-) But 2 for 3 in two races.. Good odds for me.

I figured that 2 firsts would get me about a 3rd, possibly a 2nd depending on how the points where distributed. Amazingly, there was a 3 way tie for points... And that means position is determined by the final sprint... which means I lucked out and got a 1st :-)

No idea what will happen tomorrow. The schedule allowed for B and B+ groups if more than 20 people signed up for B's... But there are only 16 of us. The original schedule called for 3 short races, Win and Out, 24 lap Snoball and Elimination to 25 lap scratch... And a B Madison... But hopefully they will switch the Madison to a long points race and add something with some length. I will be SOL otherwise :-)

Sunday we are doing a 5 event UCI Ominium. Flying 200, 3km Pursuit, Kilo, Scratch and Points. That should be interesting..

I'm still trying to figure out if the new 170mm cranks are working for me... I'm kind of feeling like I'm spinning out on my 51x14... feels too easy... But the bridge and sprints on the points race show that the legs can deliver... But I'm almost thinking that I should go up just a bit... Perhaps not quite to 52x14, but perhaps 48x13 (which is just about half way between 51x14 and 52x14..)