Intro Classes
* Roadie Intro Track Class: On two Sunday afternoons in May (13th and 20th, 4pm - 7pm), the track will host an introductory class for road racers. It's a blast - if you think you might be interested, please come out and give it a try.
* Women's Intro Track Class: We had a great group of women racing at the track in 2011, and I think 2012 will be even better. There is a Women's Introductory Track Class<http://www.nscsports.org/sports/cycling/ride/intro_class.htm> running on Wednesday evenings in May (May 9, 16, 23, 30). Would love to see some more GP women out at the track!
* General Intro Classes: Anyone is welcome to join another of the introductory classes<http://www.nscsports.org/sports/cycling/ride/intro_class.htm> that run in the summer. There is a new introductory class each month from May through September. The Beginning Racing Program also spends one night at the track (June 1st) to give everyone a chance to ride.
Racing in 2012
* Thursday Night Lights: Racing is every Thursday night from May 24th through early September, 7pm<http://www.nscsports.org/sports/cycling/events/thurs_lights.htm>. You can eat dinner there (usual summer fare - hot dogs, pizza, drinks, etc.). Bring the family or friends - it's a great time. Or, of course, come out and race after you've got an intro to the track under your belt.
* The Fixed Gear Classic: As part of the Nature Valley Grand Prix<http://www.naturevalley.com/partners.aspx?SelectedPartnerId=20>, the NSC Velodrome plays host to professional and top amateur track racers on June 10-12th. This is the best track racing of the year - no offense to local riders, but we've consistently had top national riders at the FGC, and the occasional European star. If you want to see some track racing this summer, make a point of coming up on the evening of June 10th (Friday) or the 11th or 12th during the day.
* Location: The NSC Velodrome is in Blaine - which may sound far away, but I'll tell you that I only drive there once or twice a year; otherwise I ride round-trip, as do many other trackies. So - it's not that far. It's a good warm-up. Here are driving directions from GP to the track<http://g.co/maps/dn3x6>.
* The Blog: Finally, here's the Track blog<http://www.spbrc.org/track-journal/> - I'll try to keep it updated this year again with pictures and some race reports.
See you out on the road - and hopefully up at the track!
dgc
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There are always more splinters than you think. Probably about 20 this time, and two that will be in there for at least a few weeks. But I've got until next May to get that all sorted out . . .
Dan Currell Executive Director Corporate Executive Board 571 303 6946
]]>So - splinters. Abbey Ruess went down in the womens' Keirin, fortunately not at top speed, and she was able to get up and keep racing. But she's got some good grass stains to show for it, and it would be a surprise if she didn't have at least a few splinters from the track. As for me, I went down hard in the Madison - more on that later.
Overall, a great night of racing to end the season from my perspective. I'm terrible at point-a-lap races, but managed third place in the opening point-a-lap. Then in the miss-and-out, I made it down to three riders, and the other two had a moment of looking at each other, gauging who would take the lead. We were high on the track, so I dove down underneath them both, got a gap, and as it turned out, that was that - I won. I personally think that if Andy Kruse had chased he would have caught me - I was pretty cooked - but apparently from where he sat the gap looked too big, so he sat up and took second.
So those first two races put me in pretty good stead overall on the omnium (the points system to determine who "wins" the night's racing overall) going into the Madison. Chris Mehus (also Bianchi-GP) and I have ridden one Madison together, and it went well, but we felt like we could do better. Tonight, we did - we very nearly won, but ultimately got second place. It was a good race, very close between us and a team from Speedfix Racing (Derek Virta and Rich Bergstrom). We were tied on points going into the last sprint, so the finish order there would determine who won; with six laps to go, I threw Chris into the race and told him to take a relatively long pull (which means in practice that I would ride faster on relief to extend his time in the race), then I would take the final sprint. This was a mistake - it was too far from the finish to do that, as it led to Chris staying in a tad too long, but me coming into the race with almost four full laps to go. You can't sprint for four laps. But that's what we were stuck with, and there was no coming around Rich Bergstrom at the end: he and Derek had timed their final exchange perfectly to give them fresh legs at just the right time. Live and learn.
But - as for splinters, with around 20 laps to go, I threw Chris into the race pretty hard, and I got squirrely - during the throw, I basically took my own front wheel out somehow with Chris's pedal or rear wheel. I went into the track hard - more of a direct impact (we were in the steep part of the corner) than sliding along the track, and it tore the front tire off my wheel. Since I had just thrown Chris in, it was the perfect time to crash, and I was fine - so a good Samaritan gave me his front wheel on the infield there, some others came over with tools to switch the wheel out, and I went up to the rail and got back in on relief. Chris probably rode a slightly longer time in the race than normal, but there wasn't too much attacking during that time, and he did a great job of holding our track position. Once we got riding again, we were on terms with everyone else, and, at that point, either still in the lead or tied for first.
So now it's time to clean up the open wounds and get the splinters covered with Neosporin. I'm not a fan of trying to dig them out right away; they pop out just fine about 36 hours after the crash if you cover them correctly with Neosporin. So - splinter removal, and celebrating an omnium win. The perfect, perfect end to a track season. Time to start thinking about the Birkebeiner.
dgc
Dan Currell Executive Director Corporate Executive Board - 1919 North Lynn Street - Arlington, VA - 22209 www.executiveboard.com<http://www.executiveboard.com>
Direct: 571-303-6946
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Officials play a bigger role in track racing than on the road - close proximity to riders all night long, lots of races, and lots of decisions to make about points, laps and rules.
Dgc
Dan Currell Executive Director Corporate Executive Board 571 303 6946
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Dan Currell Executive Director Corporate Executive Board 571 303 6946
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Dan Currell Executive Director Corporate Executive Board 571 303 6946
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Charlie, VICTOR of the Cat 3 point-a-lap. His fan club travels with him.
Dgc
Dan Currell Executive Director Corporate Executive Board 571 303 6946
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An amazing night for track racing tonight. We've been blessed with an unbroken run of great weather this summer, and it doesn't get better than tonight.
Keirin coming up, and State Points Race.
Dgc
Dan Currell Executive Director Corporate Executive Board 571 303 6946
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Dan Currell Executive Director Corporate Executive Board 571 303 6946
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1. Linsey Hamilton - Synergy 2. Terra James - Sweet n Salty 3. Melissa Dahlmann - Omnium
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Dan Currell Executive Director Corporate Executive Board 571 303 6946
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