Last day of racing for me and the race that I have targeted, the scratch race. This is the easiest to follow in regards to rules. You all start as a group and charge round till ether everyone has crashed or you cross the finish line, usually after 40 laps. Just like a Saturday / Tuesday night race, but even easier to understand because unlike the road, we can only turn left at the corners so cutting down by 50% the decisions required to stay on course. If you factor in that a track bike has no gears to mess up when changing, you then ask the question "what could possibly go wrong".
Ramblers had also increased their presence by 100% as Karen Moore had turned up to watch the racing. She was a bit perturbed that no one had brakes and that it looked awfully dangerous, a fact supported by a four man crash that would have had bike shop owners weeping with joy in one of the heats, this resulting in a punctured lung and another previously mentioned traditional trip to A & E. I got through my heat and on to the final with all my skin still intact, quite confident that after winning a few sprints yesterday in the point's race I had the required speed, 60kph plus, needed to win if it was a bunch finish.
Naturally it all went pear shaped. One minor crash in the final caught my bike rear wheel but I was fine, meanwhile up front my German friends from yesterday were working together for the win. I got caught a couple of wheels back with five laps to go on the pole line and couldn't get forward as German one was providing the master race of all lead outs to German two. No one could move as we were packed in like high speed kamikaze sardines, the last laps were done as a high speed formation round the track.
One thing I have come away from these track worlds is that you can have all the right training and excellent form in the world but it makes it very tough unless you are racing lots on a wooden indoor velodrome against good competition.
Cheers
