Cat 3 Omnium in Carson April,9, 2017

Last Saturday I competed again in the Cat 3 Omnium at the Carson track. The day before the race I had a little mishap on my MTB. While crossing a creek on a PQ canyon trail, my front wheel was stopped by an underwater rock and I flew over the handlebar. The landing was pretty soft, and I was lucky to walk away with just a couple a scratches and superficial bruises. Saturday morning, a few hours before the race I stopped by UCC to pick up my brand new kits. The LARGE long sleeve speed-suit fits me like a glove. I am so glad I don't have to squeeze my body inside the MEDIUM team speed-suit given to me by Terry 😉!
Anyway, back to the races. First one was the Scratch, the track cousin of the Crit. First one to cross the finish line wins. I finished fifth, due to bad positioning on the last lap that caused me to be 'boxed in'. One Omnium point.
Second race was the Miss 'n out. The last rider to cross the finish line on each lap with the rear edge of the rear wheel gets eliminated. I outlasted all 19 riders, therefore winning the MnO, which gave me 7 Omnium points.
The last race was the Points race. 40 laps, with points scored every 10 laps by the first 5 riders. Double points awarded on the last sprint. My strategy was simple: get easy points the first 3 sprints by having other riders pull me through the finish line, and then go all out on the last sprint. My execution was exactly how I had planned. I scored enough points to place 2nd in the points race, and the additional 5 Omnium points gained gave me a total of 13 which was good enough for FIRST place overall in the Omnium. I'm particularly pleased by my result given the depth of the competition, which included Chris Tregillis, who had just come back from the Velodrome in Aguascalientes, Mexico, where he established the second fastest time in his age group (50/54) of the hour record. I missed racing with Terry, who was out with a (hopefully) minor injury. Next race will be around the middle of May.

-Andrea