Marymoor Grand Prix

The last set of races was an Omnium up in Seattle at the Marymoor Grand Prix. Many talented riders showed up, but not quite at the caliber of TTown or Colorado Springs. I was excited about this one. The track mirrors Northbrook pretty well, I was feeling well rested and trained after those long stints, and most of all – we were at sea level, I could breathe. If anyone’s not familiar with the format of a UCI omnium, it’s a series of six events over two days (Scratch, Individual Pursuit, Elimination, Kilo, Flying Lap, Points Race) where you’re awarded points based on how you finish (1^st – 40, 2^nd – 38, etc). The last race of the sequence is a 40k Points Race where you simply add (or subtract) to your point total based on the points race itself. The Scratch Race went off and I missed the move late but ended up fine for points placing 6^th and same with the Elimination as I placed 5^th not losing hardly any ground to the leaders. What shocked me most were the individual events as I broke out a bit and finished really well in each - Individual Pursuit (3^rd), Kilo (4^th), and the Flying Lap (2^nd). I positioned myself in 4^th heading into the Points Race not too far off a podium spot. Even though the caliber of racers ahead of me was really impressive, I figured I’d try to go for it and see if I couldn’t get on the podium rather than consolidate and hold onto a Top 5 position. As the race went on, me and the other podium riders (who couldn’t catch the guy in first) all were marking each other hard to stay on the podium. The only catch was we couldn’t mark everyone and the guys sitting in 5^th and 6^th ended up having phenomenal races and leapfrogged all of us in the standings. Had I not let the guys in 5^th or 6^th go, I would have certainly finished Top 5 rather than sixth, but I’d have probably kicked myself for not going for the podium. Also, simply being ‘racey’ against guys of that caliber is a learning experience in and of itself. Mixed emotions on the finish but a race that I had an outstanding time at and will definitely look to do again. Lessons learned 1) strategy is huge in omniums and since so many points are out there in the points race, it’s never over for anyone 2) success at this level is sort of possible, and 3) maybe I should just be a sprinter, riding 2 to 6 laps at a time seems a whole lot easier.

Katie and I also got to enjoy a few days in and around Seattle. We hiked around a nice park near where we stayed at the track. We went out one night to an awesome cocktail bar called Canon and also checked out the Pikes Place Market for a few hours. The Pacific Northwest is nice. I think we’re going to put this one on the calendar again next year.