National Track Championship, Carson, CA

Happenstance - a chance occurrence - started this latest adventure.

I recently bumped into Brett Weitzel, a fellow paracyclist, he asked if I was racing in the upcoming Track Nationals in Los Angeles (Carson, CA). I knew of the competition but did not realize they had a Paracycling division - they did.

I could not justify the large travel budget an LA hotel would require but I remembered there was an Los Angeles AFB so I looked into base housing. Their base housing is located on Fort MacArthur, an old Army base overlooking the Port of Los Angeles. They had an opening and the travel budget became more affordable. Plus I got to walk around a historic Army post on the edge of LA overlooking the Port of Los Angeles - it was really cool.

Barracks built in 1918 ringed the courtyard, an old guard station protected the buildings

Officer houses ring the parade ground - typical old Army post setup

Officer's Row

Lastly, I needed a bike that is specific to racing on the track. Track bikes have one gear, no brakes and you cannot coast - you must pedal always. Brett loaned me his carbon frame track bike yet the seat post was too tall for me and I was not going to cut his bike frame to fit me. That left me one option; convert an old 1986 steel frame bike into a single speed track bike. As you can see in the picture USA Cycling loaned out solid wheels to make us more aerodynamic though I was not surprised when the race official commented at the official weigh in "that's the heaviest bike of the week."

Cool looking but heavy

So all things came together at the last moment; I registered for two races, a 4km individual pursuit on Friday and a 1 km time trial on Sunday, I had housing and a bike. Off I drove to LA and the new adventure of riding on an indoor wooden track.

The track is 250 meters long, banked to 45 degrees in the corners and kind of scary at first. My leg issues limit my ability to pedal quickly so descending off the high banks freaked me out a little - I was going faster than I could pedal. It took some getting used to. Eventually I got the hang of it but I still would not enjoy some of the races the able bodied cyclists did that involved riding high on the bank and descending rapidly to overtake the other rider.

25 feet tall and banked to 45 degrees

The 4km individual pursuit did not go well at first, after three laps my chain came off. It came off due to a poor chain track and it being a little too loose. A fellow rider and an official helped me readjust things before I got a second chance to reride the 4km. I took off and rode the 16 laps as hard as I could - finished 5th. Good effort, slow time, I was disappointed.

Getting my game face on before Sunday's 1 km time trial

On Sunday I asked Tanya Martin, Scott Martin's wife, if she would videotape my ride. She graciously agreed and did a good job - I helped her follow me by riding a nice slow pace around the track....anything for a good picture. Actually, I went as hard as I could and rode my very fastest 1km. That may be my personal record but it still was only good enough for 5th place. It shows I have a long way to go to be competitive on the national stage. But I'll keep working and prepare for the 2013 paracycling competitions.

I am off to Ohio for a national training camp - it should be another wonderful cycling experience.