Before the Start of the 250 Meter Time Trial

Out of the Gate in the 250 Meters

Keirin Repechage Finish . . . My Final Ride

Flying 200 Time Trial

Riding the Kilometer

Hitting the Line in the 250

Riding the Kilometer

So What?

Nationals is, in effect, Olympic Trials for the track cycling community. So you could say that, at the end of the day, the upshot of Elite Nationals--or at least one of the main outcomes--is embodied in the press release below.

***************************************************************
Six more athletes added to 2008 USA Cycling Track Talent Pool

Colorado Springs, Colo. (October 18, 2007)—Following this month’s USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships, six additional athletes have qualified for the 2008 USA Cycling Track Talent Pool – the group of athletes eligible to represent the United States at major international competitions throughout the 2007-08 season, including the Olympic Games in Beijing next summer.

In winning an elite national title in the men’s individual pursuit as a junior in his first-ever track race, 17-year-old Taylor Phinney (Boulder, Colo./TIAA-CREF) met the automatic time standard of 4 minutes, 37.01 seconds with a time of 4:35.55 in his qualifying round.

Another newcomer to the discipline of track cycling, Dotsie Bausch (Irvine, Calif./Colavita-Sutter Home-Cooking Light) qualified for the Talent Pool in just her third-career competitive track race. Bausch won a national title in the women’s individual pursuit, clocking a time of 3:44.35 in her qualifying round to eclipse the automatic time standard of 3:49.12.

Joining Phinney in the men’s endurance discipline of the Talent Pool is Bobby Lea (Mertztown, Pa./Toyota-United). Lea gained entry as part of the winning madison team at the national championships. Lea won a national title while paired with Colby Pearce (Boulder, Colo./Cody Racing), who was previously qualified to the Talent Pool.

Adam Duvendeck (Santa Barbara, Calif./Momentum) and Giddeon Massie (Colorado Springs, Colo./T-Town Express) were also named to the Talent Pool as sprinters. Duvendeck met the automatic time standard after qualifying first in the 200-meter heat of the men’s sprint. Duvendeck clocked a time of 10.59 seconds to equal the 10.59-second automatic time standard. Massie was named to the Talent Pool after capturing a national title in the men’s keirin.

After Bausch was the lone addition to the women’s endurance pool, Liz Reap (Jim Thorpe, Pa./T-Town Express) was the sole addition to the sprint pool. Reap clocked a 35.947 on her way to winning a national title in the women’s 500-meter time trial, surpassing the automatic time standard 35.98.

Following the USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships, the following riders have now qualified for the 2008 USA Cycling Track Talent Pool:

Men’s Endurance
Michael Friedman (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Brad Huff (Fair Grove, Mo.)
Bobby Lea (Mertztown, Pa.)
Colby Pearce (Boulder, Colo.)
Taylor Phinney (Boulder, Colo.)

Men’s Sprint
Ben Barczewski (Breinigsville, Pa.)
Michael Blatchford (Cypress, Calif.)
Adam Duvendeck (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Giddeon Massie (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

Women’s Endurance
Kristin Armstrong (Boise, Idaho)
Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif.)
Dotsie Bausch (Irvine, Calif.)
Becky Quinn (Quakertown, Pa.)
Christen King (Huntington Beach, Calif.)
Lauren Franges (Asheville, N.C.)

Women’s Sprint
Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Wash.)
Liz Reap (Jim Thorpe, Pa.)

The final opportunity for athletes to qualify for the Talent Pool, and thus be eligible for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, is Dec. 11-12 in a USA Cycling Talent Pool Qualifier at the ADT Event Center in Carson, Calif.

The first major international competition of the 2007-08 season is the first round of the UCI Track World Cup in Sydney, Nov. 30-Dec. 2. The U.S. National Team roster for Sydney, as well as the second World Cup and official Olympic Test Event in Beijing, Dec. 7-9, will be announced next week.

