A Few Local Race Reports from the Past Two Weeks

08/12/08 6:45 pm Holland Speedway

At the track I proved that I am indeed a pursuit racer. I’ve been told by Frank Mesi that I have a pursuit style when I bridge gradually rather than like a sprint. So, we prepared to pursuit. I asked a guy from Harvard if he wanted to compete. I told him that my name is Neon Thunder and I’m here to win lol no I really didn’t say that but I wanted to. We did 4 laps of about a 200-300 meter race track. I told myself that if I started fast I could get out front and stay there. I did put it in the 53 – 23 stood up and road out fast. My pace backed off a little but I clearly won.

Thursday 08/14/08 7:10 pm at Erie Community College Criterium Local Race

I was in a pack of about 20 racers. The bell had rung for a preem. Everyone had slowed to watch each other and try to get the best wheel. It was as if their engines have stalled. I’ve raced this scenario before and I know I have sprinted away from the pack on the back stretch and stayed away for a preem on more than one occasion. That’s when I said to myself, you can go, you can go. I went off the front and I noticed I had a good gap going into the two corners then there’s about 300 meters to the finish. In the corners I thought they’re going to catch me here these A racers are fast in the corners, keep yourself fast and smooth in these corners. Then I decided that was enough doubts, that their going to catch me talk is what people who fear losing think. So, I put my head down didn’t look back and went as fast as I could. I scored first place in that preem.

At the finish I sprinted fast enough to stay in front of the other B racers but did not contest the A racers. Then I found out that during the race they decided to scratch the B points, bummer.

08/19/08 at the Holland Speedway

Once again my pursuit like abilities were shown in an Italian Team Pursuit at the track. I went really fast when I pulled through and got a lot of credit for our teams victory. Then in the show down final I was chosen to lead out for a lap a the start. I lead out really fast but the other team was slightly ahead so our other guys picked up the pace and we won again.

put 1 in the race win column for local races

At the start of the race I realized my sprint juices were likely drained from Tuesday Night at the track…so I planned to quench my thirst for race performance by making a break-away happen. I thought of a statement made by a racer from a similar race two seasons ago… “there’s a mixed group here today”…yes there was… I’m pretty sure all the racers in the B race of the local Thursday Criterium were on different teams or unattached. This means they may not work well together to catch breaks. So after 5 neutral laps near the front of the pack I broke away into the head wind on the first race lap. There was a 3 place deep preem awarded so I won that. I’ve played rabbit before and here I went again. From what I heard afterward the pack thought they’d let me stay out there and drain my energy. This rabbit doesn’t fall asleep under a tree. I started to feel more like a stallion because of the max power that I was putting out. I felt the urge to stay ahead and put my effort in to staying smooth and fast and cornering faster than the rest. I settled in very fast and felt a rhythm. I could look across the course and see certain riders making efforts to catch. Among them, an up and coming junior rider, a former collegiate runner who really picking things up within 10 to go, and a talented at time trials lady. I focused on staying away but there were some concerns I had about not getting enough recovery for the finish if they caught me.

After about 25 laps of 1 kilometer each…I put up my arms straight up nonchalantly with a modest smile as I crossed the line. The sweet taste of victory!