We got second in the team sprint. Kinda disappointed, but we rode well. I peaced out after the kilo. Didn't even get my time. It made me hurt too much.

Kieran won!
Details soon...

Details tmrw... Kieran won overall and JP defended his points race title(got to get this guy to masters nationals!!!)enjoy this photo in the mean time.

Leahy asserting his dominance.

no Gold For Me, Just Silver And Bronze

Total domination! Congrats Kieran, Mattie and to everyone else.. It was fun to watch some track racing in today.

FYI the water squirt photo FTW.

Awesome pics @Yang!  I love the team sprint starting line one.  It's so pro.

Looks like you guys had a blast! congratulations!

I have a few more photos...realized Whitey is in none of the above.  Will have to remedy that later today...

@Yang if you email them to me it saves me a minor frenzy of right-click-to-save...

Will do, won't be until later tonight when i get home.  Probably just an extra photo or two...

Hey everyone!

Apologies for the delay in writing on here - last night was taken up with having a celebratory dinner and a drink or two, while this morning I've been nursing my sore body and getting my head around work again.

Wow, yesterday, what a day! In the end, it turned out just how I hoped - both me personally and for the club. As predicted, it was a very long (think nearly 11 hours from getting there to leaving) and at times, confusing day, with plenty of ups and downs. But it all worked out in the end.

In short, in the 1/2/3s, we won three gold (JP in the Points, me in the Kilo and Match Sprint), one silver (me in the Scratch) and one bronze (Andy, me and Ragot in the Team Sprint). And yes, I won the overall!

Tbh, I lost track of Mattie's medal haul in the 4s! He did some great rides and was really unfortunate not to get gold on at least one occasion. The 4s team sprint silver ride was great from Jeff, Aaron and Mattie (Jeff - considering that was your second track race, that was awesome).

For those of you not familiar with the format of the State champs, there are five events - team sprint, kilometre time trial (kilo), points race, scratch race and match sprint. Medals up for grabs in each event but points awarded in every event (7, 5, 3, 2, 1) to determine an overall omnium winner. In 1/2/3s, I wanted to win at least two of the events (ideally team sprint and individual sprint) but had my greedy eye on the overall too. I knew it was possible, it just depended on how things worked out on the day - the maths of omniums are pretty seat of your pants stuff at times (more on that in a bit). We had identified my main rivals for the overall as reigning champ Al Barouh, Karl Nelson and Mark Wagner.

Andy and I arrived as the first of the Kissena contingent, soon to be joined by Aaron, David the soigneur / driver / photographer, Mattie, Jeff, Ragot, JP and later by spectating Phillip. It was really great to have such a strong team there! Nice atmosphere and good times, as the slightly camp photo shoot (only kidding) above suggests.

Racing wise, things got off to a slightly disappointing start for us in the team sprint (Andy, me and Ragot). We got third but we could have done better. The tough part of days like these is getting over the frustration when things don't go as planned, esp when you've put a lot of work in trying to make it work. Still, the high spirits in the Kissena camp helped distract me, as did the addition of Ragot's sexy fast Boyd carbon wheels before he left.

I think I must have saved up some of my frustration for the next event, the kilo. I had done plenty of work for distances shorter than the kilo in my work for the team sprint, but nothing specifically targeting it. Probably my lack of thinking too much about how to ride it helped - often I find I go best when I've not overthought the race beforehand. Like all kilos I've done, I have very recollection of what happened...I remember getting off to a pretty fast start, remembering to hold back a little heading into lap 2, then the inevitable suffering heading into the bell, trying to stay low on the track going into final bends 3 & 4, then a lactic filled finishing straight, throwing my bike at the line to the great support from the team in the stand. Then I had to lie down in the grass, hyperventilating, for 10 minutes...Horrible. At this point I'm ashamed to say I confided to Andy then depending on the outcome of the Points race, I might re-assess going for the overall, i.e. not do the scratch race and save myself for the sprint.

Thankfully there was enough of a break before the next event, the Points, to get some of the lactic out of my legs, stop feeling nauseous and recover. As the points race started, I had still no idea of the finishing positions in the kilo. The points race itself, 25 laps, was brutal! Fast from the gun, I managed to get the first sprint, nabbed second in the second, before JP and a few others snuck off the front. It was the perfect break - none of the guys in it were racing for the overall. Andy kept things at a nice pace back in the bunch - high enough to discourage bridging moves, slow enough to let JP et al increase their lead. We scrapped it out for the remaining point on offer in sprints 3 & 4 and then just before sprint 5, JP and crew lapped the field! So impressive. While I was insisting that this was race over, Andy cajoled me into going for the final sprint. The field was seriously broken up at this point and I snagged 4th in a fatigued mess. I was really pleased for JP - long live the king of Kissena points race!

