Track cycling at Bellville velodrome, South Africa

Track cycling at Bellville velodrome, South Africa
Track cycling at Bellville velodrome, South Africa

Track cycling blog

Blog about the sport of track cycling where races are run on banked tracks or velodromes using fixed gear track bicycles.

Saturday 8 October 2011

Bittersweet

My training program paid off dividends as I set my quickets 200m qualifying time at the Bellville velodrome at the Intellibus track cycling meeting on Tuesday, 13 September 2011. This was good enough to qualify 4th overall in the B-category where I am currently competing.

This also put me through to the keirin final since only the top 6 sprinters are invited to the keirin competition.

The first event after the sprint qualifying was the points race. I managed to take a point at the first sprint of the race. I stayed close to the front of the race and was strong enough to attempt a break away close to midway through the race. However I was closed down quickly by attentive riding from the riders at the head of the bunch.

My race ended shortly after when in one the final sprints I was taken out by two other riders in the back straight. It seems that the second rider behind me lost control and hit the rider in front of him. This rider in turn hit my back wheel causing me to highside.

They were both fine, but the outcome for me was worse with the outcome being a broken collarbone and helmet. Thank goodness for modern technology since the helmet saved me from head injuries and the surgery enabled me to be mobile in two weeks after the broken clavicle was mended. I'm looking forward to climb back on the indoor trainer and also to the 31st of October where I'll most likely receive an all clear from the docter.

Fortunately I'm an all round cyclist and the plan is to ease back into the sport and to put more focus on the kilo and pursuit events for the time being.

It was indeed bittersweet to be in my best form of the season and also to realize that the accident could have been much worse. I'm very grateful to everyone that supported me after the accident and for the fact that I'm making a full recovery.

The next event in the summer series is on 11 October and I'll be managing a Trackcyclingsa team in the team pursuit at this meeting.

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