August 1-2, 2009, Arizona State Track Championships,
San Diego CA   Masters 55-59   Track

One of my goals of the season was to get into the ABRA (Arizona Bicycle Racing Association) record books. At previous AZ state championships, I had set record times, and although I was an AZ registered rider, I was not a member of an ABRA club, so they did not count. This year I was a member of Strada Racing, which would allow my times to be included and membership turned out to be a very good thing, where I've made several friends, met quite a few very good people, been able to see the enthusiasm of junior development (something that had been sorely lacking in AZ), and picked up some pointers myself. The drive was made more enjoyable by accompanying Strada racers Rick Giordano and Mark Morgan to the race, evening dinners shared by many Strada members, and Strada had set up a tent city of about 8 tents just for the Strada Club in the infield of the track, which provided much conversation, food, technical support, warmup areas, and encouragement.
Tent city for Strada Mike Kolin Warmup circle

Since AZ does not have a velodrome, the closest one in the U.S. is in San Diego. It's a six hour drive and requires a motel stay, so it's a much bigger commitment than a local race. Although AZ has the enthusiasm to host several meets in San Diego during the summer months, I did not have the opportunity to enjoy the previous events, which left me less than optimally prepared for the championships. I had intentionally eased up in early June after the MN track races in hopes of a rebuild by August, but it didn't seem to work as well as I had hoped. The summer heat wave where many days started at 95 and crept up to 115 didn't help training either.

This is my first year in the 55-59 age group. I entered all that I could in that category (4 events) and then also the open categories (another 4 events), where AZ throws everyone together to have enough riders to field a race. Previous attendance in the Masters categories in the championships had seen a low turnout, so I was pleased to see six in ours, plus six in several of the others. Junior participation was greatly increased since I had last attended in 2006, mostly due to the energy of the Strada Racing club and it's leaders Mike and Lisa Kolin.

The racing started at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning, where the first event was a flying 200 meters. Each rider gets a total of two laps and dives down the banking just before half a lap to go to get the time over the last 200 meters. This has not been one of my strongest events and although I posted a 12.8 seconds, it only equaled the current ABRA state record for 55-59, so I did not grab that honor. 12.8 is what I've been doing for years and I need to find a way to improve that. Although I have a "good" sprint, I lack at the top end, which is primarily what this event measures. Still, the next best time in my category was a second slower, so at least a gold medal for me.

Video of the 200 (Lionel at 1:50)
200 m Results

The next item on the agenda was the match sprints. Faster riders have an advantage, but I usually fair well since tactics and my good jump from a slow pace also come into play. This is a two lap event where the winner is the first of usually two riders to cross the line, but most of the fast racing is usually only in the last 200 meters. Since there were only three of us in this event, we did a Round Robin, where we each get to race all the other riders (in this case 2 rides each). In the first ride, I tried to force the other guy into the lead by riding very slowly. With one to go, we were almost at zero miles per hour and he started to creep ahead of me. When his pedals got to the 6 & 12 O'clock position, I jumped with all my might, putting about 4 lengths on him and then I just had to ride hard enough to make sure he didn't catch me, so an easy win. The second ride had me start behind the other rider where I could watch my competitor. He rode at a walking pace at mid-track and I followed behind at the top of the track, ready to dive at any moment. If he were more experienced, he also would have been riding higher. A few false jumps on my part failed to stimulate a jump from him and we were still at walking pace as we crossed the 200m to go line (very late to be going this slowly). He finally got out of the saddle in turn 3, I dove, and within about 3 pedal strokes I was flying by him, then just watching to make sure I had the win at the line. Since I won both of my rides, I took home first place.
Sprint Results

The rest of Saturday had open events, with the points race next. We would have 6 sprints at 5 laps apart with 5, 3, 2, 1 points to be had by the 19 starters. 5 of us would prove to be stronger than the others, forming a breakaway group right after the second sprint. I got lot's of second places (usually missing first by a wheel), but no firsts and was too tired to get points in the final, but managed to place second overall.
Early sprint Sprint by the break away Another sprint in turn 4
Points race Results

We had a keirin as the final mass start event. A motor bike would pace us for four laps, starting at 20 mph and finishing at about 26 mph, then we would have two laps to duke it out. I was able to get into third position behind the bike out of about 10 riders and nobody tried to force me from it. With two to go, the pace just stayed the same, where normally all hell breaks loose. I was on Kip's wheel, who is a strong rider with a good sprint, but just before one lap to go, one of his team mates pulled a half length ahead of me and boxed me in as he conversed with Kip (team tactics are not allowed in a Keirin). With riders directly behind me and being so late in the race, there was not much I could do. As we hit turn 1 on the final lap, riders from behind began surging around. Somebody's bike hit another as a loud clank was heard, but no crash ensued. Finally in turn 2 there was enough of a gap that I could start to accelerate, but most of the pack was now ahead of me and going full blast. I was able to pass a couple of riders, but I was too far behind and too tired from the day's racing to make much of an impact. As I tried to gain some places in the final straight, Rob (eventual 2nd) came from behind and then cut me off with a swerve down the track, causing me to shut it down and finish 5th.
Keirin race Results

