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<p class="MsoNormal">I literally had to dust off my track bike.<span> </span>It was sitting in a closet in my parents’
basement for the past 12 months.<span> </span>I can’t
remember if I even raced at Northbrook last
year.<span> </span>I think I did anyway.
<p class="MsoNormal">The first 3’s race was a miss-n-out.<span> </span>There were 12 starters.<span> </span>I made it through the first few selections.<span> </span>There were about 5 or 6 other guys left when
I tried to move up on the outside, and some guy shouted “no room” or something
to me.<span> </span>And I listened!<span> </span>I’m not afraid of a little bumping, but when
I know I’m not in good shape it’s difficult to justify forcing my way through
the pack.<span> </span>I had nowhere to go in the
sprint, and ended up sixth or seventh or fifth or somewhere around there.
<p class="MsoNormal">The second race was a 50 lap Cat 1-2-3 points race with a
field probably around 30 guys or so.<span> </span>I
started the race off at the front but racing conservatively.<span> </span>Gaps started opening up right away.<span> </span>An Alberto’s rider in front of me let one
open after the first sprint.<span> </span>I thought I
would have to close it, but couldn’t come around him.<span> </span>He impressively closed the gap himself.<span> </span>The accelerations weren’t bad but the pace
stayed consistently high…too high for me to handle.<span> </span>I started losing positions and couldn’t hold
on and got dropped.
<p class="MsoNormal">The final event was a Cat 3 tempo race.<span> </span>I usually do well in these.<span> </span>There are sprints every lap for, in this
case, 15 laps.<span> </span>I stayed near the front
in the beginning, waiting for people do burn themselves out like they always do
on the first few sprints.<span> </span>With 10 to go
a guy in red attacked the field.<span> </span>A strong
XXX guy and I tried to get to him, but I was too weak to contribute and
resorted to just sitting up every time he pulled off.<span> </span>I took the points from the XXX guy once in
the three laps we were together until he dropped me.<span> </span>I was in no man’s land for the rest of the
race, gaining no points since they only go to the top two.<span> </span><p class="MsoNormal">It was good to get out to the velodrome and see some of my
old teammates from years gone by.<span>
</span>Hopefully I’ll keep improving my fitness and will actually be contending
these races soon!
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