Summer Track Racing

Summer time usually means one thing - track racing!!

Well, track racing starts WAY earlier for us at Hellyer Velodrome. By the time summer rolls around, and other tracks start their summer racing series, we already have 2 months in! Wednesday nights are pretty much my favorite at Hellyer.

This year I got a new bike from Neil Pryde. LOVE IT!

Nothing like night racing at Hellyer!

Sweet new Jakroo track kit!

Thank you sponsors - xoxo!

I have been doing summer track races outside of Hellyer since ... hmm, 2009 or so. "Summer Camp" as we called it would be doing the 3 most fun track races ever on the West Coast -- Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge and Marymoor Grand Prix, and our home track race, Hellyer Velodrome Challenge. That is how I met all my track friends - and got a real love for track racing. Thanks to all my friends from the summers of 2009 - 2012! Here is a great photo at Alpenrose in 2010 - that was a fun year!

Love you all!!!

The last few summers, though, my "summer camp" has shifted, and I haven't gotten to attend my favorite races. Trying to get UCI points, different training schedule, etc. But with that, I've gotten to do some different track races and see some new places! This year, like last year, I went to Trexlertown, PA for a week. My new coach, Brian Walton, had a track camp for some of us - so I got to do a race in TTown as part of that training camp. Here are some photos with my new bike! I got third in the Points race that weekend.

My new sponsor, Bike Flights, made traveling very easy this summer - as i could ship my bikes for a fraction of the cost of flying with them!

Then I headed to Colorado Springs for some altitude training and more UCI track races.

Here is me at Garden of the Gods when I first got to Colorado Springs.

The bicycle crow was awaiting me as I checked into the OTC.

The racing in Colorado was great racing! It was three UCI races in total. The first set of races was awesome - really competitive. The second race had a bunch of rain delays - but it is moments like those - where everyone is sitting huddling under a tent waiting for the track to dry - when memories are made!

I was pretty close to the podium on several occasions (4th in the Points the first race and 5th in the omnium the 2nd race), but finally got on the podium for the last race, in the IP - where I set a good time for me (3:42).

Sadly, no photographers at the Colorado Springs track races, but here is a podium picture and photo of the tshirt I won.

After the track races, I stayed for a week to get some more altitude training and got to train at the new Boulder Valley Velodrome. That place was so cool! What great construction and layout! I trained there a few days and then did their weekly race series, and they even let me jump in their State Championship Points race with the men - which was 160 laps! That was the longest points race i ever did and I was stoked to stay on lap! I had a really fun training at this track!

Well, those were my summer track races. Not quite the same as the races at Alpenrose and Marymoor... with infield pizza parites and races where you get $5 for being first across the line EVERY LAP... but fun in a different way. It is great seeing how different tracks run events and be a part! The one thing you can guarantee going to a new track is meeting a new track family of friendly folks - and now I have 11 different track families in the US!