Swapping wheels after my warm up

Yesterday was the season opener for the Track season here in Portland, OR. Eric Kautzky Memorial race is a fun race this is my 2nd year participating in this race and both times I had a blast. Yesterday was the day of realization for me. Yesterday was the day to see how much I have improved over the winter months, see if all those hours in the saddle would pay off…by the end of the day i would say they did. I played it mellow just staying in the pack and biding my time. Sizing up the others you could say. The first race of the season is usually a little sketchy and at times overly anxious since it is the first time a lot of people have been on the track since last year people have new gear they are dieting to try out and like me want to see how much they have improved.  Our races for the Omnium event included a Scratch race, Points race and an unknown distance. This is how it played out from my saddle.

Getting ready to roll out for our first race.

Event #1 of the day for us was a 12 lap scratch race.  It was cold and overcast and even tho I spent the morning on my rollers I still didn’t feel warm but oh well here we go. We roll out for our neutral lap and and in-between turn 3/4 I get bumped and I knew this was going to be a fun day. Once we got the whistle I sat in the pack for the most part but with it being our first race people were still not comfortable on the track it seemed. The pack was rubber banding a lot which kept forcing me out of my draft spot. After a few times of this happening I decided to move up and sit on the front for a lap or two. Once I pulled off my Teammate Josh took over and sat for a little too long and once he decided to jump and go it made for a good time. Once we started going it was time to start finding position as we were reaching the bell lap. Finally my legs started to wake up and we were in business. However I couldn’t find good positioning and I believe I came in somewhere mid pack.

Resting in-between races with the dog

Rolling out for our points race

For race #2 we had a 20 lap points with sprints every 5. For this I wanted to stay in the top 5 for as much as I could. I took a pull for the first 2 laps and then settled in to find my positioning. as the first bell rang for a points lap I was right where I wanted to be. Coming out of turn 4 I ramped it up and was able to get 3rd in the sprint. Now I am feeling pretty good because this was the first time I have gotten points in a points race. once the field settled back down we got all grouped back together and played it easy until the following sprints. I kept coming up short in the rest of them taking 6th or 7th in the sprints. Then I got myself together and got back into position for the final sprint which is double points. I anded up taking 5th for points in the final sprint. Again, I am extremely happy with how this worked out considering last year I would have gotten dropped on the first sprint! So progress is always winning in my eyes.

Sprinting against Dey Shawn Lee in the points race

For Race #3 we had an unknown distance. This has to be my least favorite race but my favorite at the same time. The fact that no one knows how many laps we will be doing creates a very awesome atmosphere. Everyone is staying at a good speed but every now and then you will get someone who gambles and makes a jump before the bell rings for the last lap. This is what happened and unfortunately I was not on top of my game for this one. At lap 6 someone jumped and the pace picked up so I had to play catch up to regain my position on the lead group. I was able to catch the lead group and come around a few people but ended up finishing around 6th or 7th. It’s hard to say as one thing I need to work on is paying more attention on event finishes during an omnium. Either way it was a great day and very successful first race in my opinion.

Coming out of turn 4 during the unknown distance race. Teammate Josh in the black kit!

All in all I am pleased with how the event turned out for me. I am glad I am able to not feel dead after the first race and finish strong throughout the omnium despite a few tactical errors made on my part but that is part of the learning process. When it was all said and done I took 7th in the over all omnium standings.  I want to say  a big shout out to my busy Ryan Hieb for taking first ad getting his upgrade to cat 3 on the first race of the season! Also a shout out to Cynthia and Josh for racing hard and making the day all the more fun. But biggest shout out to Jose for coming out and snapping all of these photos!

Here are a few more from the day.

Teammate Josh doing his thing

Teammate Cynthia getting ready for one of her races

Photo op after a nice day of racing

All Photos Via Jose Sandoval(Velorazzi) Click link for the rest of his Photo set.