The Ada State Criterium Championship was near the beginning of August. It was a pretty fast crit. I ended up 15th or so. Bleh.
The NAS-Track Championship was dubbed "the most strategic NAS-TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP EVER!" Unlike the regular season races, Dale let us pick our Madison partners (prom dates). I originally asked Luke to prom, but then he bailed on me because he was able to convince Rippin' Ronnie to come out of retirement. I bawled my eyes out for a few days and moped around the house, wondering why he bailed on me. Was it because I'm fat? Am I not beautiful enough for him?
Well, after a whole bunch of shuffling of prom dates, I eventually paired with Tom Elias. He looked so beautiful in his blue jersey on the special day. Our chemistry clicked and we did some awesome teamwork to defeat Rippin' and Luke and become the NAS-Track champions by a mere three points! (93 to 90)
Then I raced the BTR Park Criterium. The course was really boring (as usual) and the turnout was so small and the dropout rate so large that anyone who finished got money. Track racing is a lot more fun.
Next, I hopped into the first day of the NAS-Track Six Day. There weren't enough "A" riders so Dale paired us with the inferior "AA" riders. Bruce Carlson and I were paired together. He rode his balls off and we ended up in a respectable third place.
I didn't race the rest of the Six Day to prepare for the real race - the UCI Madison Cup in Trexlertown, PA. Luke and I drove out there Thursday for the Friday night races.
Trexlertown is a LOT different from Bloomer. It's a giant venue with grandstands on either side of the track. I counted (estimated) at least 1500 people there watching! Not only were both grandstands full, but the catered VIP area in the center was packed, and the rail was lined three-deep all the way around. The crowd really pumped Luke and I up.
The racing turned out to be really fast and chaotic. The program consisted of 60-lap, 30-lap, and 100-lap Madisons (equivalent in distance to 100, 50, and 166 laps at Bloomer). Considering the competition we were up against, Luke and I didn't really plan on getting many points. Instead, our strategy was to stay on the lead lap. It worked out well and we ended up in 9th place out of 12.
Garmin-Chipotle (Dan Holloway and Colby Pearce) took the win for the night.
(I'm wearing a Wolverine jersey in the Madison pictures because partners have to wear the same jersey. Don't get any ideas, Luke!)
On Sunday, I raced in the Elite category at Pontiac Lake. I rode hard and pulled off an 8th place (out of 11), proving that I still can ride a mountain bike! Yay!
This weekend, I'll be racing at Erie Street (probably) and Cross Creek (definitely). Then I'll race Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor the next week as a warm-up for Collegiate Track Nationals.
