It's begun

It was as if the entire sky had been waiting for months for May 1^st to come around. And it welcomed the many brave riders who gathered at Alpenrose with warm rays of sunshine. Last night was opening night at our little track and everyone was in great spirits and happy to be riding brakeless bikes ones more.

It was an especially big night for Andrea as it marked her first time of being back on the track after being sidelined with knee injuries for over a year. She came out with a bang, riding a near perfect 500 and posted the fastest time of the evening with 40.9 seconds. With a little technique work and some more intensity training that will come later in the year, she will be well under 40 seconds by the time AVC rolls around.

With a full schedule of racers out for the evenings events, 75 racers in all, it was long wait until I finally got to take my shot at the kilo TT. Kilos in May are always interesting and this one was no different. It was the first time this year that I had ridden my race gear. Actually, the first pedal of my race was the first time on that gear this year. My race went fairly well, although my head was not really in the game. My start felt strong and my pace felt steady, but I did not feel really explosive. I actually felt more like a pursuiter, floating my pedal strokes often, than an explosive kilo rider. My last lap was hard, but I didn’t feel as taxed as I normally do and I was able to keep the pace steady. I rolled in with a 1:11.60. It’s a good time, but not quite as fast a the 1:11.08 I did last year in May.

Mass start racing starts tomorrow at the Eric Kautzky Memorial race. My teammate Mark will be looking to defend his title, so I will most likely be playing a good teammate and hopefully we can put the hurt on some people.