*************************************************************************

At the Rail III

LSC-GP Team Kit

Kilo Start . . . and Dad in the Stands

At The Rail ii

Rail Picture

About to Stop Smiling

The Track . . . Just Like Home

At the Rail

Some Pix, More to Come

Keirin, and The End

Keirin is a great event—I decided to just have fun and ride aggressively.  One way or the other, it was my last ride at Nationals and likely the fastest I would go on my bike for a very long time.  The event consists of six or seven riders sprinting over 2 ½ laps in a tight bunch—the finishes are usually very close, and as a result there tends to be a lot of crashing.  There were no crashes in the mens keirin this year at Nationals, so all was safe, and fast.

In the first heat, I attacked with two to go, and everyone accelerated at that point; I got 5^th out of 7, but it was all together, and looking at the video after the fact, I picked up Gideon Massie’s wheel pretty effectively as he came by, and I generally felt like I had ridden well.  With that placing, my next ride was the repechage, so the best I could do was top-12.

In the repechage, again I rode pretty well, but got third or fourth; you need to win the repechage to advance to the final, so that was the end of my racing this year.  My top speeds in the keirin events were around 40 mph in both rides—65.5kph in one, 65.1kph in the other.  Massie won the event in the end overall, and I’m guessing he was hitting 67 or so.

I’m glad I rode the Keirin.  It felt terrible to have ridden a poor team sprint, and it made me feel better to just get out there and ride hard a couple more times.

On the sprint events, I had gotten 15^th or 16^th in everything.  And in the Keirin, although they don’t give placings lower than 12, it’s probably fair to surmise that I got something like 16^th.

And that was that for me.  The most disappointing event of the day was actually the Madison—we were so excited to root for Brian Crosby, University of Minnesota Gopher-wearing phenom, but his teammate was crashed out of the race on the first lap, and you can’t very well ride a 120 lap Madison against pro’s without a teammate.  So that was the end of it for him—far more disappointing than going a little slower than hoped.  He handled it like a pro, and when I talked with him later I was amazed at how much morale he had.  He’s off to Ontario to race in the London velodrome soon.

As for me, my track bike is already hoisted into the rafters of the garage, and I’m going for a run tomorrow.

Team Sprint, Almost

Saturday, the first event was the Team Sprint.  At State, we had turned a 49.64, and we knew that time was good for a top-five finish if we could do it again.  Our start and technique were good, but we rode a 51.1.  That’s a lot slower; it’s just an enormous difference.  That put us sixth, just out of the podium placings—but we felt that we had done a good ride.  Just not up to potential, and it’s tough to walk away from Nationals having ridden anything other than a PR.  In any event, that’s what happened—I’m pretty sure my third lap just wasn’t that strong; my legs and lungs felt pretty bad through the second lap and the whole third lap it didn’t feel like I was getting on top of the gear.

Next up, Keirin . . .

Saturday, October 6th

So, this is the last day. Two events today: Team Sprint, and the Keirin.

The Team Sprint is three laps, 750 meters. Three riders, each of whom takes the lead for a lap. On our team, Ted rides the first lap, Taylor rides the second, and I ride the third. It was a good combination for us--at national qualifiers, we broke the district record and rode a 49.6. If we repeat that, we could get top-5 today or better. So we're excited about that; more later after the first round. We'll ride right at 2pm today.

The Keirin is later, and that takes longer to explain, but suffice it to say that there are six riders on the track at a time, and it's a short sprinter's race. I think I have some chance in the Keirin, so we'll see how that goes. That's later in the afternoon, after the Team Sprint.

Full Coverage of Elite National Championships

http://www.cyclingnews.com/track.php?id=track/2007/oct07/USAnationals07/default

Lungs

So, I'm a life-long asthmatic.  The only reason I can breathe at all is because someone at Glaxo invented inhaled albuterol in the 1960's.  By the time I was born it was state-of-the-art, and it still is.  As a kid, I spent plenty of time in the hospital hooked up to an i.v., and early on in hockey, I figured I'd better just be a goalie.

Later, I changed my mind and started to do something that would push my lungs as far as they could go, and that was the beginning of bike racing for me.  I have always raced with an inhaler in a special pocket sewn into my skinsuit by my mom.

