The 2019 Track Racing Campaign

It has been a long, long time since I have blogged. This is actually the first CWM blog for 2019, which is hard to believe given it is the middle of April.

There are two words that come to mind when I think about the 2019 track campaign...'long' and 'fruitful'. 'Long' because I feel like there was barely a break between the road state titles last year and the state madison title in October. That actually annoyed me because I very much like having some good chunks of time across the year where I am still training hard, but in an unstructured and fun way. The campaign went all the way until mid-April making for a seven month season. 'Fruitful' because...well it went okay, with some big goals ticked off. 

1st: Queensland Championships - Madison (MMAS): I teamed up with Andy Patten to win this one. Low numbers of entries in all divisions meant a combined event of Masters, Elite and Under 19 riders, which made the pace pretty hot for us old fellas. It was disappointing to see the limited number of entries in what has to be one of my favourite forms of bike racing. Andy and I had never raced a madison together (Andy's first ever) and it took us a little while to get our changes working well. A tough night out but a state title is a state title.

2nd: Queensland Championships - Time Trial (MMAS 4): It was mid-January when the Queensland Masters Track Championships started, opening with the time trial. This was definitely not my kind of event and I really only rode it as a warm up for the scratch race that was later that evening. I did manage a PB of 52.8 which was good enough for silver.

1st: Queensland Championships - Scratch Race (MMAS 4): This was a combined MMAS 4 & 5 field with seperate medals. I rode really aggressively and early on was a third of a lap up on the field in a two man break with Michael O'Donoghue. Unfortunately there was a crash behind us (a pretty bad one) and we had to restart. It was not quite the same the second time around and it ended up in a field sprint. I was third across the line and first in MMAS 4. 

1st: Queensland Championships - Omnium (MMAS 4): I wanted this one pretty badly. It was contested as a combined MMAS 1-4 field and a win would mean the gold for me three years in a row. I rode aggressively all day and sealed it with a solo lap taken in the points race. I was very, very happy to win this.

1st: Queensland Championships - Individual Pursuit (MMAS 4): Day three of the titles meant tired legs but there was still work to be done. The omnium the day before had left me sore but I had to ignore that and get on with it. I had been training very hard for the IP and wanted a PB and the win. Fortunately, I managed both. A PB of 3.32.9 in qualifying and then a catch in the final for the win.

1st: Queensland Championships - Points Race (MMAS 4): The points race was later the same day and I was running on empty. It was contested in a combined MMAS 1-4 field with seperate medals. Somehow I managed to still have legs that worked and I ended up second overall and first in MMAS 4. I was very happy to end the state titles with that result. 

3rd: Queensland Championships - Omnium (Elite): Call me stupid, over-ambitious, whatever, but a couple of weeks later I had a crack at the elite omnium. I tried to ride with my head as well as my legs and it worked out okay. I was full of cramp near the end of the last event (points race) but managed to do enough to hang onto a podium spot. Pretty happy to be on that podium! 

2nd: Australian Championships - Scratch Race (MMAS 4): So fast forward a couple of months and it was time for the Australian Masters Track Championships, with the scratch race first up. I tried to ride aggressively but I wasn't given any room by the other riders and we ended up in a reduced field sprint. I locked onto last year's winner Matthew Glanville from NSW and fortunately a late attack gave us a perfect lead out. I tried to come over Matt on the finish straight but couldn't get there. All in all a good start to the titles.

1st: Australian Championships - Individual Pursuit (MMAS 4): I had been preparing for this one for what felt like ages. The conditions on the track were average, but I was still hopeful of qualifying with a PB and making the gold medal final. Under the watchful eye of John Eder who called my schedule, I did manage the PB (only just) with a 3.32.6 and that put me in the gold final as fastest qualifier against last year's winner, Matt Bowman from Victoria. I rode a 3.33.9 in the final which was good enough for the win. To be fair I did ease off in the home straight as I could see I was a good handful of seconds up on Matt (5.93 to be exact). I had an incredible sense of relief at this result and really felt like the pressure was off. The event I had focussed on for so long had gone to plan and I was for the first time an Australian champion in an individual event. Happy days!

1st: Australian Championships - Team Pursuit (150+ Masters): I was a part of a team in the 150+ years category, where the youngest three riders combined must be at least 150 years old. I had Karl Morris from Toowoomba, Andy Patten from Brisbane and Anthony Mills from Townsville for company in the 2km event. Karl (as a well credentialed sprinter) did the start for us (two laps) leaving the rest to us to finish off. We had the luxury of qualifying last so we knew what time to ride. We were certainly a bit wobbly in our first ever ride together, but did manage a very comfortable 2.22.9 to qualify fastest. We came up against Tasmania in the final and unlike the first round, this time we were slick and organized and our time of 2.17.6 showed it. We won by 5.1 seconds.

1st: Australian Championships - Points Race (MMAS 4): The last event of the titles was one that I came second in last year in most frustrating circumstances. I am exceptionally happy with how the event rolled out this time around. I believe I rode a calculated and planned race and from the very first sprint felt like I had things under control. I accumulated 27 points which was enough for the win.

The big surprise of the titles, was the fact that I most unexpectedly managed to win the Champion of Champions award for MMAS 4. I honestly never considered that I would have enough points to get there, but with two wins and a second in the individual events, I got over the line.

So there you have it...a drawn out and successful track season and I honestly can't wait until next year. I can't thank my wife Nadine and two daughters Megan and Hayley enough for their support. Likewise, my coach Mark Brady who seems to have impeccable timing in terms of bringing me up to form at just the right time. I am also very fortunate to be racing in 2019 with the CompNOW Electrolite Racing Team. They are a great bunch of guys and we as a team are supported by many committed sponsors.

There is plenty of road racing between now and next track season, including the Masters QRTS, the Queensland Individual Time Trial Series and maybe (maybe) the Australian Masters Road Championships in Adelaide.