2011 Masters Track Nationals: 50+ Report

Why not race everything?!?

Joltin' Joe here with the 50+ report from Track Nationals. My apologies for the lack of interim reports, but I was busy doing every race I could find. Unless I lost track somewhere, I believe I ended up with a total of 10 starts:

Tuesday, 7/26- 500m TT: 10th;
Wednesday, 7/27- 2km TT: 6th (missed a medal by 0.2 seconds; didn't sleep much that night); Team Sprint (w/ Jet and Dave Meitel): 7th;
Thursday, 7/28- Points Race: 5th;
Friday, 7/29- Flying 200m: qualified 5th; Eighth Finals Sprint: won; Quarter Finals Sprint: lost; 4 up 5-8 Sprint Final: 6th;
Saturday, 7/30- Scratch Race: 4th;
Sunday, 7/31- 40+ Team Pursuit (w/ Jet, Rob, and honorary Vic Pat Laraby from Hammer): 4th

When I finally stopped moving, I had 3 medals, finished 4th in the Best All-around Rider Competition, Vic's Espresso/Peerless was a close 2nd in the Best All-around Team Standings, and I had tons of great memories of watching fine performances from all my teammates, including copious National Championship-winning rides. What a week!

Penn. Roads

The 60+ men took a day off the track and did a nice 90min ride through the country roads around Trexlertown, PA. To our good fortune the bike routes are well signed - we would have been lost for certain without them. Back to more serious race preparation tomorrow.

More photos from T-town

Second edition of photos from Paul. The warm up tent, Alex - the best mechanic is the world, Lars 2K podium.

2K Stars and Bars

The track equivalent of the "race of truth" is the individual pursuit - a rider against the clock. 2 and 3 km distance is the standard for masters cyclists - 50+ age competes at the 2km distance and the young boys ride longer. Lars cut the thick Pennsylvania air first posting a 2:38 that was at least 4 seconds faster than the next competitor - another gold medal and jersey - he needs to stop the collection soon, or his baggage will be overweight.

Steve was seeded in the 60+ second heat and had no knowledge how fast the best guys could go - so, what does one do? Go all in. The time was good at 2:30. Then the waiting game began as another 16 riders did their best. In the end, the time stood out as outstanding, 5 seconds faster than the next best man. Both Paul and Barry did fine rides finishing 6th and 5th, respectively.

MOST IMPORTANTLY throughout the day Neal was in pit with all the riders. Giving confidence talks, taking lap times, and riding his own race. Neal's father Jack was also on site and everyone had chance to meet a great guy. The point is, Vic's is a team that operates a notch above all others.

Races of hair; Bosch nipped at the line, Twitch sneaks into 4th

The 5km 65+ mens scratch race came down to a last lap gallop. Lars held his spot a little to long before surging for the line - nipped by inch - see photo. Twitch on the other hand maneuvered his way through traffic and squeaked out a fine 4th place, also in the photo. This team is picking up the bling.

New Jewelry for Rob, Twitch, and Lars

Under hot sunny condition in T-town all the Vic's short Time Trial men started well. Rob survived a frantic wheel change just prior to posting a 1:11 kilo - good for 3rd place. Twitch showed up with a bike about .5 Kg under-weight, so Alex, our USAC mechanic loaded on heavier wheels and handle bar extension. Without fanfare Twitch slotted in with the 5th best time (39.n seconds). Lars had no panics - of course, the equipment had all perfect weight and measurements. Following an excellent start he posted a 38.3 sec 500m. That was .3 seconds faster than the next challenger. The 500m podium for this age group was 4 Colorado guys and one outsider - strong competition, verdad?

Vic's Espresso/Peerless Tire Track Omnium: Group A

Big Fun in First Year Event

In the first edition of what will hopefully be an annual event, Rob Kelly (Event Promoter!), Joe Paulson, and Steve Worley represented the Vic's track squad in the Group A events at the Colorado Springs Velodrome on Saturday, July 9th. The relatively calm and warm day provided good racing conditions for the three omnium events: Flying 200m Time Trial, 35 lap Points Race, and 3k Individual Pursuit.

In the flying 200, Rob set the standard for the Blue Boys with a blazing 11.49 sec time, good for 3rd in the kick-off event. Joe set a new PR with a 11.70 second effort, to take 5th, and Steve finished 9th with a time of 12.75 sec.

The points race was very animated and fun, with Rob going for long efforts, Joe trying to follow the sprinters, and Steve providing great teamwork support. When the smoke (and lactic acid) cleared, Joe finished 2nd, Rob was 3rd, and Steve was 8th.

In the final event, the 3k pursuit, Rob and Joe were paired together, which could have made for a fun dual of the Blues. Unfortunately, Rob's pursuit bars slipped under the pressure of the start, forcing Rob to ride in an awkward position, and he finished 5th in the event. Joe's ride of 3:48:80 placed him 3rd.

Steve skipped the Individual Pursuit in order to join his 60+ teammates in their awesome display of power and precision, riding a 3k Team Pursuit in a new National Record time of 3:43!

When the omnium points were tallied, Joe took the Group A silver medal for 2nd place, with Rob right behind in 3rd to earn the bronze. A great time was had by all, and special thanks go out to Rob for creating and promoting this great event, and congratulations to the 60+ squad of Lars, Barry, Paul and Steve on their great team effort!

Candelas Circuit Race

This is a bit of a delayed post, but I wanted to share some Vic’s/Peerless successes at a fun, well-done race at Candelas Parkway. Along with our 55+ guys awesome 1-2 finish, we took 1^st in the 35+ race. The roads were wide and smooth, and the course was a guaranteed great workout – non-technical, 8.5 laps for us with just over 4000’ of climbing total and just over 30 miles. The terms “flat” and “cool” did not exist that day. With temps reaching the low-90s, one brief stretch of sprinklers along the climb watering about as much road as grass became the greatly preferred side for the pack each lap. The 35+ race started modestly, save for one intrepid soul attacking from the gun. After a few laps of tentative racing with brief attacks covered by all, I felt I wasn’t meeting the “spirit” of Neal’s intense training plans for my July, so, after a leg-opening pull one climb and a sharp attack the next, I found myself with no takers, save for Byron Nix, the recently crowned 35+ state champion. We drove hard and quickly caught and dropped the rider who attacked at the start. After building up a solid lead over a shattered pack after several laps, we came into the last lap as the wind picked up fiercely and the skies darkened. I attacked about ½ mile out on a steep portion of the climb, forgetting how much ½ mile of all-out climbing hurts! and having probably 40 lbs advantage (that’s on the high side, mind you... have to keep positive!) given the wind, drove to a solid win for the day. A fun race, cool course and hopefully we’ll have this excellent circuit race to look forward to in the future!

Fast Pursuit Time

The 2011 60+ track team pursuit squad (Lars, Barry, Paul, Steve) set and documented

a new U.S. National Record Saturday 9 July. The record was set at the Colorado Springs

Velodrome under good weather condition, although everyone had tortured their legs a

bit with a flying 200 meter and points race before the record setting ride. 17 seconds

was dropped off the record set by the 2010 Vic's team at the National Championship in

Frisco, Texas. The new record is 3:43 for a 3K. The team is looking forward to another

attempt next weekend and the National Championship in Trexler Town, 31 July.