Rolling round at the end, I stopped to check the kilo times in the track center. I was amazed to see I had won it! My time, 1.13.97, was an entire hundreth of a second ahead of Karl Nelson in 1.13.98. Must have been Ragot's wheels! And perhaps my new aerodynamic haircut. Oh, and did I mention how excellent the officials are at hand timing...?

This gave me a massive boost going into the final two races. I found out at the start of the scratch that I was joint first for the overall with Karl and Al. The scratch race (truncated to 15 laps (from 20) following a nasty crash in the 4s Scratch that resulted in one guy breaking a collarbone) was fun. Unfortunately JP's attacks didn't quite stick this time and things came back together with about 10 to go. A super dangerous looking attack with Karl, Mark, Lucas Koehler and Al went. I had to follow - all that suffering at T-Town served me well and I bridged and sat in. 4 to go and Karl attacks solo. I couldn't follow and he's out there alone. 2 to go and Lucas attacks, leaving what looks like a 4 way race for 3rd. I'm not sure what happened next, but I just remember turning on the gas with 3/4 of a lap to go. I caught a very frustrated Lucas literally at the line and snagged second.

This was to prove vital - going into the last race, Karl was leading me by two points. In the final event, the match sprint, there was 7 points to the winner and only 4 to second. Furthermore, the officials radically changed the format - instead of qualifying and sprint heats, they used the kilo times to seed the top three riders in every category and had a single ride over 2 laps to decide the winner. With me, Al and Karl in the final, the equation was simple: win the ride and I took the overall. Lose and I lost the overall.

Queue a period of self-doubt and trying to get my head on. I knew I had the watts and match sprint experience to beat those guys, but I didn't want to be too confident. Plus they would inevitably go for a long sprint, if not from the gun, and try and catch me unawares. This is what I love but also hate about track racing - particularly sprinting - the waiting, the agonising and the psychology and everything coming down to one ride. After 10mins on the rollers and some sitting around getting in the zone, I was ready. The appearance of fellow sprinter and defending sprint champ Andrew LaCorte (out of action following a horrible training injury) was welcome - another sprinter to discuss tactics with. Plus he really doesn't like Barouh so he was really gunning for me, haha.

I drew the first lane in the sprint, Karl second, Al third. Rolled off, no attack from the gun from them, so I rolled around at the top, staring at them. Al then attacks going into turn three of the back straight. He got gap of about 20m and I caught him (well, Karl wasn't going to chase him, was he? ;-) ) going into turn one of the home straight with a lap to go (the sound of that bell always heightens the tension that bit more!). He immediately swung up the track and Karl messes up by going with him (If was him I would have just attacked underneath Al and me). I had them right where I wanted them - against the fence coming into the last 300m. Taking the bull by the horns, I went for it from the top of the track, but not quite generating as much killer power as I would have wanted, had them both on my wheel. Turning the gas on going into turn 3, I felt under control. With Karl beginning to creep up on me a little coming into turn 4, I turned on some more gas, head down, and kept it going to the line. I think I took by maybe a bike length or two, enough time to risk the wrath of the officials by punching the air as I crossed the line.

In the wait for the medals to be handed out, Karl told me how much they feared me going into the champs - until a month ago they hadn't expected I could stick it in the bunch races. Tbh I surprised myself that I could stick it and do well in bunch races and I've really enjoyed re-discovering that.

After having a celebratory pint with Andy and Aaron, I finally had dinner at 10pm - after eating only Clif Bars (4), bananas, Snickers, water, Gatorade and four cans of Red Bull all day, it was great to re-discover real food again....

I'm delighted to have won and put the club back on the NY track racing map, not just with this, but (I hope) helping to introduce a whole new set of riders to the track. Asides from "old hands" like JP and Ragot re-discovering their track legs, Andy has made great progress in the 1/2/3s. He did some great rides on Sunday, acting as domestique when JP or me needed him in the points and scratch (take the level of misguided frustration from Brean re us "playing sneaky team tactics" as the ultimate compliment!) and showed some great dedication in training these last few months. And we have a great bunch of 4s - Mattie, Aaron and Jeff - hope you can all push on next season. As for you 5s and everyone else - time to get stuck into training and race the champs next year as 4s! And Kate, Anna and Erika - those Pink Rhino women really do need beating some time soon ;-)

Not to end on a sad note, but due to not being able to get another visa (long story), I have to leave the US in a month's time. But I'll be back - in the short term, I'll be back in NY every couple of months for a week or so, and then in a year or less with a new long term visa. And in the meantime, I'll be around virtually and more than happy to help with training questions, track racing questions and everything in between.

But before then, celebratory beers anyone..?

I couldnt think of a better way to close such a memorable season. Our line up for the day really summed up the sprit of Kissena. Experienced accomplished veterans(Jp, Kieran and Ragot) sharing their knowledge and wisdom with enthusiastic up and commers(Arron, Mattie, Whitey and myself). Also it was great to have support from Phillip and David. David showed up bright and early and did everything short of massage.

