LAVRA Cup TT and Omnium (Series 1) Post-Race Report

ADT Event Center's First series of Omnium of the year started well. Time trials were held in the morning and an Omnium later in the afternoon. This series consists of 5 TTs and Omniums that is scheduled over the next few months. To be eligible for the LAVRA Cup, the rider must participate in all the same TTs and /or Omniums. So this means, everyone who competed last Saturday has the chance to win the Cup. This also turned out to be an important event if you are aiming for the Cup, as the overall winner will receive a trophy and a jersey. Example: Wilson raced the Cat1/2/3 Omnium and I raced the flying 200M, 500M time trials, and Master's 40+ Omnium. So in a way, we are stuck with those races but can still participate in all other races. So far so good! All other stronger riders who did not show up and starts competing later means they are not in contention for the Cup. So let's hope that we can be there for the whole series.

That day started really early preparing for the TTs. Unloading all your gear, prepping-up to get on the track, registration, hoping to get someone pin your race number properly, and your warm-ups. Found out I was the first off the line to do the Flying 200M TT, with another 19 trackies after me. So far, preparing up to that moment was just as planned. The sprint itself felt fine and had lots of time resting for the 500M TT. I didn't have any problems changing to a different wheelset and gear ratio as I was the 5th person off the gate. This event is not my specialty but I can get used to it. My gear turned out to be lighter than I expected but still managed a decent result. This 2-lap sprint off the gate felt endless as I was pushing the bike hard all the way to the finish. After cooling down, I immediately prepared to go home for some decent meal and much needed rest. I tell you, I felt refreshed after I returned for the Omnium! Just the kind of break I needed! Here's a nice pic of the Velodrome with an ADOBO Velo in the mix.

The afternoon Omnium was another hectic beginning as the dugout was packed and no where to mark your spot. My area in the morning was taken when I returned and I ended up with someone else's spot. I guess it was a domino effect. Wilson was there ready to race and was scheduled for Cat1/2/3 Omnium with 4 races: a 70-lap Points Race, 20-lap Tempo Race, Miss N'Out, and lastly a 20-lap Scratch Race. I was scheduled for Master's 40+ Omnium with 3 races, Miss N'Out, a 15-lap Scratch Race and lastly a 30-lap Points Race. Ayvel, Louie, Rosalie, Oscar, and Gil with his family were there for the festivities. Our races were hard and brutal that it didn't seem we had any decent finishes. Wilson earned points from his 2 races and used all his strength for a tight finish in the last race. It was about the same for my races also. As it turned out, we gave some decent competition and we had some respectable overall finishes. Hopefully you had the chance to see the pictures taken by Rosalie and Louie which are now posted in our picasaweb album. Here's another nice pic! Wilson Blas racing against Justin Williams of Rock Racing during the Points Race.

By the way, the results were just posted and you can see them at ADT's website. Here's some details: Wilson: 4th in the Scratch Race and 6th in the Miss N'Out. Arden: 6th in the Miss N'Out, 5th in the Scratch Race, and 4th in the Points Race. You will be amazed once you see them on-line. Check them out! I myself was amazed… Now it's just a matter of training constantly and compete in the other events. Remember, we have to be there at all other LAVRA Cup events! Here's the results. Many thanks for the members who were there for the moral support and your posts of appreciation!

California State Masters Track Championships at San Diego Velodrome

Hi all! State Masters Track Championships happened this past weekend with great memories and accomplishments! Arden Arindaeng racing for South Bay Wheelmen competed in the 40-44 age group Match Sprints during the day and followed by Team Sprints later in the afternoon. His Flying 200 meter Time Trial for the Match Sprint seeding didn’t turn out that fast and was not of importance since there were only 8 people who registered which automatically made them all qualified for the event. He closely won the quarter finals against a stocky muscle-built sprinter Michael Hulse but lost in the semifinals against Eric Manuel, this year's overall winner of the Bob Hansing Memorial Series 40+ Category. This meant competing for 3rd place which happened to be against Tony Zaldua, Wilson Blas’ teammate. Arden was so happy to win this race convincingly for the Bronze Medal! Here's a few pictures at the starting line: (top) against Eric, next photo against Tony Zaldua. The third picture was the Match Sprints awards.

Later in the day, Eric Manuel, Paul Avila, and Arden signed up for the team sprints and they named their team “Team Effort”. It was a hard 3 lap sprint as they only lost half a second to the second place team and a second from the fastest team! Arden was the 2nd sprinter in their arrangement. Not bad since they didn’t have a chance to practice together! Here's a pic of the Team Sprints awards. Next is Arden just showing off the 2 bronze medals he won.

