6 years, well almost 6 years give or take a few months. That’s quite a break between my last track/velodrome race week, late fall of 2019 in Manchester, UK and Colorado Springs August of 2025. Whew! I still have the same coach and similar ride and training program as I did back then when MN still had a velodrome to use for training, racing and Worlds prep.
My focus has been significantly different, with a focus on long endurance efforts versus short and intense track races. Bikes, multi speed, gravel and road bikes versus single speed, no brake track bikes. Fit in a 2022 ride across Australia which is the absolute complete opposite of my best ride in Manchester of 5 kilometers at an average speed of 45 kph plus.
Not that I haven’t missed track racing, I certainly have, but with the closest track to MN a 5-hour drive east and the closest 250-meter velodrome an 18-hour drive west, well a bit awkward at best.
My first National Track race was in 2009 at the Colorado Springs 330-meter track. 2025, yes, a chance to close out my National Race career, you guessed it, Colorado Springs. An interesting idea, can it happen? Let’s see.
March of 2025, I spent two weeks in Colorado riding and training on the Erie Boulder Valley Velodrome 250-meter track and the Colorado Springs 330-meter track. Over 5000 feet of elevation to adjust to and plenty of track bike tricks to remember. Fixed gear, no coasting, no brakes, ah yes, I am starting to remember. As it happened, acclimating to the altitude was the most difficult, about a week and a half before I started to feel track race fit again. The body really can remember the thousands of kilometers I invested during almost 15+ years of track racing.
Fast forward to the end of July 2025 and I am driving the two-day trek from MN to western Nebraska and then to Longmont CO, first stop to start the acclimation process.
If you want to follow the rest of the 2025 2-week training and race adventures, just click on the below link or go to the MENU, at the top right of the Home Page and scroll way down to USA National Track Championships Events and click on the 2025 reports.
A truly amazing journey!