3shot VCL Western Speedway

[4827north]

Thanks to Roland, Chris, Al, Eric, Lister, Jeremy, Josh, Ryan and anyone else I've missed for putting on a great race last night.

+1

That was a well organized race and so much fun; can't wait to do it again!

+1. fun race.

[M.LeBlanc]

I said my piece but forgot to pass on my thanks to the ones who really made it happen. Roland, Chris, Al, Eric, Lister, Jeremy, Josh, Ryan and anyone else, great job and thanks!

[jeremy]

That was a great night, gotta love our little club we've got going here. I think we about 25 'shotters' out last night, great representation in every race. Roland's two star athletes (the Lawless brothers) seem to really be taking to his coaching style Both of them Jumping out early and often in their races and shredding the legs of fellow riders.

We had lots of very positive comments from the riders in the other clubs about the evening. And now we should have all of the kinks worked out for next time. Maybe we could do a bit of brainstorming on how to make the next race even better, like throwing in some prime laps for instance.

And for anyone else in our club that is curious about trying out racing this is the perfect track to start on, next time come out and race, or just come out to cheer on everyone else.

[Roland]

Maybe we could do a bit of brainstorming on how to make the next race even better, like throwing in some prime laps for instance.

More safety pins.

Primes are a good idea, anybody want to round up some merch? Or should it be cash?

[Lister Farrar]

Thanks all for coming. But first, I should say that I was a minor part in this. Roland pulled all the stuff together, got the cheque for the track, organized the entry stuff, and Josh brought it all out (while Roland was coaching kids at Margaret Jenkins by the way, another TS project). I mostly worried about the high school race starting, and after that went well, I kinda lost focus and just watched the Lawless show.

Bruce , Duane , John, and Bruce, the core from the VCL made the results happen, with Chris Fraser (who did I miss?). The VCL officials crew, who really had no part in deciding on this venue (the guys who work the hardest on results don't even go to meetings), really was a major part in this. I can say I suggested western and booked it in a moment of inspiration to make beginner racing better than the 4 rider C packs we have had. But after that, others ran with the ball. Kudos to all. I am surprised the A riders like it as much as they did. I thought they would find it boring or negative, but it seemed to have the right mix of room to go hard, but still get back on the back and recover. Let's see how attendance goes and maybe we can think of options to improve it (add a chicane?) if we need to.

[Lister Farrar]

More safety pins.

Primes are a good idea, anybody want to round up some merch? Or should it be cash?

I dunno. Let's wait until it needs it. Every extra step we take makes it harder for the next group to take it on. Keep it simple. I'd rather have Glen's nanaimo bars after, like we had for the first C race.

[EricS]

If you google the winners name you see he is a nation level sprinter WTF? Now we know... hopefully he'll show up at Mt Newton there is no way that guy can haul those legs up a hill.

No, Matt rides hills too. But he's been recorded putting out 1899 watts in the past - a fact the marshalls may be interested in when considering who to yank up into A.

You're not kidding he can do hills, how about a winter assent of Mt. Logan? If this is a description of you, would you sign up for a "B" level race in a little town like Victoria?

From Matt's blog:
"After eight months of serious training, Matt entered his first National Championships, walking away with two bronze and one silver medal. Not too bad for a rookie. His success continued throughout the ’05 season, with Matt standing on the podium for every race he entered in Canada and the US. His alarming rise through the ranks caught the eye of the Canadian National Team, and in Jan 06, he was invited to join the team for a training camp and subsequent World Cup race in Los Angeles. A year of devoted training had paid off, with Matt placing 8th in the 1 km Time Trial at his first World Cup, only 17 months after taking up the sport."

I had a great time in the "C" race. I could only really handle the first short break with Mike then my "pointless attack" for a couple of laps, and I was done. I thought I was over my cold and cough, but 10 minutes into that race and I was feeling like my lungs were about 10mL. Well that and the fact that I've been riding about once a week for the past several months

Excuses aside, I had tons o fun and learned a lot. It was so cool to have Mike L. pull up beside me and say "next time around, right here, let's break away!" or something like that. And then we did! Of course I couldn't stay with him, but I did manage to break away again for a few laps and that was cool. After that, I was just on survival mode for the last couple of laps.

Total respect for you A's and B's who did that for twice as long and way faster. That must feel awesome!
Our average was about 35 km/h with my breaks hitting 45 and my final "sprint" hitting 49.

Question for you that have raced before: how do you deal with guys that won't take turns pulling? I fall into the trap of feeling like I could go faster, move to the front, then when I pull off, no one comes through. The guys who placed 2nd and 3rd behind Mike seemed to do this and they both had the legs to rocket past at the end.

[wonger]

John told me about VCL's facebook page this morning...


Victoria Cycling League (VCL)
Fantastic racing at Western Speedwayy, congrats to Tyler Trace (Trek Red Truck Racing) for the A win, Shailie Sanbrooks (Russ Hay's The Bicycle Shop) was top Woman, Michael Lawless (Tripleshot Cycling Club) top C honors. 'Sandbagger of the Year' goes to Matt Barlee (Crush Club) who probably could have lapped the B field nearly as quickly as he won the sprint.

[jj12]

Good call. +1