Our last event on Saturday was the Team Sprint, where a team of 3 each take one full lap and then peel off and the time is taken on the final rider. Our Strada team formed two teams and I was in with the fastest riders. I would be the final finisher for our team, which included Greg Hemmerlin to lead it out and Rick Giordano to take me into my final lap. Although Greg has a good start, his first 15 meters is not up to par, so when we started, Rick slowed down and then got caught off guard by Greg's acceleration (Rick should have kept his normal acceleration and then slipped in behind Greg when he got up to speed). So we had a bit of yelling to try to slow Greg a bit so that Rick could close the gap and we had less than an optimal start. After Greg completed his excellent lap, Rick took over and I was struggling a bit and not looking forward to hanging on for a full lap, let alone then have to do one solo as well. The day was catching up with me, but there was nothing to do but suffer through it. Rick did not falter and delivered me well at 32 mph and I did my best to keep the speed up for my solo lap, but slowed somewhat during the lap. We didn't hear the results until the next day, but out of several teams, we picked up a silver medal, losing by only 1.1 seconds.
Team Sprint Results

Sunday began with the 500 meter time trial; start time for me at 10:21 a.m. This was one of two events that I planned on establishing a new record for ABRA, not only for my age group, but for anyone. In 2006 I had done a 38.4 second time at this same track and 40.0 was the fastest time in the books for any age group (a Strada junior in 2008). The 55-59 record time was 42.1. Half this race is in having a good start and the other is getting up to a good speed. My start is generally pretty good and fortunately I had practiced it well, as when the official event occurred, my mind just went into automatic and my concentration was all caught up in the excitement of the moment. Everything seemed to click as it should and I broke all records and won the gold, receiving a time of 36.9.

Video of the 500
500 m Results

The 2000 meter time trial was next and I also expected to set a new record. In 2006 I had done a 2:35.5, where the fastest ABRA time was a 2:44.1 and the 55-59 record time was 2:48.9. I had a good start (starting at 12:27 p.m.), but went too hard during the second lap, which put me into debt during the next 4 laps, so my final lap times were much too slow, resulting in a time of only 2:40.1, but good enough for the record books and another gold. If I had been able to practice in July at the track, I'm sure the time would have been better.
Half lap Second lap Mid race Catching half lap rider Final lap
2000 m Results

The afternoon would finish off with a 4000 meter team time trial, where 4 riders do whatever it takes to get the best time on the third rider to cross the line. In an ideal situation, each rider would take a half lap turn, swing up the track, and drop onto the back of his team mates. However, with varying abilities, it's best to use the stronger riders longer and often lose the fourth rider early. Three teams would be competing this afternoon, one of them a Strada Junior team! We had Strada rider Jeff Biever join the 3 of us that had done the Team Sprint the day before, with Greg again leading out with Rick on his wheel; I would follow Jeff in fourth. Rick had a good start this time and Greg was doing a great job in the first half lap, as I had instructed him to do. Unfortunately Jeff, who had recently completed a solo 4000 meter ride (and won gold to boot), was not fresh enough to hold on and a gap of more than a length developed after turn 1. I was yelling to Greg to slow, but it's difficult to hear with our aerodynamic helmets that cover the ears. I debated about surging past Jeff and filling in the gap, which might also allow me to pull him up, but I didn't want to scare him (he had crashed in the points race and was a little skitterish). However he was able to not let it get too bad and eventually closed it up, but with some extra effort.

I had emphasized to Greg about having a very strong first half lap, but unfortunately did not coach him well enough in the second half lap that he would do at the front. Ideally at that point, we should settle in, just maintaining the speed developed up to turn 3 and preparing for that onrush of pain that happens when the anaerobic reserves are used up. But Greg kept accelerating ((A) in graph below), getting us up to over 32 mph before pulling off after his one lap start. Although this would be fine for me, I didn't think the others would be able to sustain this effort and the pace eased with the next two pulls. When my first turn came (B), I had intended to do a full lap (on every pull) and I tried to gently pick the speed up as well. But this did not pan out well, as when I pulled off, poor Greg was suffering. The pace slowed even more on the next two half laps, so I tried again to pick up the pace during my next pull (C), but this caused Greg to throw a rod and all kinds of panic happened behind me. Without direct visual contact and poor audio comprehension, I could not know what was going on. I swung up the track just to get an observation of the situation (D) and let Rick and Jeff come through as we left Greg behind. So thinking that we can now get down to business, my next turn has us only doing about 25 mph and I try to get it back to 28 mph (E), when I hear yelling from Rick that we've now dropped Jeff. I slow back down and pick up the speed only marginally before letting Rick and Jeff come through again. With 3.4 laps to go it's my turn again (F) and I decide to take the lead to the finish. We're back to 28 mph now and I slowly pick it up by 1 mph each lap, just hoping I don't hear of more trouble behind me. We finish strongly and then would have to wait for the final team to ride their race to see where we stood. That team did not suffer any of the disorganization we did and they didn't look fast, but ended up beating us by a mere second!
Start Jeff's first turn After my first turn
Another turn for Rick, Jeff following Two laps to go Coming into the finish



Video of the TTT
4000 m Results

Out of the eight races I participated in, I won 4 gold and 3 silver, plus set 2 records, both for my age group and better than any category to boot. Strada members brought home 33 gold medals. It was great to see so many junior riders and some were posting some impressive times. I'm sure we might be seeing some national champions out of this effort in the future and would have no doubts at all if we only had a track in Arizona.

Racing page     Bike page