Day time television

A story a local TV channel did on the velodrome in STL featuring yours truly...

Mile High Club

Hwrya?

I have just arrived back to St.Charlies from Collegiate Track Nationals which was held at Colorado Springs. I was pretty excited to get there for two reasons; firstly my mum was coming over to help celebrate my birthday and watch the racing, and secondly, because Nationals have been my and the teams goal for this season. The last two weeks have been the best preparation I have ever had for any race, we had some excellent sessions on the track, we were getting a rub every day to keep fresh, we had the best equipment and most importantly were focused 100% for the competition. So with that I had no excuse not to perform.

I have to mention the trip out and back, it was the most enjoyable trip I have had away on the bike. Tim Norris earned himself a new nick name in the shape of 'Custard Arm' after some target practice at highway signs and overpasses with any form of ammunition we could find in the 15 seater van.

Colorado Springs sits at about 2500m above sea level and I really noticed the altitude after the first warm up session. First event was the 3km pursuit which I was in the very first heat, I ran a bit slower than what I hoped but It gives me a benchmark for next year I guess. The evening session was rained out by the ever changing Colorado weather and lost a whole day as a result. Friday night saw the sprinters in action. Unfortunately Paddy had a hairbrain decision by the so called officials go against him which saw him finish 7th instead of 5th robbing him of valuable points for the overall point score and a medal. The bad luck extended for Paddy into the Kilo where he pulled his foot automatically putting him out of the race. Everyone knows that the Kilo was Paddy's event and was destined for the podium so this was a crushing time. I was suppose to ride the Kilo but we made the decision that a couple of us would miss the event to save ourselves for the Team Pursuit (4 man team 3km time trial), the decision proved to pay dividends as we finished 4th overall after sitting in 2nd until the final heat. It was pleasing to hear everyone commenting on how smooth and mechanical we looked and only after one weekend practicing for the event I think we will have it dialed for next year.

The last event was the Points Race Heat which was 30 guys and 45 laps of pain. I missed making the final by one spot but achieved the primary goal of getting Paddy through. Lindenwood University had a very successful first Nationals showing as we finished the three days of racing in 5th overall in the Division II competition. With only 5 men this was a solid result and with some females on board next year I reckon we will be giving some of the bigger colleges a run for their money.
My hopes and dreams don't lie on the track but after these past couple of days I have been well and truly been bitten by the the fixed wheel bug and will be making Track Nationals a major goal for next season.

For the next couple of weeks I'm going to give the bike a rest and the local night spots a workout until I start preparing for Bay Crits and trying to get some road base in for next year.

Ciao, Chev.

Gateway Cup

Woah what a weekend! Yanks love a crit and shit can they ride them too! The whole weekend was fast and held on some technical courses around the St.Louis area. Well I got through the weekend without incident...just. First race about third lap in I almost put it down in front of Owen "the butcher" Belton when I hit a gnarly hole around a corner and then again the next day when my hand slipped of my bars right in front of Toyota United pro, former Australian National Champion and race leader, Henk Vogels. Henk got his revenge a couple of laps later when he put a water bottle down right in my path on the fastest part of the course (Darren the head coach picked it up for me a momento). Despite all these near misses I had a good weekend and was able to roll in 35th, 43rd and 50th out of about 140 guys.

Every day there were awesome crowds and the whole weekend had a festive atmosphere which is something I hadn't expierenced before. We got to race some cool areas around St.Louis ranging from the swanky 'Laffette Square' to the Italian district of STL 'The Hill'. The second day and third day finished with guys from the crowd offering all the Pro1/2 guys beer on completion. It was good to see Henk not only winning the crits but also the race to beers that were on offer from random revelers on the course.

I pulled up feeling as fresh as a daisy after the weekend so hopefully the form is good and now I guess I just have to leave the legs to do the talking. Next Tuesday we leave for Nationals in Colorado which I'm really looking forward to as it has been a main goal for the season and also will be able to see my mum as she is coming over to "root" for Lindenwood in our Collegiate National Cycling debut.
You can keep up to date with all the action from Nationals at cyclingnews.com with my boy Paddy Kilmurray as your correspondent.

Until next time, take care.

Chev.