Photos from today are up: https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t31.0-8/10257579_865580390122474_1425123710251443938_o.jpg

@Jeff - Your report is great and I have very little meaningful insight to add.  Some newbie notes:

• All day omniums are exactly that: ALL DAY.  We arrived to register around 9am and the events ended around 6pm.  Even with 5 flights (events) you'll be spending the vast majority of the time waiting.
• Racing on cold legs is stupid.  We were stupid.  We had rollers and I think I was the only one who used it and only once for 5 minutes before the points race.  We should have been warming up throughout the day.
  
• The right gearing for any particular rider for any particular event is important.  I felt undergeared on a 49x15 for much of the day.  This was very apparent for me during the scratch, miss and out, and points races where surges left me in the dust.  I was already spinning furiously trying to stay on the wheel in front of me and when the group started to surge I couldn't move my legs fast enough.  This probably also means that I need to learn to spin, uh, furiously-er.
• Jessie and Ros have legitimate POP.  Watching Ros fly to the front for the scratch sprint was awesome.  For the team sprint, Jessie was 1st position and nearly dropped me (and an unsuspected 3rd dude from MA we recruited as anchor).  I'm glad we discussed beforehand that any sort of noise meant that he should ease up just a tiny bit.  I tried to say "slow" but what actually came out was "BLRAUGHARUGH".
• Even though the combined time on the bike was probably less than 45minutes, my legs and body are completely shot.  Sure, I came into the day very much out of form (last 2 weeks I have a combined 3hrs of training...including last weeks L&C), but I didn't feel remotely as spent as this even after back to back crits at Orchard Beach a few weeks ago.
  
• Track racing requires quit a bit of specialized tactical knowledge and experience.  As Jeff indicated, miss and out is one of those events where the rules seem simple (DON'T BE LAST), but ends up being a mindf*&k.  Partly because I couldn't keep up with the surges and partly because I was too timid, but on the 3rd lap I found myself way in the back with Ros next to me.  I obviously let him go ahead to try to go for omnium points.

By far my favorite event was the team sprint.  It's brutal and the real tactics are pre-race when you decide the lineup.  I was originally slotted in to lead off Jeff and Ros, but realized that Wilson's giant engine was probably going to be a lot more useful to them and would give them a winning chance for omnium points.  So Jessie and I teamed up with a lone rider who came all the way down from MA (Nick, who indicated that he'd be coming down for Wednesday nights on a regular basis since there is no track in New England).  We sorted ourselves out by our individual 1K TT times which happened to be a convenient sequence of Jessie @ 1:25, Yang @ 1:24, Nick @ 1:23.  Jessie accelerated from the standing start like a beast and after turn "1" (actually 3, we started on the far side), I had to yell at him so I wouldn't get dropped.  From what I understand his insane start had us ahead of the opposite team (which contained Nic from 5th Floor).  On my pull I started bogging in the last 150m and probably cost us a lot of time.  After I pulled off I couldn't even keep my head up and totally missed the finish...

It was a really fun day of racing and hanging with team mates and spectating and learning.  I can't wait for next year.

Also I know I get major style points deducted for wearing a cap, but it was the only way to keep the too big helmet from falling over my eyes.  Can't wait to get the replacement Rudy in the mail.

Just to touch on the warm up thing, I almost find them just as useful for cooldown. Do a big effort, plop down on your ass, and I get really blocked up. An easy 10 minutes after your heat to let things circulate makes a body happy.

Great work out there yesterday, lads--and great readin'. The photos are awesome, @Jesse! 

Kissena Velodrome 5/18/14 Spring Classic: https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLRSG5cHTda5dsTFqKYPsbaXPhLWDdIPPK

Videos!

Wilson, me, and Ros. A good, loud start.

Aaaand, as it turns out, my Miss N Out DQ was a bit curious. The guy in the sprinter's lane left it in the home stretch (illegal, he should have been DQ'd) and then re-entered it, forcing me inside. I wasn't even close to last. That's a big confidence boost. (@4:49; Vanilla Forums is completely retarded.)