Madisons

Last Monday I raced Madison night at the track. Just 4 teams and the other three were guys. My partner and I got last in every race but had lots of fun. I think each team had at least one cat 2 men's rider so the pace was blistering. Racing on Mondays is really fun though because there are three heats of juniors to watch. I like seeing the kids get stronger. I've seen several juniors get fast and pass me on their way up.

Wednesday I went out and did not race but watched the masters, women 4's and the men's 4's race. It was great to see that the women had a big field out there.

Friday night I went out to the track again and raced the national qualifier. Each race had a certain number of riders that would
qualify for Nationals. This meant our field was stacked with talent and everyone was ready to ride hard. We did a 20 lap scratch. You can usually bet the first half of that race will be easy. Not so, this time. The women were attacking every lap. It was very hard. I got dropped half way and this is the first track race this year I have been dropped at. Later I found that I was in a 83
inch gear. This is like trying to do a crit in the small ring. Not a good idea. I felt better when I figured this out yesterday!

I also raced the madison again on Friday but this time I wore the Wines of Washington jersey because the last two times my partner has worn the Blue Rooster jersey. The Madison is so much fun because you get to rest every other lap (when your
partner is "in") so you can ride much harder. The speeds are at least 5mph faster. It is really fun to be going that fast.

Yesterday I rested and then today I did 15 second intervals on the trainer. I was able to hit 570 watts on each one. The is 70 watts higher than a few weeks ago.