Category: A
Result: Back of pack

This evening, I attended my first Friday Night Breaking Away event at the track. The main difference between this and the Wednesday racing is that there is money on the line for the evening and season omniums. In the Friday events there is also a match sprint competition. The prize money attracted a field of 20 A riders including Pritpal and myself and around 14 B's giving some competitive races.

I am still learning the ropes racing with the A's, and my main observation from tonight's racing is how much more comfortable people are being at close quarters with others in this group. I noticed it in myself - in the warm-up, I was maybe a foot or so away from the rider in front, but in the racing, where the draft is all-important, I was much closer, and happy to ride shoulder-to-shoulder defending a wheel. In general, the A's are closer together and at crucial times there are lots of little movements made which attempt to provoke responses from other riders. At times it can look squirly, but most of the time it is controlled and only occasionally is it unsafe.

We had four events tonight - 12-lap scratch, unknown distance, de'il and 45 lap points race. The scratch race was treated basically as a warm-up - it was slower than the racing on Wednesday, save for Larry Nolan's sprint from 1.5 laps out. The unknown distance was quicker, with quite a few accelerations with a group getting off the front and staying away.

In the de'il, I made an effort to ride at the front again for a few laps so that I wasn't the first out. With 20 riders, it was a long de'il. Pritpal did well, sitting in a good initial position. However, this position became a boxed-in position when the numbers reduced and he got squeezed out at the bottom of the track.

Finally we had the long points race, though 45 laps isn't as long as it sometimes is. This was quick from the whistle, with people attacking immediately. I think I did my fastest riding on lap 2. I managed to stay with the main field throughout the race. At one point there was a group of 6 or so riders off the front and the rest of us chased. We got a good, smooth effort going, and even though a few riders were not contributing, those of us who were were able to bring the break back. This was a very nice piece of riding.

I was pleased that I was able to hang in there the full distance in the points race with the rest of the A's. I don't yet have the ability to contest the sprints in the races, though I can now hang on during the sprints. My riding is generally spent reacting to other people's attacks. It will be a while before I will be able to launch attacks which will have any hope of succeeding!

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