Track 101

It's been over a week since I completed my Track 101 class at Major Taylor Velodrome, but it was a super busy week at work, so I didn't get a chance to blog.  I don't guess there is a whole to lot to report, but I did have lot of fun.

We started out with a short classroom session where the instructor explained the etiquette of track riding, then we got our bikes headed for the track.  We learned the basics of how to start and stop (harder on a fixie) and practiced balancing and bumping on the apron.  Then we took to the track in earnest with some paceline work.  We didn't really get into any full race skills, and I'm still a little scared of the idea of a sprint finish when I'm already gassed. Here's me pretending like I'm sprinting, but it's really only about 70% effort.

I mistakenly thought that once the class was completed that you were considered ready to race.  However, that is not the case, which was actually a bit of a relief when the clinic ended, and I definitely did not feel ready to race yet.  I guess I still need to do 2-3 more hours of practice track time and then I can enter the Thursday night intro races.  Then it will be a matter of proving to the local track authorities that I'm not a menace to society and can hold my own against the big girls on Friday nights without injuring myself or others.  That's all fine, since the track season is ending and CX is beginning, so I wasn't going to race track this season anyway.  I just need to get hella strong over the winter, save up for a bike, and then get my extra track time in April.  Then I can start working on my "Last Friday Night" parodies.

The good news is that the 2013 Giant catalog came out this week, and the new Omnium is white, which is more my style than the blue version I posted for "Want it Wednesday" a couple of weeks.  Picture this with some pink bar tape and a white and pink Fizik Vitesse saddle:

It'll be like New New's cute little metrosexual brother.