Kent Bostick Wins Festival of Speed Pro/1 Points Race

After a spring of taking some lumps the Pro/1 fields in the southeast, I finally got some fitness that allowed me to be competitive on the track. I won the Pro/1, 60 Lap Points Race at the Festival of Speed held May 12 at the Dick Lane Velodrome in Atlanta. This velodrome was saved from demolition by a group of highly motivated racers that raised money and created a community relations program with a junior cycling program. They prevented the site from becoming a storm-water drainage basin and recently refurbished a banking of the track that was falling into a creek. This velodrome is unique in that you can fish in the infield.

My pre-race plan was to get a good warm up and use my 200 meter qualifying time in the omnium as my final preparation for the points race. Well because of Atlanta traffic, it turned out that I warmed up for the 200-meter by pinning on my number. For the points race, I decided that I would sit out the first couple of sprints and then start sprinting. My tactics would have to be sharp as I was the only AMD/Discovery Masters rider in the field.The weather was 90 degrees and humid as thirty riders started at the boards at 5:00 PM. The race started fast with attacks and a break of five went clear after the second sprint. I was following some wheels and after using the last one up, bridged from the pack to the break at the start of the 4th sprint with 41 laps to go. The break swung up the track after the sprint not realizing that I had made contact. Sensing that they were trapped up track by a slowing rider, I came through in the pole lane and got 1/2 a lap advantage before the break reacted. Although riders in the break had teammates, they were all back in the field and the break never got organized. They attacked each other and tried to bridge solo. With 21 laps to go, I decided to hold off lapping the field so that I could take race leader points. Lapping the field would have meant that the break would then be taking all the points. The field finally disintegrated in to 2s and 3s around the track and I went through them and attempted to catch the break. According to new points race rules "the field" was now the break and lapping them in the last 5 laps would get me an additional ten points. I looked across the track and could see a Jittery Joe's rider doing most of the chasing in the break. Once the final sprint started, the break stayed ahead of me and I rode in at the front of riders I had lapped for first place in the points race.

My win in the points race placed me 3rd in the omnium behind Tim Burton (Biogenesis), the 2006 Best All Around Rider at the track, and just ahead of Steve Hill, the Senior National 1 km Champion. The omnium was cancelled after running the 200-meter qualifying time and the points race because of heavy thundershowers, but the promoter graciously paid out half of the prize list.As a part-time volunteer coach for juniors, women and old men, I usually tell riders that you only do pursuits in races if you are 4 km from the finish with your team mates blocking at the front of the next group behind or as a last-ditch effort to make a break and keep your team on the offensive. Just doing them for grins is stupid racing. So what about doing three in a row? I am certain that I will never be able to repeat my lack of tactics at this velodrome for a while.

Kent Bostick