Here's the first few races that I recorded, a standard issue Masters and Rookies race day at T-Town. Nothing spectacular, just me trying to get enough upgrade points to move to Category 3 (which I eventually did!
). Though I've taken a video-editing course in the past and have some software to use, I can't for the life of me remember how to use it, so these are largely unedited and contain lots of wind noise and me shoving my face in the camera to make sure it's recording. Please excuse my excessive wheezing and cool-down laps.
Fun fact: I was given a 5-- number upon registering because the dude at registration wasn't paying attention. They had to sort this out at the start of the video. This is a fine example of what happens when your home track has minimal banking and the racers want to kill you from the gun. I grab a few solo laps in the beginning and slowly tire myself out as I'm not a breakaway artist and I normally save that sort of an effort for the last part of the race, rather than the first.
I decided to play this race more cautiously; I figured that the faster guys would do something about that tactic if I played it again. At the start I noticed three young riders all talking. It soon became obvious that they're working together. After some time sitting in, I decide to make a break for the line to grab some points. I come up track and the rider sitting third hears me coming and tells second and first that I'm coming over top. They kick, and start to come out of the sprinter's lane. Not cool. "Hold your line!" I yell, as third nearly makes contact (likely in an effort to dissuade me from attacking). "I'm trying!" he yells. Sure.
This is perhaps the best I've felt doing an Elim, at least since the first one I did during a Try the Track. Elims don't usually treat me well, as I get a little nervous not being able to move around. Nevertheless, I was so surprised to hear that bell as I thought for sure I'd be picked off. Upon review, I did a decent job of 'rushing the gap' on the last lap.
I was a bit disappointed as we had two features planned today, a 25 lap points and a 30 lap. I was hoping to do the 30 since more laps=more fun, right? Early on, I put in an effort to move up into a better position. At around 5:00, I put in an effort to get some points, but I notice nobody else is really fighting for it. Next lap round, I find myself getting passed by loads of people even though I haven't heard a bell. You can hear me say "Wait, what?" into turn 2. I'm still not sure what happened. At 7:10, you can see a junior break away to get an early break for the sprint lap. Really impressive. I kick from a long way back, grab a point or two and then pull up. It's become apparent to me that one thing I need to work on is sticking with the group after a sprint lap and not just pulling up. Hearing the next bell at around 9:40, I start to get ansty to attack. A benefit of reviewing videos is seeing my mistakes. Had this not been a sprint lap, moving up and around Mr. Red Fuji would have been a mistake as he more than likely would have swung up in turn 2. By going over him I could have missed an opportunity to stay in his draft and could have potentially caused a collision. One favorite memory of mine of last season happened at around 12:30. After just having sprinted over the line, I swung up, made a quick head check after two riders went underneath, saw a me-sized space and quickly dropped into it. I was impressed with how smoothly I was able to execute that move given that I'd lost most of the feeling in my legs at that point. We hear the next bell at 14:00. As we cross the line, the PRR rider ahead seems to slow, come out of lane, then accelerate. I'm wondering if he was doing work for his teammate just ahead, especially since I found it difficult to respond to his acceleration. 14:48, I cross the line and wheeze in pain. That was a tough race, but fun.
In hindsight, maybe I should post these in the race report thread? I didn't think I'd write such paragraphs! Enjoy!