Hillary at the Track

School�s out for summer! After an exhausting last week of school I got myself to the track on Friday night. I was excited to do a couple of new events- there were olympic sprint and keirin national qualifiers. Unfortunately, only one other woman showed up to race so we just ended up racing with the cat 3 men.

The first race was a 10-lap scratch race. The group didn�t feel as fast as it did last Friday, and even with my small gear (84) I was able to stay with the pack, finishing in 7th place.

The next race was a 6 laps to win and out, where after 6 laps the first person to cross the line wins, then the next lap the first to cross the line is second, then the final lap places 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Much to my surprise I hung in for 5th place (thanks to my buddy Keith who pulled me around for a few laps).

The miss and out was the next event. I am not too fond of this ultra-sketchy race- the sprints tend to happen in the back of the pack, since for that race, after a certain amount of laps, the LAST person to cross the line is out. I hung out at the back of the pack for that one, expecting to get out immediately but much to my surprise I stayed in for 4 or 5 laps. It wasn�t until I made a tactical error by riding at the bottom of the track and getting boxed in that I finally got out. I was pretty happy about staying in for as long as I did, and I was later told by one of the officials that when I did get out it was just by a hair.

Our final race of the evening was the points race. We did 15 laps with sprints every 5. I hung with the group for a few laps but quickly found myself getting dropped. Fortunately, I wasn�t the only one, and I settled in with 2 others chasing the pack. We made very little progress toward catching them but we did manage to not get lapped. Later, I was surprised to find out that I ended up seventh in the omnium for the evening, not too shabby considering that it was only my second time racing with the �big boys�.

On Saturday I had planned to go on a ride with a group of friends but when those plans fell through (I was told by a certain someone that we were mountain bike riding when indeed it was a road ride- didn�t find that out �till 8:30 in the morning when we were planning to meet at 9, Thanks, Duncan), I decided to go to track and do a pursuit (again, nationals qualifier). I was exhausted from being at the track until 10:30 the night before but it felt good to get out on my bike with friends and ride around in circles (at least there were no hills, and from what I heard the ride I missed was FULL of them). I did my warm-up, then began the long wait until my ride (again I was the only woman to show up). The boys went first- the kilo then the 4k pursuit. It all looked painful. Then I was up and by that time I had an idea of what to expect. Gio took lap times for me so that I could get a better idea of how fast to go (9 laps may not seem like much but when you�re out there all alone it can feel like an eternity!) I had a good start and stayed pretty consistent throughout the ride, and my last two laps were faster than the previous. My overall time was pretty sloooow, but it was a good experience. And guess what? I won! (That�s what happens when you�re the only girl that shows up!)

Now I am qualified for all of the events at nationals, which, of course, are happening while I am in Italy. Speaking of which, I am leaving on Wednesday and I REALLY need to get packing!

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004