I went out to the velodrome last night for my second night of track racing. It is SO intense! I work hard in crits and road races, but in a track race, the effort is all condensed into one crazy burst. So hard. I ended each race in coughing fits that lasted until I mounted my bike again.

As there were only two cat 4 women last night, they combined us with the women's open. My race goals immediately changed from 'win' to 'keep up.' Out first race was a 12 lap tempo race -- points to the first two crossing the finish line on each lap. It never let up. After a few laps, I got a little gapped and worked with an Alberto's girl for the rest of the race. Afterwards I thought I might be dead. I wasn't sure.

Our second race was a 24 lap points race -- points to the first 5 (?) racers crossing the line every third lap. The pace would slow for the first two laps and that rest really helped. I attacked several times and led out the sprint more than once. I attacked in turn 3 on the 19th lap, and the weary cat 2 women let me go [they all wanted each other to chase] and I held them off to finish first on lap 21. I sat up after that, which I shouldn't have. If I'd kept up my pace I might have held them off through the 24th lap as well. As it was, they came around me on the 24th -- but I finished with the pack and actually ended up in 5th place overall. Woo hoo.

Third race was unknown distance, the bane of every track racer. The other cat 4 and I attacked in the fifth lap, but were immediately chased down. I focused more on sitting in properly, than race strategy, and finished with the pack again.

So a good night for me. I can tell that I'm getting better at this -- my spin is improving and I'm getting more comfortable standing up and sprinting on my track bike. Which is the reason I took up track racing in the first place. So, yay.