Day #14

I wish we could have some do overs today (I'll get to the BUT in a minute).
Collectively, we just didn't ride to potential.

Only the top 3 could qualify in the 10-man scratch race heats for the 13-14. They all rode "fine", but tactically, Hunter and Noah rode more like they were protecting themselves than racing like they normally do. Nationals is a pressure cooker, especially when you have to get through qualifiers. They ended up 5th or so in each of their heats. Both rode strong, but when riding like you are hoping to set it up for a bunch sprint at the end, it helps to be one of the best pure sprinters. We'll work on it.

Imari rode a very clean race, was listening well, responding well, and read the race's final two laps perfectly. Made the jump, took the lane, and very nearly upset a whole bunch of people. 4th in his heat.

So, we missed out on getting anyone in the finals for the Scratch race. That's hard for me to swallow on a coaching level. BUT, we were right there. At NATIONALS. This isn't a Friday Night race on the track where we are just barely missing out locally. This is the best in the country.


Speaking of best in the country...
Austin rode the pursuit qualifiers in the morning as well. He hasn't done but maybe 1 or 2 of these, ever. He couldn't remember doing one at all, so maybe there's that. Anyway, I did some finger and toe math to come up with a pacing schedule. His start was (no exaggerating) world class. After the first two laps, it was clear that the pace I projected was too conservative.

Austin poured it on, riding very steady splits. He ended up 5th on the day (which is a medal at Nationals), but missed out on riding the finals, which only takes the top 4. His first individual medal at Nationals, and a solid second day of Redemption Week.


Royce rode his 500m TT in the evening. It's no secret we've all been working with Royce on his confidence. From a coaching standpoint, it's maddening that someone with so much talent has this kind of road block. But on a personal level, for no other reason than that I love the kid, I would do anything to get him to where he feels and acts like he can blow it up at will, because he really can.

With the TT, it's just him against him, really, and they'll put the times up and sort them out. He rode right at his personal best time. he finished 20th, which is 5 spots higher than last year in this event. But as soon as he came off the track, he rattled off 4 or 5 things that could have been done better/right/etc. That's a lot in a 38second event. He was hundredths away from top 12 or so.

The pursuit medal ceremony was the last thing of the night, so it was an early morning and late night. Equals long day.



We've talked race strategy, psychology, equipment, and come up with what we're going to try to do today. It's not going to be a secret. We're going to ride to our strengths. Divide and conquer. No more sitting and waiting for the sprint, especially since that doesn't suit our all-around type riders we have. We're going to run it like Austin did his points race.

If you are doing the 13-14 points races today, and you don't like races with lots of attacks...today is going to suck for you. We may not make the finals today, but we're going to make an impact.


Royce has a scratch race heat this morning. The pressure is heavy on him for various reasons, all of which are understandable. Like the younger ones, he's going to come out fighting. If you are going to get your ass kicked, you might as well throw a punch and try to connect at least once.

Austin is part of a composite group to make a team pursuit, and they are doing some work with that today. Come to think of it, this is kinda funny. He's racing for a composite team in the first place, and now riding on a composite team from that. Divide by 5, subtract 3, carry the 1...