I made it back up to NorCal for the final days of the race action. On Saturday morning I was all set in the 19th heat for my flying 200 meter ride for seeding in the sprint finals. Not wanting to duplicate the conservative setup I used in the 200TT in San Diego for the SoCal Masters Championship in July I went with a 49×14 gear. This gear gets me up to terminal velocity and I am able to hold it pretty good. I rode a 48×14 to a 12.61 in SD. My previous best with my 36-spoke turtle speed wheels was a 12.82 at the Encino velodrome. In San Jose I channeled all of my years of racing (started back in 1982 on a bmx bike) and got off a 12.326. My goal was to get at least a 12.4 so I was very stoked to get .08 faster. It seems like such a small margin but flying 200’s can be very competitive and this one was no exception. The top eight riders made it to the final rounds. I finished in 17th place. Somewhat of a shock since last year the 8th qualifier rode a 12.4. This year the 8th qualifier rode an 11.9. Yeah, that is a fast, fast field. Even my bud Eric Manual got 14th riding a 12.19. Sick!!! I am far from discouraged, in fact I am stoked to even be able to race at this level considering I took a 5 year break from 2000 to 2004. I owe my re-found raceness to cyclocross which I started racing in 2005.
In the Team Sprint in Sunday I was asked by Mike Dancel if I would ride with him and Patrick Larabee of Colorado. I was jonesing to race the Team Sprint. I talked to many people, probably to the point of being a pest but I was hungry for the race. These two riders made the trip out west and I was glad to race with them. We finished in 1:15 for the event, 6th out of 6 teams. Considering our competition was off the hook fast and we never rode together we did as good as we could.
Next year I am setting lofty goals once again. My main goal this year was to win a series which I did as a cat5. I am back up to cat4. For 2009 I will get back to cat3, ride a 200 under 12 seconds, and ride a kilo under 1:15:00. Mark these words son, it’s on.
And lastly, I am going to retire my trusty KHS Aero Track bike and and go with something carbon to match my Cane Creek Sprint 85’s. Just kidding! I could care less if the new ride matches my wheels. I just want to go faster.