So, in sprint events, it's not remarkable that I am able to compete on terms with the best riders in the country, because lungs aren't needed.  But when it comes down to it, the only reason I'm riding at all is because of the people at Glaxo.  

Nevertheless, I don't have top-level aerobic talent.  That's always a disappointment to me--and yesterday's scratch race was an example.  I DNF'd the race; there's no worse feeling.  40 laps, and I just didn't have the lungs for it.

So for today's points heat, I had to finish it.  60 laps, all aerobic, average speed well in excess of 33mph.  And I finished.

The thing about track racing is there's no 'honorable finish'. If you drop back more than 250 meters from the field, an official literally blows the whistle on you and pulls you off the track.  It's not like a marathon, straggling across the line eventually.  In order to finish, you need to hang with the leaders the whole way.

So, I didn't take top-8 in the heat.  And I wasn't close.  But for a long race, I did as well as I could have hoped, I suppose.  Thanks to the guy at Glaxo who invented albuterol.

Tomorrow, the Team Sprint.  We have a good team, and we believe we're capable of going top-5.  Total race distance: 750 meters.  No lungs required.

Extensive Nationals Coverage . . .

. . . and some amusing pictures at:

http://tenacious-t.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2007-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-06%3A00&updated-max=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=50

Scratch

The scratch heats were, of course, difficult.  It's Nationals.  The second heat--my heat--was particularly fast, everyone seemed to agree.  And I didn't have the legs, which is disappointing, but not that surprising.  Sometimes you feel great, and most of the time you feel less than great.  I still feel so comfortable on the track, and I basically feel good, but the pace was just too hot about 20 laps in, and I got popped off the back.  That was it.

As a frame of reference, racing speeds are typically in the 30-33mph range, with a final acceleration up to 37 or 38.  Today, when attacks started going in my scratch heat, I clocked us at a consistent pace above 37--that wasn't at the finish, that was just when the attacks were going in the middle of the 40-lap race.  The field blew apart in my heat, and a lot of guys didn't finish.  I'm sorry to say I was among them.

60 lap points race tomorrow, then team sprint and Keirin on Saturday.  More crashes in the womens Keirin today, but everyone was OK by all accounts.  Saturday may really end with a bang . . .

16th

So, it turns out I'm 16th.  Got 16th in the Kilo, 15th or 16th in the 250m, and 16th in the 200m TT.  The top 12 advanced to the sprint rounds, so I didn't advance to the match sprints, but Taylor did. 

He rode against Ryan Nellman, one of the nation's top riders, and lost to him.  Taylor went to the three-rider repechage, where the winner would advance to the quarter-finals, but didn't win--so that's it for match sprint for Team Minnesota.

Basically, you need to ride faster at Nationals than you did at the Nationals qualifiers, and we're all turning the same times we turned at the qualifiers.  I think my 200 time was my PR by perhaps a few hundredths of a second, but basically it was the same.

Taylor Qualified

My 11.846 didn't hold up--but Taylor rode a 11.4, and he made the top 12.  He'll advance to the final.

Womens keirin now, and the first crash of the series.  Stretcher has been activated . . .

200m: 5th So Far . . .

I rode fourth of 30 riders, and posted what is currently the 5th-best time of 11.846.  You need top-12 to make the medal round, and there are plenty of guys here who are going to go sub-11.  So we'll see how it goes, but that's the update for now.  The fastest riders (pro's, national team) go last.

Day 2, Thursday, October 4th

Today's races are the 4000 meter pursuit, 200 meter match sprint, womens' keirin, and scratch race.  I'll be doing the match sprint and scratch.

MATCH SPRINT

The match sprint starts with a qualifying round to pick the 12 fastest guys in the country.  They do that by having everyone ride a 200 meter flying time trial--"flying" because you get to take a running start at it.  It's not from a standing start.  The fastest 12 times advance to the sprint tournament, which is a single-elimination tournament of one-on-one races over three laps.

So the issue for me, Ted, Chris, and Taylor is whether we can get top-12 in the 200m time trial.  At the nationals qualifying races, Taylor was fastest with an average speed of around 40mph over 200 meters--11.4 seconds.  Chris and Ted rode comparable times, about two-tenths of a second slower than Taylor, and I rode another two-tenths slower than them.