The whole Meatheads and a few South Bay Wheelmen where there Saturday and Sunday, competing and raking up the medals. It was hectic at first and busy throughout the day. But they had a great time and even joked around. Overall, it was a good experience and a weekend to be cherished especially that his wife Trelly was there for the inspiration and his much needed assistance. She also took pictures and videos!

Here's the trophy from Encino Velodrome's Bob Hansing Memorial Series together with the State Masters Medals...

You can check more pics at picasaweb.google.com/adobovelo

Next in the agenda is the upcoming ADT Championships and then at San Jose, California for the Masters Nationals Track Championships. Wish him luck!

Arden Doing Well in JUNE 2008 Ominium Events

The Encino Velodrome organizer informed our track/omnium racer Arden Arindaeng is ahead in the leaderboard for the 40+ Overall Sprint Trophy. (June 2008 Results)

Arden concentrates in 3 events: 200m TT, Match Sprints, and Keirins.

Don't worry if you don't know what's a keirin. See here.

Invented by the Japanese as a betting sport in 1948, it's a track cycling event that's 2 KM long, with a mass start, and involves a motor-pacer (which could be either a standard motorcycle, a special motorcycle called a "derny" made just for the keirin, or a tandem bicycle) .

Six to 9 Riders draw lottery to determine start positions. Riders must remain behind the "pacer", who first goes slow (about 25 KPH), gradually increasing in speed. The pacer leaves the track about 700 meters before the end, at a speed of about 50 km/h.

What's a scratch race ? It's where all contestants start from scratch ( on equal terms, not staggered start). If one rider (or a breakaway group of riders) gains an entire lap on the peloton and keeps this to the finish, this advantage places the breakaway rider/group ahead of the other riders with fewer laps completed.)

Arden's chosen 3 events do not cover all the 5 events in an"omnium", so he cannot compete in the overall.

OK, OK, you're asking..., what the heck is a OMNUIM?

You can be forgiven for asking. It has not been held at UCI events at world championship level for almost 40 years. It's a competition where the cyclist must be well-rounded because he/she must accumulate points in multi-disciplinary events, in the same vein as track and field's "pentathlon" where you must run, jump, throw, and shoot rifles.

In modern track cycling competition, a cyclist is either a sprinter, or an endurance rider. Few cyclists have the well-rounded ability to be competitive in both disciplines. The track-and-field world is the same, where you have 100-meter sprinters unable to compete in 1,500 meters or marathons, and vice-versa.

In the newly re-instituted modern omnium (UCI 2006), individual competitors accumulate points in five events, in the following order:

• 200M Flying Start Time Trial
• 5 KM Scratch race
• 3 KM Individual Pursuit (or 2KM for Juniors), with the starting seeding determined by their finish in the previous scratch race event (so dropping off the back of the bunch in the scratch race is not a good strategy)
• 15 KM Points race (with a minimum of 5 intermediate, and the sixth being the final sprint)
• And then to cap it off, a 1 KM Time Trial, generally regarded in the track cycling world as one of the hardest and most violent minutes of any cyclist's life. In the omnium, the riders will ride off in pairs, pursuit-style.

Now, back to Arden's performance. The posted results showed Arden's name underlined in green (Sprint Leader) At the previous Sprint Ominuim he finished 2nd in the 40+ group.

Look for the 40+ , and Cat3/4 Categories. Look for Wilson's name too.

Coming up:

There's one more "Bob Hansing Memorial Cup" competition coming up the following weekend (click here) but its an endurance omnium (no sprint events, only 5 medium/long events), but Arden might not race that.

(OK, too many names. WHO IS BOB HANSING? What? You don't know? That's OK.

He's an insider and pioneer to the bicycling industry. Founder of the Montrose Bike Shop in February 1955, and the Montrose Cycle Club (from which emerged several national and Olympic cyclists). A founder of the Encino Velodrome. 1968 U.S. Olympic Cycling Coach in Mexico City. Manager of the Pan-American team in Columbia in 1971. President of Shimano American Corporation, where he retired in 1971.)

Next for Arden are events held at the 3 Southern California velodromes: Encino, Home Depot/ADT in Carson, and San Diego, those three constitute one big tournament called the "SoCal Cup".

So, to repeat, Arden is in line to win the 40+ Sprint Trophy, but not for the over-all Omnium (because you must compete in all 5 multi-disciplinary events, whereas Arden is concentrating first on just 3 events). He is accumulating valuable experience, and getting ready mentally for bigger things/events.
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The Keirin Finals didn't look so well because his team's tactics didn't work as planned for his teammate. To gain points, his teammate needed (but failed) to finish well. But the qualifier round worked as planned for Arden because of his team's help. Arden's teammate Shawn covered his back the whole time allowing Arden to finish 1st.