AVC-Hellyer, and beyond

Riding the wave...

Excitement has been building all season at the humble little track in the park. The velodrome upgrades and remodeling inspired the long-timers. Then the new riders started coming out. Timed Events Day a month ago with twice as many riders as in past years. A Saturday Beginner session with 50(!) people exploring the thrills of riding on 22 degree turns on bikes made only for speed. Record turnout for Masters States in mid-July. And then the big show comes to town the following weekend with the best pro racing at the track in at least 10 years!

The pros reminded us close-up how smooth, yet powerful 40mph can be. And more women turned out to race than I've seen in a race at Hellyer in 20 years. We saw some diamonds in the rough that look ready to get polished on the bigger stages-BJM and Shelly Olds are ready for the next step. And a few of of the 35+ guys not only showed they're ready to fight over jerseys at masters nat's, but they're acting like kids who just found out there's an all-you-can-eat Clif Bar store in their neighbor's garage. Track racing? Who knew it could be so much fun?!

Surfing on a nice wave feels good, so now what? Well, there's more racing to come, and for some riders it's the most important racing of the season. Qualifying for Elite Nat's is in 2 weeks, but most of the riders racing will be doing it for fun and practice. In the last week of August the annual medal haul for the Hellyer bunch at masters nat's takes place at the famous T-Town in PA. Then it's the Elite State Championships a week later, and to finish out the season a few riders will head to Elite Nat's or Masters Worlds in early October. And all of this racing is in addition to the weekly racing on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights, and the Sprint Tournaments. (See the calendar section at ridethetrack.com)

Yes Bobo, but what about next year? We won't have to wait until late June like this year to have fun on the track, will we?

Well, in 2008 you can expect spring racing on Wednesday nights, points racing with Larry on Thursday nights starting in late spring, Sprint Tournaments each month beginning in March, at least two Timed Events Days before July, and it's quite likely AVC will happen again and Masters States will be even better. And to top it all off, talk has renewed about bringing the 2008 Masters National Track Championships right to Hellyer Park in late August.

So, glue on the good tires and get yourself some "sprinter booties". There's plenty more fun to come!

2007 NCNCA Masters State Track Championships

92 riders, nearly 300 race entries. Never before has it been that way, or even close. That's nice. Lots of "attaboys" that made it worthwhile to organize the event. The race results can be found here.

The velodrome looked great. Racing went smoothly and I'll fix some things for next time. The criterium riders ventured out and brought their friends and teammates. They raised the level of competition and fun. The potential displayed by the newbies was rejuvenating. The concrete pad was packed with canopies, just like at Nat's, at little ol' Hellyer Park Velodrome. The veterans with their egos secure appreciated the scene.

At the end of the weekend I was exhausted and I also took home an injured rib that got hit when my rear disc broke a bearing mount in a team sprint start. Only 5 weeks to Masters Nat's and I'm not 100%. Max says it's plenty of time. We'll see.

I should update this place, but I've been busy...

Later then.