The flying 200 has a lot to do with technique.  You are negotiating two corners at 40mph (the track is 250 meters), so the more tightly you cut the corners the sooner you hit the line.  You can build up a head of steam however you want as you approach the 200 meter-to-go line, so the main strategy is to ride up as high as you can on the track's banking, using the altitude (about two stories in the air from the pole line) to store energy, dropping down the banking of the track leading into the timed 200 meters.  The top riders will hit the timing tape going 43mph or so, and hold it to the line.  I'll hope to hit the tape at 40mph and hold it.  If I can do that, I could make the top 12.  But our hopes are really riding on Taylor here--we'll be screaming our heads off for him.

When we get to the match sprint tournament--the top 12 riders--I'll write more about how tht works, and how it goes.

SCRATCH RACE

The scratch race is the easiest race to understand.  20 or 30 riders on the track all together, whoever hits the line first wins.  The heats will be 30 laps, and the final will be, I think, 60 laps.

There will be three scratch heats today to see who makes the medal round.  The top 8 from each heat advance to the final.  There are about 25 guys in each heat.  I feel very good about the scratch, and the goal naturally is to make the final.  In theory, 8th place in the heat is the ideal result--just good enough to make the final, without wasting too much energy.  I can do it, so it's just a matter of whether I will.  I'm one of the relatively few riders riding both the sprint and endurance events--for better or worse, I have moderate talents in both areas, which makes it hard to excel in sprinting, but for the longer mass start races--especially scratch--I can do well if I can avoid using too much energy early on.  The goal in today's scratch race is to hide in the field for the first 28 laps, and then pin it for the last two.  If I can do that, I will make the final--I've got more of a sprint than the long-event riders, whose strategy will be to make it hard for guys like me to 'hang in' and rest in the field before the final two laps.

The Kilo

Well, I rode one second slower than my PR, and had hoped to ride one second faster.  1:11.124, 16th place.

My legs felt good during the event, but really heavy afterwards.  It was the usual sort of hypoxic experience, and you never finish a kilo feeling like you left anything on the track.  It was 100%.  I just didn't get the time I was looking for.

Tomorrow is match sprint and scratch.  I feel great, love the track, and I'm going to drill it like there's no tomorrow.

250m TT

The 250 meter TT isn't an internationally recognized event, but they run it at Nationals to help select the first-lap rider for the Olympic Team Sprint, which is a rather important Olympic event.  It's very simple--one lap on the track from a standing start, as fast as you can.

The one thing that's different from Blaine is the starting gate.  Imagine a sort of aparatus that holds your bike rigidly until the clock ticks down to 0, then it let's go.  If you go too early, you'll get held back and start choppy--and slow.  If you start too late, well, you give up whatever fraction of a second you give up by starting too late.  Fractions of a second are the margins of victory. 

The only reason I'm riding the 250 is to get used to the start gate.  I've never used it before, and I wanted to use it once before the Kilo later today.

So, I rode in the second heat.  I covered 250m in 20.213 seconds, an average speed of 44.526 kph.  By the end of it, I was 16th.  (You wait for everyone to go before you know who has won--imagine downhill ski racing, or luge--it's like that.). My max speed was 59.9. 

Ted rode a 20.374, with a max of 62.1kph.  That was good for 19th.  Taylor rode a 20.263, and his max was 62.7 kph.  He got 18th.  They were disappointed, as both of them are capable of low-19s.  But it wasn't to be for them today, and they've got tomorrow's racing to prepare for now.  As you cana see from their max speeds--higher than mine--they lost it on the acceleration out of the gate.  Track racing is a power sport.

For my part, I'm pretty happy with 16th in an event that I wasn't planning to do well in, middle of the field almost exactly.  31 riders started the event.  It was won by Michael Blatchford in 18.470, an averge speed of 48.729 kph.  I suspect his max speed was around 65kph--roughly 40mph.  He's a pro, and now he's the presumptive starter for Team USA in Beijing. 

