Another bike race, another lesson.

NSW Points Race and Omnium Titles

Again, it was back down the highway, and again it was familiar faces on the start line- Ash, Liz and Megan. To boost numbers in the points race, we had the under 19s in with us as well, and whilst it is good to have the numbers, it is difficult to know where you actually in the sprint at times.

The points race itself was pretty fast and pretty tough. It was hot in Sydney and at the end of the race had kind of wished I had put a 93 on. My race plan was simple, contest everything and watch the moves of Liz, Megan and Ash. It became clear early that I was going to have my work cut out getting over the line in front of these three. About 30 laps in, Megan, Ash and Liz made a move off the front. And whilst I saw it unfolding I had a bit of a chase to get to them as I was caught a back a little after the sprint. Chase I did and then the 4 of us (together with an U19, I think) worked well together to take a lap. In doing that the main field shrunk considerably. From then on I didn’t let those three get too far away from me at all. The rest of the race was fairly routine with the 4 of us sharing the points for the rest of the sprints- well me in 3^rd or 4^th each time, but given how much time trial work I have been doing and how little change of pace I have at the moment, that was OK.

The final wash up: Gold- Megan; Silver- Ash; Bronze- Liz; 4^th- me.

Sunday was the omnium. Again, not something that I have done a lot of work for and as I realize now, possibly something that I am not really that well suited to. Flying 200 was up first, and whilst it was my fastest ever flying 200 (I have only done 3!), it was not that competitive and I was in 5^th. The scratch race was possibly one of my poorest ever. Note to self- the way to win a race is to ride it how you want it raced rather than letting the bunch, in particular the sprinters, get their way!

The 2000m IP was a bit of a revenge race for me. I caught the sprinter that I was chasing and I posted a PB for this distance so I was happy. The points race eventually got under way after a lunch break (!) and qualifying rounds of the team sprint!! Much like the scratch race I wasn’t on the ball and rode a disappointing race. The 500m TT came around after another major break which included at U17 madison and more team sprints! This is possibly my worst track event and I wasn’t going to make up any ground now.

All in all a disappointing day, but I only have myself to blame. On the upside, my IP was good and I know what went wrong today and can go away and fix it!

Thanks for reading!