Opened up with the team sprint. I'm man one and Kieran has been priming me for this opening 400 meters since July. He has taught me a lot this summer and going up to the line I'm trying to remember all of it. I do my silly wanna be track sprinter rituals where I sit up, look straight ahead at the trees past turn 1, take a deep breath and drop down into the handle bars. These rituals look silly but are important in keeping the anxiety in check. So an annoying thing about Kissena is you don't get a count down for the start. While Kieran was teaching the standing start he pointed out how when you watch the Olympics or world champs or whatever, the guys and gals use the count down to rhythmically swing their weight all the way back then all the way foward for the start. Even in my brief career as a ski racer you did the same thing at the start. At Kissena it's just"... Ready? Boom!" . We are off and I'm a little slow in the start. I hear a scream at me "come on!!!!!"and hearing that gives me the jolt on top of my gear. I get up to the 200 meter still excelerating. I hit turn three flat out and all im focused on is not letting this speed drop off. I see the pursuit line in the home stretch and gradually pull off letting Leahy and The Hammer come through.

Unfortunately there is a bit of separation between Ragot and Kieran but they recover and we are still able to take third and pull off a respectable time of 1:28 something.

Kilo: shit happens. Literally. I'm warming up for the most dreaded Kilo when I realize I have to take a piss. Hope off and run to my bush of choice. On the way back I think "huh why is there mud over here?" Hope back on the rollers and my cleat won't pop in. Shit! It's covered in shit! I take the shoe off and scrap around look for something to clean it with... Next thing I know I'm getting called up to the line... Boom! Good start get up to cruising speed and pop down on the saddle. Something's moving... Why is my saddle shifting up? I try and pedal through it but become frustrated and pull the plug. I go and sit down and see Kieran start. Another rider comments " he went out to fast". I comment explaining"... the fastest 500 wins the race". Then get on the rollers and enjoy watching this guys look when Leahy finishes strong. Kieran literally dies on the infield. Gil, one of track regulars and friend of Kissena clocks him at 1:13 something. Holly shit!!! Around this time Ragot sais good bye and Jp shows up.

Points race:
Jp, Kieran and I worked out the strategy for this race in a topic secret meeting held in my car on the way home from t-town two weeks ago. Jp would attack and ideally get in a break with racers who are not in contention for the overall. I would hang back and cover those who threaten the overall and Kieran would suck up remaining points. So yeah that's exactly what happend. I forget where but Jp started a break with Daniel Lim, Kieth Hatton and some MIT guy. The omnium contenders got caught asleep at the wheel and next thing we know jp and his break has a 200 meter lead that is still growing in distance. I did my best to control the pace and discourage bridge attempts riding the front, and chaising down Al, Mark and Karl. Jp laps the field and Kieran has been doing a good job scooping up what little points are available. Kieran wins the final sprint and we are done. JP defends his points race title and Leahy is in good position to win the overall. Damn it feels good when a plan works out perfect.

I was going to write a part ii but I honestly can't recall what I did in the scratch race.

David, thanks for the awesome photos and video (never seen myself do a kilo, haha)! And for the support in general yesterday - invaluable on long days like those.

Should have some of my own photos soon - some good racing snaps. In the meantime, how about this for a group shot..?

More sensible post-medal group shot...

"I surprised myself that I could stick it and do well in bunch races and I've really enjoyed re-discovering that."

Kieran, does that mean our 123 road crew might get a sprinter?

Congrats to all btw, very impressive results!

Loved being at the track yesterday and wish I could have stayed for the rest of it.  @Kieran, maybe celebratory drinks and grub on Saturday night, after the Kissena Championships?  Might be a good way to wrap up the summer!

John Malcolmson said:

Kieran, does that mean our 123 road crew might get a sprinter?

Haha, cheers John, nice thought, but in a word, no

Bunch races on the track - yes; bunch races on the road <yawn> ;-)

Andy, the Parks Dept called - they said something about finding your towel at the track...?

I take the shoe off and scrap around look for something to clean it with...

Funny enough... Mark just called me asking if it was mine and said he put in the trailer... Uhh

Another one.

Andrew Da Silva said:

Another one.

Was this before or after I dropped the f-bomb on Aaron? (Apologies again for that mate!)

Kieran, what an awesome report! One hundredth of a second? Fantastic - watching the video I now know what people have been talking about when they worry about your bike exploding... I'm bummed to hear about the Visa shenanigans - doesn't the INS understand how critical you are to our budding track programme? Bastards. How soon do you have to leave? It's going to take a very large number of skinny armed road cyclist to hoist you in the air...

You wouldn't want to meet these dudes in a dark alley. What a bunch of thugs!