Masters Track Worlds Day 4, 5 and 6

I think I’ve sold 4 Specialized Transitions, as long as they don’t stop making the 2008 model. This road time trial frame has done wonders for my track racing. With rear track dropouts and aerodynamic carbon tubing this is one fast bike!



Masters Track Worlds Day 4, 5 and 6

When I did the sprint tournament in 2008 I felt like I had been in a 15 round boxing match by the end of my 9 full out intensity rides. I scratched on the sprints at the last minute and after watching these great athletes slug it out for two long days (Day 4 and 5) I have absolutely no regret.

Moving on to Day 6 and the final day of the 15th annual UCI Masters Track World Championships (Saturday, October 24, 2009) my head was all over the place for the upcoming points race. I was confident because I had won this event in each of my five championship attempts, I was relaxed because I had already won two titles and I knew the rest days would help me. That being said, I didn’t have all that much confidence with my new sniffly nose and drizzly shits, nor with the most competitive field I had ever faced.

Our morning qualifying ride was cancelled as there were only 23 athletes interested in points racing (lots of sprinters on the list were pulling out), so we moved straight into the final late in the afternoon. I snuck in a nice (very rare) nap and felt slightly better. Sixty laps or 15km in total with sprints every 10 laps. My plan was to not take the win on the first sprint (uses too much energy), not let Steve Daracott (Australia), Bernardo Figueroa (Colombia), Stephane Le Beau (Canada) or Robert Upton (Australia) get up the road without me.

We were rolling it pretty good from the beginning, and when the first sprint lit up I got in line but there was a surge over the top and I didn’t place. I made a silly move after the sprint and rolled away. What a waste of energy. 2nd sprint came up and I was out of position again. We’re heading into 30 to go sprint and I have one point! Time for a quick self-talk… okay, I can still win this if I take the remaining sprints –and- slow the pace so that I’m not attacked. Thankfully I wasn’t attacked by my main rivals and was able to mark the current leaders/ contenders (Stephane and Bernardo). I took the 30 to go sprint, was 2nd in both the 20 and 10 to go sprint, and 4th in the last sprint to win 13 points to Stephane’s 11 points and Jim Rutherford’s 8 points. That, teammates and friends, was one of the most difficult wins I have ever fought for!