Sunday Team Track workouts

I went out to the track this morning but the rain canceled our practice. I had a workout from my friend, who has been giving us track workouts. He came out last Sunday and ran the workout. It was great to have an experienced racer helping us with our sprints. He gave us a workout again today but I ended up having to do it at home after the rain canceled. I rode so hard on my computrainer that the leveling foot came off during a sprint.

Friday Night Racing

Friday night was hard for me. I tried some attacks but they were not well timed and mostly wasted effort. I also didn't pick the best wheels to stay on. It was fun riding and a great workout trying to keep up with the faster women.

Some of the women also did the cat 3 mens race. Annette and Jen got off in a break in one of their races and stayed away to win. The crowd was so excited! And Tela won her heat in the Keirin against the men. So I felt better about getting beat as well.

I raced with my deep dish wheels which are pretty twitchy in the wind. I really need to get better at riding them though. At one point I scared one of the other women as I suddenly jumped a bit to my left - right beside her.

There were a few raindrops but it stayed dry enough to finish the night of racing.

Finally Dry at Marymoor!

It was finally dry so we got to race Friday night.

I raced the Keirin race which is a race where they have a motorcycle
pace everybody up to 30 miles/hour and then the motor pulls off to the
side and you race for a 1-1/2 laps. Part of my trouble with this race
has been getting into line on the motor. The closer you are to the
motor the better. I'm am usually not aggressive enough to get a good
spot but this time I got my wheel and stayed there. I got a close 4th
which was not good enough for the final but I still felt good about the effort.

The next race was an elimination where the last rider gets pulled each
lap until you have a winner. I usually try to ride this race from the
front but the problem is I wear out too fast. This time I rode from
the front but I also made an effort to control the tempo and work in
some rest. It seemed to help - I made it to the last 4 riders which
is good for me.

The next race was a scratch race - more like road racing where the
first person across the line wins. I got 5th I think in that one.

Last was the points race with 6 intermediate sprints for points. I
had a mechanical in the race and had to pull out. My bike was making
a loud noise so I pulled over to the ref and he figured out that my
lock ring which holds the gear on had worked loose. He tightened it
but that did not qualify for a free lap but I went back into the race
two laps down. I felt pretty good so I pulled the other ladies around
to set them up for the sprints. That made the race safer and was
still fun for me too since I got a workout out of it.

On tuesday I did 3 minute efforts again - about 260 watts this time. I only got in three intervals before my legs were dead. They were shaky when I got off of the trainer!

Rain, team-in-training problems

It rained again on Friday, canceling racing at the track.

Saturday it was sunny so I decided to do a track practice instead of going to the crits. I showed up at the velodrome early and was riding by myself when a group from team-in-training showed up on road bikes - about 20 of them. They got on the velodrome while I was riding on my track bike and almost caused me to crash. They told me that they had "a class" so I thought they had arranged to be there. Road bikes are supposed to give way to track bikes but they took advantage of the fact that I was there by myself. I was very mad. It was unsafe and I was out numbered. I asked them to stay high and yield since I didn't have brakes but they did not.

I found out later that they were not supposed to be there at all and this is not the first time they have caused problems.

I ended up doing my workout a few hours later and got in some good sprints and standing starts.

Next time I'm going to make sure I get someone to go out there with me if I go early.

Fremont Crit

Last week the Blue Rooster/Sports Medicine Clinic sponsored the Fremont Criterium. We were very happy to be able to help make that race a success this year. Our team sponsors, Dr. Chris, from the Sports Medicine Clinic and Kevin, president of Blue Rooster contributed the money for the prize list. The Sports Medicine Clinic brought their mobile trailer to help with first aid at the race. It was a great resource for the racers.

I helped out with registration and setting up and taking down the course. It was a long day but very fun. I had a good time watching all of the races. Fremont is close enough that I can ride my bike there too.

The early races were dry but by the end of the day they were getting pretty wet. This was the lineup for the 1-2-pro race. Their race was really fast - not too many riders by the end. Some strong Canadian and Oregon riders were in the field but it was won by Ian, one of the racers from the track.

3 minute intervals

I did some 3-minute intervals on Tuesday and was able to hold about 250 watts average. They were very hard. I took pleanty of rest inbetween.