I finally, after many years of trying, won a race. Yes, it has happened. At the Encino Velodrome this past Saturday I took on 5 other racers. In the 200m tt I ran a 12.8 on 36 spoke anchor-weight wheels. Still waiting for my Cane Creek Sprint 85’s to come in. Next up was a 5 up sprint. This was an odd race but we did it. I worked a 2nd place finish in that event. Next up was the keirin – I drew the 2nd spot on the rail and chose to stay back there a bit for the motor pacing. The guy on the motor was hanging back to far and not maximizing the draft which was bad for him and good for everyone else. Once the motor swung off we quickly got into a 2 lap all out sprint. Todd took charge and went for it with Igor and myself chasing. As we rounded the last turn I came around Igor while he came around Todd and we finished in that order. Here is a pic from Todd’s girlfriend Jen. That was a close finish. In the final battle which was the 4 up sprint final we started off with an easy 3/4 lap cruise when suddenly Igor broke it up and took off. I immediately cranked it up and caught Igor. He looked back at me a couple times and I checked for Todd over my shoulder and he was there. With 1 turn to go I let it go and hammered to victory. It was nice to finally get there first. My last victory in a real competitive event (not a low-key race) was back in 1998. Wow, that was a long time ago.
