Last night I made the trip down south the Matteson Il, the South Chicago Wheelman put on training crits around the Ace Hardware Paint Factory. There are three races of various length around a 1km oval with sweeping wide turns, points are accumulated for the night, but results aren't why I race there. Matteson is where you learn to race. When I stated racing last year I was terrible, I would get dropped. My excess weight and lack of fitness were my main racing limiters. By late May /early June I had taken care of the excess weight and managed to improve my fitness, but I still wasn't racing very well. I quickly realized that I was simply scared to turn in the pack. I would lose position and burn myself out chasing back to the group. So I went to Matteson and somehow a night of racing there fixed the problem. The pressure free atmosphere really clammed me down, and I was able to work on my turning, after that night at Matteson my fear of turning in the pack was gone and I was able to hold the pack in races, I learned how to race that night.
Last night's training crits kicked off the SCW Tuesday Night Series for the season. The weather was great, 80 degrees at the start, however the winds were strong. Here is a summary of the three B (4/5) races from last night.
Race 1: 8 laps - Riders attempt to strech the field's legs with an attacks (self included), nothing succeeds, field calms down, a few riders pull threw, pace is nice, ken from Bellum Racing rides away from group to the win.
Race 2: 18 laps - Pace starts quick, I attack early just to have some fun, others attack, all is brought together, others attack, with 2 to go Ken attacks, I almost cook the second turn of the last lap trying to chase down Ken, have to touch the brakes to readjust, i save it. Ken rides away to another win.
Race 3 -8 laps - I attack from the start (after saying at the start "I refuse to chase Ken this time"), open a nice gap, scw guy comes to work with me, wind sooo strong it dies after one lap, for the next 3 or 4 laps I continue with attacks that go no where. Ken rides off the front to another win. I finish 3rd in the sprint.
All and all it was a great workout, threw down a bunch of attacks which was a goal for the night, worked the legs and got a out of work riding in the wind, that will be good prep for the race this week.
Hope to be down on the southside again next week.
Tonight the Wednesday Night Ride begins, see you at JJ Peppers.
Why you should race Matteson by Luke
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