Just Like Home

Warming up this morning, I felt like I was back home.  The velodrome feels identical to the track in Minnesota--but indoors, which means perfect conditions, and the surface is newer.  Better than home.  I couldn't be more comfortable.  Most of the riders won't feel this way--the steep banking of a short track (a 50% gradient in the corners) is flat-out scary to anyone not accustomed to it, and most riders ride tracks with much shallower bankings.

To me, this track feels more comfortable than Blaine, because at Blaine, when you ride up to the rail, you're looking down over the rail at a 15 meter drop, which just scares me enough that I don't ride right to the rail.  Here, when you ride the rail, you're just next to the stands, and it feels very safe.

The infield has a few million dollars' worth of bikes in it, a small but dense thicket of carbon fiber frames and wheels.  You can easily see the Minnesota Pit from the stands; we hung a big gold Gustavus towel on the partition next to us.

So, we're all right at home and ready to race.  Taylor and Ted (my Team Sprint teammates) are racing the Standing 250m TT today, and Chris Ferris is riding the Kilometer.  Brian Crosby is just here today to warm up for tomorrow's longer events.

We'll start with the 250m TT soon.  I'm in the second heat.

In The Velodrome

The place is packed with about 200 riders, and if you look closely, some of them are intimidating.  But of course, as far as they know, so am I.  The 5-rider Minnesota contingent has staked out its infield patch, and we're getting the bikes ready. 

Another Needle Threaded

Got into D.C. late last night, equipment (rollers, clothes) in tow.  Rode this morning on the D.C. bike--I'm always a little surprised it hasn't been stolen from its hiding place there at 2000 Penn.  I've got my Livestrong bracelet for this week's racing. 

Landing at O'Hare now.  One presentation, a ride on the stationary bike at the hotel, and in less than 48 hours I'll be in the starting gate for the Kilo.

Schedule

Events I'm doing are in bold.

2007 ELITE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Wednesday, October 3 -- Noon
Men Standing 250m TT
Women Mass Start Test
Awards Men 250mTT
Men Mass Start Test
Women 500m TT
Men 1km TT Final
Awards 500m & 1km TT
Men Team Pursuit
Awards Men Team Pursuit

Thursday, October 4 Noon
Men Pursuit Qualification
Women Pursuit Qualification
Men Sprint Qualification - 200m
Women Keirin Heats
Men Sprint 1/8 Finals (12)
Women Keirin Rep
Men Sprint Rep
Women Keirin Round 2
Men Scratch Heats
Women Scratch Heats
Women Keirin Final
Men Sprint 1/4 Final #1
Awards Women Keirin
Men Sprint 1/4 Final #2
Men Pursuit Final
Women Pursuit Final
Men Sprint 1/4 Final #3
Awards Pursuits
Women Scratch Final
Men Scratch Final
Awards Scratch Races

Friday, October 5 2:00pm
Women Sprint Qualification - 200m
Men 60 lap Points Race Heats
Women 30 lap Points Race Heats
Men Sprint Semi #1
Women Sprint 1/4 Final #1
Men Sprint 5-8 Final
Men Sprint Semi #2
Women Sprint 1/4 Final #2
Men Sprint Semi #3
Women Sprint 1/4 Final #3
Women Points Race Final
Men Sprint Final #1
Women Sprint Semi Final #1
Awards Women Points
Men Sprint Final #2
Women Sprint Semi Final #2
Women Sprint 5-8 Final
Men Sprint Final #3
Women Sprint Semi Final #3
Men Points Race Final
Women Sprint Final #1
Awards Men Sprint
Women Sprint Final #2
Awards Men Points
Women Sprint Final #3
Awards Women Sprint

Saturday, October 6 2:00pm
Men Team Sprint Qualification
Women Team Sprint Qualification
Men Madison Heats
Men Team Sprint Final
Women Team Sprint Final
AWARDS Team Sprints
Men Keirin Heats
Women Team Pursuit
Men Keirin Rep
AWARDS Women Team Pursuit
Men Keirin Round 2
Men Madison Final
Men Keirin Final
AWARDS Keirin & Madison

Packed

The bike and extra wheels are going MSP to LAX on Tuesday with my wife and father; the clothes, tools, and rollers are going MSP-DCA-ORD-LAX over the next 72 hours with me.  I'm carrying on the critical minimum--an extra pair of pedals, my shoes and skinsuit.  Everything else could be scrounged or borrowed in a pinch, including the bike, so it's all being checked.

