A good night for the guys in green! It's the first half of Omnium Week at the track. An Omnium is an event combining five events to declare an overall winner. Tonight saw the first three events: the flying 200m sprint, a 500m ITT (normally a Kilo, but no need to put people through that ;) and a 5km Scratch race (4km for the B's). (The Omnium concludes on Thursday with a 3km Pursuit, and a 16km Points Race.)

Several riders were cracking 13 seconds tonite; when i went, it was a surprisingly fast night and i was in a bit too light of a gear (48x15) so i felt like i could have gotten a better time. When i jumped, it was barely an acceleration, and i got a 13"30. Marty was 2nd last, and i knew he could pull a good 200m, and he did, setting a PB at our track of 12"50 - Marty FLEW!! That landed him in 1st place in the sprints, and i finished a paltry 6th (of 8). In the B's, Evan got a PB, but couldn't match the top end of his competitors, and finished 4th (of 4).

Next up was the 500m ITT. Simple event, standing start, and a lap and a half of the track. I broke out my full aero gear, bars and helmet... I've had solid 500m sprints in the past, so fingers were crossed for tonite. There were some fast times out there, but no one was cracking 40 seconds. I line up, i'm still in my 48x15. I figured it was better to be spinning at the end than fading and grinding...that's really gross. Not much to it, i launch, get up to speed, drop into the bars, and hold it. Again, felt like a hair too light of a gear, but i stopped the clock at 38"73, landing me at the top of the list so far - woot!! The Shish has good 500m power. Marty was up again, and rocketed off, and likely would have topped my time, but a headwind came out of nowhere in his final corners, and he finished 3rd with a 39"23. 1st & 3rd, not too shabby there. Evan i believe rode another PB on the 500m, but he's got tough and seasoned opponents in the B group, and so again settled for 4th.

Final event of the night was the 5k Scratch race. I had no idea how i'd do... I'd ridden longer than i felt i should have the day before, and my legs were a bit fatigued, but heck, i'll do what i could. Again, 8 of us started, with Marty my only ally... I commented on the start that this was my first race without Emile (where were ya??) in a LONG time!!! My break-away partner was MIA!! Noo!!

Anyway, sat in a few laps, pace was fairly low, i got to the front and rocketed off!! Two people tagged along for the adventure, Dave M and this years main nemesis Chris A. We carry the pace and make good ground on the pack, tho Marty is doing a good job of keeping them under control. A lap later, Marcus busts away from the chase, and connects with us. I'm alright with that, he prolly blew a lot of steam just catching us.

I keep doing strong pulls, even doing a full lap to further our lead on the chasers. Each time i'm at the front i pick it up several KPH, in the 45-46 range, i'm feeling *solid*. Laps are counting down, and i can tell the other guys are pretty spent. I'm on the front when we see 1 lap to go, and once again i fire up the afterburners and bust away from the group, confident in my 500m power!! I'm giving it *everything* i've got.....coming in the home stretch i'm still mashing the pedals and feeling strong, and i hear from the infield 'you've got it', i look back, and YES!!! I'm clear by 20-30m - WOOOOOOOT!!!!!! I normally HATE the shorter bunch races, but man, this felt GOOD. In the chase group, Marty out-sprints the other three contenders and collects 5th, so 1st & 5th for us. In the B scratch, Evan stuck with the bunch until the final laps when a youngster powered away, and the other two riders chased hard, but Evan rode well and again took 4th.

In the Omnium standings Marty is in 2nd with 9pts, and i'm in 1st with 8pts. (Lower number is better.) Next is Marcus with 10pts, will have to be wary of him on Thursday. I can take him in the pursuit pretty handily, but the Points race might be more of a battle... Evan won't be completing the Omnium on Thursday, but is doing an endurance MTB race on Saturday, good luck!! And it's worth mentioning this was Evan's first night of actual racing on the track, so big props to him for coming out, hope to see you back more. =)

That's a wrap!!