Scratch Race ( basically a criterium) 10km 30 laps. As Eric Balfus said we had 27 guys in the field, prior there was rumor that there would be 32 but in the end it was 27. With Daniel Holloway ( Bissel) racing and with what he had done on Tuesday night I figured he would be a key guy to pay attention to as well as the unknown Joel Robertson. I also figured that since there were so many in the race I never wanted to be that far back. I set tempo for half a lap at the start then shuffled back a bit. Some breaks went away but Daniel would just roll the pace up and bring them back. Eric got away around mid point and I slowed the field a bit but without Daniel he was really doomed. Eric then did some work bringing back some breaks while I sorta hung out and waited for Daniel. With 6 to go I was near the back with Daniel behind when he hit the afterburners and came over the top in turn three. I jumped to latch on when some so cal guy kinda got in the way and hesitated, so, I had to move through a couple of people and go like hell to catch Daniel, I latched on by turn one and then pulled through full gas when Daniel pulled off. I pulled a half lap and then Fariolletti ( or whatever) pulled off right after me. Daniel hit the front again and I was behind the other dude. So now it was just Daniel and I working but he was gracious enough to slow a bit so I could hang on, I was pretty gassed at this point and just hoping to make it to the finish and hoping I could beat the other dude. Then Rob Evans bridged up, damn, he must have been flying. So we get the bell, Rob and Daniel take off the sprinter dude sits up and I do as little as possible to get third. The whole time I was out there I had the peace of mind knowing Eric would dork up the chase, so that was cool.
Points Race 35 laps sprints every 5. During the roll out I was talking with Nick Harter and told him to come with me. The bell rang, I hit the gas for a lap but unfortunately we couldn't roll off for the first sprint. The nice thing was that for whatever reason the rest of the guys decided to keep the pace high so it was single file. The bell rang for the first sprint. Daniel and Rob came shooting by, I jumped hard to catch on and followed them for third in the first sprint. Daniel pulled to turn three, pulled off and then Rob pulled off in four. I said "what the hell, Rob!!!" He said he was gassed and now it was just Daniel and I. Daniel was motoring for 1 lap plus pulls and I was going full gas for almost 3/4 lap. This went on for a while with Daniel taking some sprints and me getting one of them ( I asked him if he wanted it, but he was ok with me getting it, I didn't want to make him mad and have him drop me). I have to admit when we weren't really catching the pack and I looked across and they were single file, I was just trying to figure out how long I had to stay out here until I would have enough points to be second. Also, as I was just staring at Daniel's rear hub I was thinking how good it was that I have done so much team pursuit training. This was like doing the two man team pursuit intervals only longer. After 10 laps it started looking like we were finally making inroads into catching the field. Then Daniel comes off and says " I need a full lap Tom". Damn, well we've gone this far so I go full gas and realize I can catch the field, so I dig in and catch the back of the pack after 1 1/4 lap pull, whew. I just sat in from here on out. Again it was good to know Eric would be messing up the chase. Rob ended up getting third in this race and now we were tied for the omnium. I do have to admit that I wasn't feeling that terrible riding with Daniel this time.
Miss n Out. In this race the last rider is pulled each lap until there are only 3 riders left.
Really I just hoped Rob would screw this up trying to play Devil and not make it to the last three. I was just going to ride tempo at the front and wait for Doug Hall to get to the front. So, I started riding tempo from the whistle with Eric, just outside. We did this for a few laps when Doug made his appearance. I tucked in behind and enjoyed the ride. After a few laps, I figured I should get back up front so I went over Doug and started riding tempo again. Somewhere in here Eric pulled for a few laps as well as Daniel. At one point I looked around and still saw a big group and I asked Eric how many were left, he thought about 12. Damn, seemed like we had already done 20 laps. At one point, Rob came to the front to pull but that confused me so I went around him. I should have just sat on his hip and let him wear himself out, but oh well. I got back to the front, Eric said he was done, but I just rode strong tempo keeping Joel Robertson to my outside. I then heard Eric yelling 6 to go from the cool down circle, cool, I upped the tempo a bit; he then said 5; I accelerated a bit more; "4"; more acceleration and now there were just 3 but Rob was there and now I was tired. We all went to the rail, Daniel, Rob, then me a bit behind. I jumped as hard as I could out of 4 hoping they would look at each other but, no, Rob came by me in turn one with Daniel close behind, so I coasted in for 3rd and 3rd in omnium.
Nice riding all in all, and cool to get the updates in the miss and out, it is so hard to keep track of when in the race.
tom
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