But I don't expect problems.  At the end of the day, the Kilo is the only Wednesday event that I care about, and it's on Wednesday late afternoon.  By then, I will have worked out whatever problems I may have encountered this week.

Last Hard Workout

There are plenty of logistical needles left for me to thread, but I've done my last hard workout before Nationals, packed up my bike, and I'm ready to fly home to Minnesota tomorrow first thing.

So, my last hard workout as it turned out was at night in the rain in Central Park.  That wouldn't be such a problem, but a sprint workout is hard to do like that.  I was spinning my rear wheel on the road, of course, and 40mph in the dark, in the rain, has little to commend it. 

A Manhattan-dwelling raccoon with places to go and people to see almost ended my season, but we narrowly missed each other.  I don't remember any raccoons in A Cricket In Times Square, but there should have been one.  They're all over Central Park.

This ride also ends my global training tour, which has seen me hauling my bike to Australia, Canada, New York, etc., in the last month alone.  It's a stressful way to train.  The road bike stayed here in NYC over the last week.  I was able to ride a stationary bike in San Jose on Wednesday, then fly overnight to NYC where the bike awaited.  I haven't missed a day of training almost all season.

I felt really good tonight--track racing is a power sport, and I felt like I was going to rip the handlebars off the bike tonight.  I'm ready.  To prove it, my only current injuries are some nasty calluses on my hands, and a nagging ache in my right elbow.

13 Stone, 11 Oz.

So, I got on the scale tonight here at the Inter-Continental Barclay; I haven’t weighed myself in ages.  I’d given up on caring—finding it so hard to lose weight past about 190.  Last year for the marathon, I was hoping to be 180.  I was about 190.  20 mile runs just didn’t make any difference.

So, the scale says I’m 13 stone, 11 oz.  Then I found the little switch on the bottom to convert to kg or lbs.  I’m 197 pounds.

I’m really happy with where I’m at physically; my body fat % is likely at its lowest point since high school.  It’s just that the power training and workouts build muscle, and that’s what I’ve got.  I have about 7 pounds more of it than I had thought.  That’s half a bike—but it’s all good.  So I’ll be 197 pounds for Nationals.  I’ll be 205 by Christmas.

dgc

Dan Currell, Elite Nat's Bio

Sent to the announcer at Track Nat’s—he asked all the riders to submit the information below—

dgc

-----Original Message-----
From: Currell, Daniel
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 6:03 PM
To: 'beckbird@clearwire.net'
Subject: Dan Currell, Elite Nat's Bio

John,

Hey, thanks for the email.  Here’s my bio stuff—

dgc

Name                    Dan Currell

Nickname                no nickname for me—but see the note below on my two teammates’ nicknames; not to be missed!

Age                     35

Family                  Wife Sara (she’ll be at Nat’s), daughter Annika (5) and son Tollef (3).  They’ll be at home with grandma.  My dad will be at Nat’s too—Bob Currell.  He hauled me around to a lot of junior racing back in the day.

Team/Sponsors   Bianchi-Grand Performance

Original hometown       St. Charles, IL.  Grew up racing in Illinois.  Raced Junior Nationals in 1988 in Reading/Allentown/T-Town.  Then I went to law school and got fat.

Where you live now      St. Paul, MN

Race placings           Won some omniums this year at Blaine, and qualified for the sprint and endurance events for Nat’s.  Won the kilo and team sprint; took second in the scratch.  But I’m basically just a consistent rider up at Blaine . . . I don’t have any particular event that I’m best at.

Profession or major subject of study and where:  Law/consulting.  I’m with a company called the Corporate Executive Board.

