Last night was Sprint Mania at the track. Three riders at a time, two lap races, all out fun. They seeded us from flying 200 times with men and women mixed together. My heat was all guys except for me. I was worried that I would not be able to match the guys' jump but it turned out that we were a pretty well matched heat.
The fun of Sprint Mania is not just sprinting yourself but also watching everybody else race and trying to learn from others. I found the best thing to do is to hang out near Bilko. He was a wealth of information and insight. We'd be watching a sprint heat and the riders would be riding slow along the rail and Bilko would start yelling at the top of his lungs "GO NOW! GO NOW! THE DOOR IS OPEN!" Bilko was in favor of going on the attack when you could get the jump on your competition. If you are a well matched heat and you get two bike lengths you have a good chance of holding it. However if someone gets the jump on you, you waste any advantage. Bilko said it was best to be up high on the track or down low but not in the middle. Of course I'm oversimplifying things a bit but I could really see the truth in what he was saying when I watched the heats.
Each group of four did four races but one person sat out each time so everybody got in three sprints. I really wanted to try a "fake" move. As we lined up to race one of the guys said "watch out for her, she's sneaky". We rolled around the first corner and I pretended to go for it but was careful not to get in the sprinter's lane. The guys took the bait and dove for the lane, going hard. I hopped on the wheel but didn't manage to come around before the line. On the final turn though one of the guys came out of his pedals, or that is what I thought happened when I saw him riding one-legged. But actually his whole pedal came off and was stuck to his shoe. I have never seen that happen before! Luckily he was able to control the bike to safety and I gave him lots of room. I decided after that sprint that I had not been totally committed to coming around so one of my goals was to really throw down the hammer from corner three to the finish.
On the second sprint I rode high on the rail. When I felt I had an advantage I went for it. 500 meters all out sprint for the line. I got a good gap but they caught me right before the line. The last time we rode around both of the guys were watching me. This was so backwards of what I expected. I thought they would be the aggressors! I kept them guessing until turn two on the last lap. I dove down and gunned it. It was a close finish and I got second. It was thrilling!
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