Tapping into potential.

I signed up for the keirin with nothing to lose. I am an endurance rider and the keirin certainly falls into the sprinting realm, if you ask me. I went into the race with no expectations or pressure. The first heat I played the patience game and was close but not close enough. I definitely felt like I had a lot more speed and umph to give.

In the rep rounds, the top four advance into the semi-finals. I went in with a mission and accomplished it by making a move long before a lap to go and stuck it to the line.

In the semi-finals I remember thinking, I wonder how many girls make it through to the final? And crossed the finish line in the top four, advancing to the final. I found this out after the race from tela and we both laughed because I had no clue.

Going into the final I was giddy. And relaxed and probably a little annoying. I selected position one from the grab bag of marked golf balls. The gun went off and colleen took the motor and I seeded in to fifth wheel, out of eight. The speed increased, the motor dropped us off at 28mph and all of the girls in front of me moved up track, with the exception of colleen. I didn't hesitate at all and took the pole lane. Dana attacked over the top, Colleen accelerated, I matched her speed and we drilled it. Going into corner three I thought, holy shit! I could win this! But then walker came up and over and I came around Colleen and edged closer to dana - placing me in third. Let me repeat that, THIRD! In the keirin! I think I'm more surprised then anyone!

Next up: the points race. 40 laps with a field of 27. Beth jumped at the gun, setting a wicked fast tempo for the entire race. And letting everyone know we were here to race our bikes this year. Attack after attack snapped the rubber band in my non-existent track legs. I managed a point but had zero left in the tank. I think I placed 8th or so but had a huge smile on my face. Did I mention I got third in the keirin? Ha!

Next up: miss and out and the scratch race. Time to throw down again. Then in the morning I have an early flight home and grab the pooch and my sis as we head up to Bellingham for the state crit. Good times!