Pursuit 2.0, Sprints and the weekend

Pursuit 2.0 went a lot better than the first one. My splits were steady, my legs felt good, my time was much better and it was not 55 degrees. I rolled a 3:53.08, 7 seconds faster than the week before, which put me in 2nd place for the night behind Per. But I did get to ride against Markwelder, who in his first Pursuit ever did a 3:56 for 4th place.
Sprints on Friday was fun. Mark decided to come out too and try his hand at some fast twitch racing. I had to do a 200 and put down a 12.09 which put me in the first sport in the A group. Mark’s 200 was like watching a puppy run with paws that are way too big. He did a 13 something with bad form and was placed in the B group. Both Dans, David and Matt showed up for the beginner races, but only Matt and David got in because the field filled up. The A group was good, but some of the good sprinters like Brian and Stephen did not show up. My evening included sitting around the infield talking to Mark and the other lovers, and then getting up to ride three laps. Repeat three times. My last ride was against Kevin Mansker. After watching him do his two races, I confirmed he really only has one more, which was ramping it up with a lap to go and then putting in a big acceleration on the back straight to pull ahead. I figured I could match that acceleration, but was not too confident that I could come around if I was still behind him. So, the last race went something like this.
Kevin draws front position and rolls out very slowly. I take about three pedals, see he is just looking at me and then I jump hard. He jumped too, but I had a gap. Knowing he would catch me, I don’t exactly keep it full throttle, but just enough to keep him chasing me down hard. Coming into corner one on the second lap, I rip up track and then down track to get on him wheel. At this time, Kevin keeps the pace up and rolls around to get the bell with me on his wheel. I come up next to him exiting corner two. He tries hi s back straight acceleration, but perhaps found his match was burnt in the first lap. I stay with him, and then I accelerate.
I got a bit on color form the sun on our ride Saturday. Saltzman, Skyline, Rock Creek, Skyline. Do you see the trend? Yes, it was hilly, but I never expect anything different from the Lovers. Pete Groblewski came out with us and we made things fun with some mad cat and mouse racing along Skyline.
I took Sunday off and spend the day with Andrea and my family. We took the train up to Seattle, bought some beers and watch a Mariners game. It was a good time and the first baseball game that Andrea had ever been to.