Goals

• Place in the points race.
• Win the Scratch race.
• Do better in the Miss & Out.
• Improve in Omnium.

Perhaps a slightly softer B field than I’ve raced against yet, but still some good competition. I planned to race this week very conservatively since working too hard has worked against me in weeks past. I knew to keep my eye on the SBCU/Specialized guys (Wyatt, Rob, Sam), a fairly fast ICCC master, and Sean and Dan of Stanley Morgan.

Points (5×3)

Learning from previous weeks, I planned to pick up easy points in the first sprint, sit the second sprint out, take what I could in the 3rd sprint and win the 4th sprint. The race began at a fairly good clip with a little bit of a chase after Sean who took an immediate flyer. Dan started blocking for Sean, which helped keep him away for that sprint. I gave chase, but too late, didn’t quite catch him at the sprint but still picked up a couple of points. Sat in the second sprint. Got in position for the third sprint and covered an attack at turn 2. Spun out before I could come around, picked up 3 more points. At this point I figured anything better than 1 more point would put me in the top 3. Gave it my all in the last sprint passing one rider in the sprint, but didn’t pass Dan early enough for 4th to pick up that last point. Ended up 7th in a 3 way tie for 5th.

Scratch (12 laps)

I always work way too hard in this race, so I resolved to stay top 5 the whole race, but always pull off with the leader and sit right back in. I knew I could do well in a late attack with a handful of riders. This ended up being an unusual race, the whole pack sat up at the rail for the first few laps reluctant to make any attacks. I attacked at 9 to go and Wyatt (SBCU) countered, with the pace set I played out my plan of sitting in the first few and always pulling off with the leaders to avoid any wind. I waited for either Sean or a SBCU guy to take off in turn 2, and it came, I hopped on and pulled in for 2nd. Again, I spun out before I could jump to pass.

Miss & Out (13 riders)

Haven’t had much luck in the Bs Miss & Out so far, due to three factors: field size, pace, and strategy. So far both field size and pace have been high, and my strategy has been low. I raced this one fairly well. I mostly played the devil after it thinned down a bit, I marked my riders and edged them out either by boxing them in at the stairs or the rail and moving where they moved. I must have seemed like a huge pain in the ass. Found myself with the final five, but didn’t have the legs and ended up 5th.

Overall Lessons

• I thought I was racing smart before, but I burned my matches much more conservatively this time while still racing fairly aggressively.
• 86” isn’t cutting it anymore. Guys are getting faster and I can only add so many RPMs, time to gear up.

Accomlishments

• Place in the points race: almost, I was competitive but tying blew it, very close to a tie for 3rd though.
• Win the Scratch race: 2nd, not a very close 2nd but much better than last time.
• Do better in the Miss & Out: check.
• Improve in Omnium: check, earned 1 upgrade point, only 14 to go!