Get Ready for Summer #3 5/15/2010

Category: C
Field Size: 6
Events: Keirin, Scratch, Miss and Out, Points
Places: 1st, 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st (Omnium)

I decided that it was time to get out to the track again for the last Get Ready for Summer race. I got a ride down to the track from Josh Schwartz, since Jose had to take his mother to the airport for her return to NYC. This week the C category was very small, but it felt much safer than the first GRFS race with that awful crash in the Miss and Out. There weren't enough of us for a tournament Keirin, so we did a round robin instead (all 6 of us raced twice and our points were based on both races). That was a lot of fun, and I got 2nd and 1st in the two rounds.

The scratch race was very short, I think only 15 laps, so I decided early on to just attack. For some reason I really felt like time trialing, so I went and just kept going. There was one guy on my wheel, but I just kept going and kind of hoped I could lose him by keeping the pace pretty high. He stuck with me as we lapped the "field" (the remaining 4 weren't together anymore, so it was kind of sparse), then he edged me out in the sprint. I didn't really mind though because I was having so much fun anyway.

The Miss and Out was very short because there were so few of us, and I was actually unsure of when the race finished, because I went off the front again with the same guy on my wheel and I think another one and I couldn't keep track of when the people behind us got pulled. I think they did ring the bell for us, and I won the sprint that time.

The points race was fun, though it was similar to the other races because the field size was so small and there was a disparity in strengths. I think I won the first 2 out of 3 sprints, and I think I let the other guy take the last one because by then I'd won anyway.

It was a really fun day at the track, and even though my field was really small it was kind of nice to get out there and try some different things. I also applied for my Fast Track upgrade, since as a Cat 2 on the road I'm allowed to upgrade to 3 on the track as long as I pass a written quiz and demonstrate a safe riding style at a race, which I did. So the next time I race on the track, I'll likely be a Cat 3 and race with the B's instead of the C's.