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 (1st
– 40, 2nd – 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 6th and same with the Elimination as I
placed 5th 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 (3rd), Kilo (4th), and
the Flying Lap (2nd). I positioned myself in 4th 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 5th
and 6th ended up having phenomenal races and leapfrogged all of us
in the standings. Had I not let the guys in 5th or 6th
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.