First Day Track Nat's

So - quick updates: I was granted an upgrade, so I am eligible to race mass start events at Track Nationals. Yah! So, I booked my flight & booked it to LA. Yesterday morning, I realized that my plane was leaving last night, not this morning, like I thought - it had been awhile since I first booked my flight & I had been planning on leaving Wed. morning to minimize Hotel $, but later reconsidered after hearing how important it would be to have some track time before trying the whole competition thing out. Anyway, yesterday morning I was checking email at 6AM while drinking coffee & going through the whole relaxing morning routine when I saw an email from Alaska Airlines welcoming me to my flight. There was a little freaking out to be had while I packed my bike, rollers, equipment, tools, wheels, gears, clothes, etc. in a little under 45 min & then got ready for & to work by 7:30 with all luggage packed in the rally car. Why do I make it so difficult for myself? I don't know. Last week, I went to Vegas.
I forgot where I parked in the parking garage & spent an hour towing my luggage around looking for my car on 3 levels of the parking garage after getting in 5 hours later than I had planned due to mechanical issues with the plane I was supposed to be on. Sheesh! Luckily, Josh Simpson generously took me to the airport this time.

Anyway, I made it here to LA & spent some time on the track this AM. The wheels that Steve L. let me borrow work great. Jen, Kele, Jaimie, Wes, Dan, Adrian & some other Hagen's guy are all here, along with Kenny & other NWerners. It is really nice to see familiar faces.

The track is fast! It is 250 meters, wood & indoors. When you are up on the rail looking down, it is quite a sensation, like staring down a fat slide. This morning, during open track, it was kind of sketch for me with so many people zooming around, but everyone handles their bikes really well & there were only a few white knuckle moments. :) Getting on the track is ok, but getting off is tough. The straight-aways are so short & there were so many people on the track, I would have to sprint to the apron then jam on the brakes to get off. It was better just to keep rolling around.

Tomorrow is Pursuit & Scratch race for me. I want to make it to the finals in each. I know what I have to do & I feel pretty confident I can use my strengths to get it done.