Can I say from the outset that I had absolutely zero expectations of a result in either of these two events. I still enjoy racing in the Elite category on occasions, but realistically had little chance of competing against 19 year olds from the Queensland Track team. These two races were about getting a good hit-out and the Individual Pursuit especially was a good chance to 'go through the routine' of racing that very specific event on the new Anna Meares indoor velodrome. I didn't really freshen up as such for these races (I just skipped one weights session and one indoor session), so the legs were 'okay but not great'.
Individual Pursuit (4 km)
I went out on a 4 min 54 sec schedule (as called by Rob Walker who did a great job). I definitely started too fast and was on a 4 min 52 sec at 2.5 km. I faded and ended up with a 4 min 56 sec, which is not too bad and put me in 9th place. There are two bits of good news to take out of this. Firstly, my masters state titles is only 3 km and I went through that distance in close to 3 min 41 - 42 sec. I am confident I can still take a couple of seconds off of that by the time I race my state titles, which will have me at the pointy end of the field. Secondly, there were two strong guys in there from my masters division, and I managed to beat them both.
Points Race (40 km)
As expected, this was a fast a frenetic affair. The first twenty laps were steady but then it picked up big time and pretty much stayed that way until the finish. I wasn't fast enough to go with the young guns when they were attacking, or to contest the sprints too much. I did manage to stay there though and even picked up three points. That little, meager tally of points was enough to scrape me an 8th place, which I was satisfied with.
So all in all, a good weekend. A good stepping stone on the way to masters states in a little over two weeks.
