Picking up on Thursday Evening:
I was happy with my TT performance and I was giddy with excitement about getting on the Velodrome. I woke up Friday and I was more or less bouncing off the walls. We were only about a mile from the velodrome (!) so we rode our bikes to the track. They didn't let us ride track bikes since our track orientation was really short and the tandems were going to have freewheels and brakes. They cut us loose and I spent the first 3 laps timidly picking my way around the track on the pole line because the banking, at 33 degrees, was intimidating. As I picked up speed my inhibitions faded away and I started riding higher and used more of the track. Greta was training that day and pulled me around for a while. She took me up to the rail and dropped to the bottom of the track. That was fun. Then me, Matt, and Andy did some paceline work using the turns to peel off, Team Pursuit style. I had fun on the Velodrome, word is that my smile became progressivly larger the more times I lapped the track.
After lunch we rode up to Gold Camp Rd for some hill repeats. Those hurt a lot, but the view from the top was pretty spectacular. We were close to 1000ft higher than Colo Springs(6000ft) and could see the entire city and the plains beyond.
Saturday was day of truth. A timed 3k Pursuit foillowed by a timed Kilo. We used our road bikes but we were supposed to start in the gear we would ride the whole time. I started off well but put far too much juice into the first 3 laps and spent the last 6 trying to minimize my losses. My time ended up missing the Emerging Standard by less than 2 seconds. Even with my terrible pacing schedule I was in pain, 9 laps around 7-eleven is a long time. I expected to do better in the Pursuit than the Kilo so I had no expectations going into the Kilo effort. The result was me making the Emerging Standard with time to spare and the second fastest time of the day, and a nasty nasty hacking cough. I will be interested in seeing if I continue to be better at the Kilo as I progress or if I will gravitate towards Pursuit as my size would suggest.
I went a little crazy with the cookies and desserts that evening since the camp was over and my season was on the brink. Our meeting that night was a lot of fun, lots of jokes flew around the room. We watched some videos from the Beijing Paralympics at the Velodrome. It was fun and sad because we all knew we were leaving the next day to return to the real world.
The things I took away from this camp have a lot to do with my future in bike racing. I know that my goal is to qualify for Para-Cycling Worlds in 2009 and to live in Colorado Springs so I can be near the program and the Velodrome. After riding a better Kilo than Pursuit I am not as likely to try to box myself into one riding style or strength, and I think that I may turn my focus to track racing once I have access to a Velodrome. I can still race and train on the road, but US Para already has a CP4 (my disability class) rider who focuses on road. I think I can distinguish myself from Mike by being the CP4 track rider on the team.
Next season looks like this right now. Greenville Training Series, Walnut Grove, Rock Hill Omnium, Athens Twilight, any TTs I can find, graduate from college, and live in Colo Springs for 3-4 weeks leading up to track and road nationals which should serve as World Champ qualifiers. London sits off in the distance but it is always sitting in the back of my mind.
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