The AVCs+FSA

One of the greatest things about track racing on the West Coast is the series of multiple-day track races held throughout the summer. It starts with the American Velodrome Championship in San Jose, California, heads to Portland for the Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge, and then up to Seattle for the FSA Grand Prix. If you go to one, you'll probably go to all of them. The racing is hard, the fields are stacked, and the people are amazing. Most of all, everyone wants to have a good time, so the atmosphere is almost entirely positive and stress-free. Last year I went to the Portland and Seattle races, but this year I hit all three, and I couldn't be happier about it.

1. San Jose: I'm in the Bay, Trick.

Jen, Tela, and I headed south in what would soon turn out to be an epic journey. We drove Maggie, the VW bus. Maggie is big, Maggie is beautiful, but Maggie has no air conditioning and only agrees to go 35 mph up hills. For this reason, we split the drive up into two days, pulling over on the side of a road near Grants Pass to pop up the camper and sleep. Unfortunately, we had parked about 15 feet away from a railroad track. That night my dreams were filled with locomotives and hobos jumping from abandoned trains. We arrived the next day, picked up Christine, and drove straight to the track.

This was the first time I had raced on the track all summer. I was happy to be riding for Broadmark and to have the best teammates out there (despite yellow not really being my color). For the first time we had ever ridden together, we worked very well as a team, got some wine primes, and celebrated pretty much the whole time (regardless to whether or not there was anything to celebrate). Thanks to Rick Adams, the promoter of Hellyer Velodrome, we stayed in comfort and luxury in Palo Alto.

The ride home, was....hot. In the central valley we endured temperatures of around 111 degrees for 5 hours straight. We stuck it out though, taking a quick dip in Lake Shasta to try and cool off. When we finally made it to the mountains, we could not have been happier. For a while, I thought I could never be cold again. But since then, I admit, I have been cold at least 10 times.

2. Portland: Let me see your hips swing.

This time, apologizing profusely to Maggie before leaving her in Seattle, we packed up our new travel companion Suzie. Suzie is big and beautiful, too, but she has air conditioning and keeps a constant speed on an incline. Sadly Suzie has no loyalty to us, so it took us about 10 minutes to start her every time we took the key out.

Alpenrose is a terrifying track. Its banking is at 46 degrees and it's 266 meters; small and steep. The most terrifying part is the warm-up. But after that, the racing is FUN. The track forces the races to be fast the whole time. This time I decided to just do the endurance events (plus keirin) and was much happier. Some highlighted results of the weekend include Tela and Jen 2nd in team sprint, Tela third in Sprints, sixth in the keirin, Jen third in the points, Christine 4th, and I actually won the points race! Beating Erica Allar by 1 point. I also got 4th in the scratch. Overall, a very successful weekend all around. Big thanks to Daryl Hemenway, our host, who lives about a mile from the track, made for convenient and quick trips back and forth.

3. Seattle: She's a whooty.

Home track. Home track? Yeah, I guess I can say that now. This was the first and only qualifier that I would be able to attend, so I was pretty stressed about it. But, turns out, the stress was unnecessary. First event: 3k pursuit. I got third, 2 seconds behind Shelley Olds and Jen. Pleased. Now that qualifying was out of the way, I was able to relax, the way I LIKE to race. I ended up qualifying in the scratch and the points, too, 4th in both (but 3rd discounting Laura, who is an Aussie). Jen got 3rd in the points, Tela got 5th in the sprints, and then Christine and Jen got 2nd in the madison! Beating Proman! It was so cool! I did the madison for the first time, too, with Heather VanValkenburg from Portland. I had never done an exchange before, but Heather was super experienced and it's actually pretty natural. I REALLY liked it. Word on the street is that this year they're having a women's madison at Nationals! So I'm trying to convince Tela the Crane to do it with me. But she's turned me down before, so I won't hold my breath.

Really great weekend! And what better way to follow it up than a taco truck visit and then a ride down to Matthews Beach. Perfect.

So what's next?? I'm headed down to Bend this weekend for the U23 Nationals Criterium. I opted out of the road race and the time trial, I am not suited so well for those courses. Then the 5th I'm headed down to Chula Vista, CA to spend a few days at the Olympic Training Center. I'm really really really (times 20) excited for that, but also really really really (times 30) nervous. After that, it's track all the way to October. Though, I am starting to get worried about not being on a track for a month before Nationals. We will see!

Here are some assorted photos: