Remember my race report on the Individual 500TT I wrote? After my f’d up start? And remember I vowed my ass would be on fire ?for the Team Sprint coming up the following Sunday? ??
Never under estimate an angry sprinter!

During the week, my coach and I talked about the Team Sprint before I left to go back up again to the Nationals on Saturday and how my partner and I should be able to win the stars and bars no problem, given my time in the individual sprint and the fact I was going to be carrying the first lap.

In fact, in his ever “take it up a notch” coaching style, he even gave me a?little “smack” to deliver a la my partner to ensure some race motivation; “tell her your goal is to drop her, that should put a bug up her”.

With a big, wide grin, I told her exactly that. I gave her all the warning I could that I was going to deliver a flipp’n fast, first lap. ??

Now, when it was our turn to race the Team Sprint on Sunday, about 5 people around the start line ran over?to assure me I had the best track bike holder at the event. A UCI official who really understood the job. I guess enough word got out that I was unhappy with the random holder they seemingly found somewhere asleep in the park on the day of my individual 500. ??

We lined up on the track to race; they were running 2 teams up, opposite sides, at one time. We were set; the clock was running down and with a few seconds to go I hear pssssstttttt! My partner had a rear flat. Everyone was called off the track and a nice gal near the start loaned my partner her 14″?rear carbon disk wheel, which was actually a really nice wheel! ??

So we get back on the track, everyone loads up, the clock starts counting down to the final second and I nailed the all time perfect start. It was spectacular if I do say so myself. A nano second before the last beep sounded to go, I was already rocketing forward so I hit the timer perfectly with great momentum. I was steel straight off the line, not a hair to the left, not a hair to the right. ??

I flew up that track as promised; like my ass was on fire! However, I flew up the track so fast, well, my partner never got on my wheel. As a matter of fact, she said after the race she had become completely blurry eyed trying. As I went through the start finish I swung up track and I looked down track then waited. And waited. And waited. She was at the apex of turn 4 as I had crossed the start line. That?ain’t just a little gap folks, that’s a ride aboard the SS “See Ya Later”. She had done 660 sprint all by herself. Not exactly a stellar “team” performance for us.

She tried as hard as she could, but we ended up missing the gold by 3/10ths of a second. So, silver was to be mine…AGAIN. Argh! ?

Sometimes you are clearly the fastest in your field that day, but the stars just aren’t gonna align and you can’t make them.

Yeah, like that’s a reason!
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