Other sports or hobbies:  Chasing toddlers.

Most embarrassing thing your friends would want everyone to know about you:  My driver’s license photo . . . I was a very unflattering 230lbs about three years ago.  Then I got back on the bike.

The Whole Story, Sort Of

At Nationals, I'll be riding the sprint events—1000 Meter Time Trial, Match Sprint, Keirin, and Team Sprint. I may also ride the scratch race, and perhaps the points race. I'm best at middle-distance races—not the really short stuff, and not the longer stuff. Basically, I'm reasonably good at the Kilometer and Team Sprint. In general, Nationals will be dominated by folks we'll see again next summer in the Olympics, but people like me are there to keep them honest.

So here's a little more on the events I'll be riding in L.A. First, the individual event I'm best at is the 1000 meter time trial—the "kilo". A very simple race—one kilometer, as fast as you can. It takes a little over a minute. Here's a video of my qualifying ride last weekend:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Gb5q7W_2Y

Based on last year's times at Nationals, it's plausible that I could get top 5 —but I could also get 30 th. I rode a 1:10.3 last weekend, and last year silver and bronze at Nationals rode low 1:08's. So it's in reach, but two seconds is an eternity in an event like that, and there are loads of riders who figure they can ride a 1:08. We'll see.

Match sprint is more interesting—I'll ride it, but it's very short, and I'm better at middle-distance events like the kilometer. You've likely seen the Match Sprint in the Olympics—it's the one where the riders sometimes come to a dead stop in the middle of the race, a bizarre fact that earns the event a tiny slice of network coverage every fourth summer. A more complete discussion of Match Sprint is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprint_%28cycling%29 .

Next is Keirin. It's actually the main betting sport in Japan, just like betting on horses here in the States. It's hard to assess my chances at the Keirin, but if there were betting at Nationals, I'd pay off very, very handsomely if I won. That said, hope springs eternal. A few years ago, an Australian guy won Olympic gold in short-track speedskating because literally everyone else crashed. Things like this happen in the Keirin, so my strategy is to keep the rubber side down and hang on for dear life.

The last event I'll ride is called the Team Sprint, and that's where our chances for the podium are best by far. It's a three lap event--750 meters total--akin to a relay. It's contested by a three-man team, usually composed of two big sprinter types and one middle-distance (i.e., kilo) rider. I've teamed up with a couple of really great sprinters here in Minnesota, and I'm more of a middle-distance rider, so the three of us are riding the Team Sprint at nationals. Last weekend, we broke the district record, and the time we turned suggests that we could plausibly make the bronze or even gold medal round at Nationals. The time we turned on Sunday would have gotten us fourth at Nationals last year. This is our ride last weekend:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNDlTWzP69c

We rode a 49.64, and it was pretty windy. Because Nationals is indoors, we figure we can ride a high 48 or better, and last year that would have gotten us bronze. Gold will likely go to some combination of professional and Team USA riders, but getting into the gold-medal round at this point isn't impossible. We're outsiders, but we could give the top riders in the country a run for their money.

How the Kilo Really Should Be Done

Best Kilo rider in the world right now is a British guy named Chris Hoy. It won't take you nearly as long to watch him do it as to watch me do it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meTomy4M8dw

Kilometer TT National Qualifier Ride

This is my Kilo ride--I rode a 1:10.2 or so; Chris Ferris got second, and Brian Crosby was third.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Gb5q7W_2Y

Team Sprint Qualifier Ride

This is the Loon State team sprint ride; we rode a 49.64 and qualified for nationals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNDlTWzP69c

Scratch Race Qualifier

So, this is the last ten laps or so of the Blaine national qualifier scratch race. Chris Ferris won, I got second, and Andy Kruse got third.

http://smithersmpls.com/2007/09/14/2007-cat-1-2-3-state-scratch-race-championships/

Ramping Up for Elite Nats

So, I'm creating this blog to track events at Elite National Track Championships at the ADT Velodrome in Carson, CA, October 3-6th 2007. The blog is meant to be more of a project than a perpetual thing, but it's the way I'll provide updates to those who've asked for them.

dgc