June 19, 2010, LAVRA Cup 55+
Carson CA   Omnium

The season has not gone to schedule very well this year. The accident in March certainly put a dent in racing and training. Noel and I are now going to be relocating to Canada in July and that will probably end the rest of the racing season for me.

I had hoped to attend at least 5 of the 6 LAVRA cup races at the Los Angeles Velodrome this year, but that became an impossibility. I had missed the one at the end of April since it was the day before the AZ state criterium championships and that was a higher priority, although my fitness level for that event was questionable and the ensuing crash was a letdown. This one in June was in jeopardy as Rick, who I had been traveling with to the other LAVRA events, was unable to attend. I'm not very good at safely driving long distances by myself, so that was not an option. However I was fortunate to hook up with another AZ rider at the last San Diego track meet for AZ riders, Keith Brodhagen, and we traveled together to the meet with the intent to do a Criterium the following Sunday morning just a few miles away.

This would be Keith's first visit to the LA velodrome, which meant that he'd need to attend the certification class at 2 pm prior to the racing a 3 pm. I met him at his place in Glendale (an hours drive for me) at 6:15 am and we arrived with just the right amount of time to get our gear together.

The attendance for the races was low. In fact, there was only one other entry in the 55+ class, so they combined our competition with the 45+ racers, although we would be scored separately and given prizes separately. Still, there were only 8 of us on the line.

Our first race was a 20 lap scratch race (first over the line at 20 laps wins). We settled in at a reasonable pace, taking turns at the front and no serious attacks. Just short of half way through the race, Keith felt like the pace was not aggressive enough and gave it a bit of a surge at the front and created a bit of a gap. He looked back and nobody was worried about it (nobody knew his capabilities) and I was third in the group behind. He built up his gap a bit more and the lead riders took weak pulls of only a quarter lap in length. When it came to be my turn, I intentionally slowed the pace just a hair and took a full half lap, letting Keith get a bit farther ahead. After pulling off, I got back into fourth position and with everyone else doing very short turns at the front, I was soon back at the lead of the group. I slowed the pace a bit more, taking a long pull and Keith got a half lap lead. By the time the stronger riders in the group got serious (really just 2 of them, John Walsh and Mark Neumann), Keith was way ahead. I jumped behind the 2 attacking riders and again when my turn came to the front of our trio, I slowed up the pace and even faked having poor form as if I was struggling to work hard and falling all over the bike. This worked for a couple of pulls and Keith handily won his first race at the LA track. At one lap to go I was in third in our little group. I passed the second rider at the end of the back stretch and was still one and a half lengths off the lead rider hitting the home stretch, but I was able to nip him at the line for second. Keith was pretty happy after the race and we congratulated each other on our successful team work and the fact that the other riders didn't realize our relationship and were caught unawares.

Our next event was a 20 lap Tempo race (a point each lap, with 3,2,1 points on the final lap) and Keith was starting to feel the effects of his 75 mile training ride the day before. I had given him some advice on the best tactics for this event, but he was not optimistic. The pace started off fast as expected with the sprints being spread out to different riders. Then after about 4 laps there was a bit of a lull and at turn 2 I gave an attack and developed enough of a lead to take the next 5 laps worth of points. I was then caught by a lone rider who went on to take the remaining laps. Keith found a second wind, lapped me with one to go, and finished second to scoop up 2 points. Since my points did not interfere with the 45+ results, Keith obtained a second place finish for the event; not bad.

Our final event was a 40 lap points race, sprints every 10 laps for 5,3,2,1 points. We were all racing as if we were in the same race, but as I'd discover when the results were posted, my efforts were excluded from the point accumulations of the 45+ riders. But I don't think any of us in the event really knew that and so I was not just completely ignored. Rick Giordano, who had raced against these guys in previous months, had commented to me how these 2 top riders tried to play psychological games with him by being quite vocal. Apparently my abilities were enough of a threat to them that they started coming at me with all kinds of verbal distractions, which might be effective on a novice rider, but were merely amusing to me. Mark Neumann kept complaining to me after each pull that I had to take a harder pull or I was creating a safety hazard behind me. Geez, I was doing the same speed as everyone else; he just wanted me to wear myself out. Then he'd start yelling that something was wrong with my bike. Yes, my bottom bracket lock rings were creaking each time I got out of the saddle, but it was just noise. Repeatedly he'd shout that something was wrong with my bike and I was just happy that it was creating a distraction for him. However, this behavior did have some effect as when we came to one lap to go for the first sprint, I thought I'd shut him up a bit with some real racing. So as we entered the front stetch at about 300 meter to go and with John and Mark right on my wheel, I gave a good jump and put the hammer down, keeping the lead all the way to the line. That shut him up for a few laps anyway.

Tactically it was not a wise thing to do, as it wore me out a bit and I only managed mostly thirds in the remaining sprints, but at least ahead of Mark each time. But this could potentially be my last race on this beautiful track and I wanted to give it what I could. If I was in the 45+ race, I would have had enough points for second. Keith did well enough to get the official second place and this gave him second overall in the 45+ omnium of the three events. So we were both quite please to walk away with some prize money, his second and my first in the 55+ event.

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