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Team TIAA-CREF - 2005
Team Journal Entry - September 1, 2005, by Chad Hartley
Tag team racing
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Track racing is easily the black sheep of the cycling family. Obscure, misunderstood, easily forgotten, track goes unnoticed most of the time, unless you happen to know one of the few people that have ever raced around the bowl.
That's a shame, as track is the most straightforward type of racing going - just pedal faster. I've had very limited exposure to the track, but every time I've done it I left wanting more. So this year when the idea was raised to start a small track programme I was really excited. But like anything involved with a cycling team, there are always a few kinks to be worked out. When Track Nationals rolled around we were all wishing we had a few more races under our belts.
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The week-long event was hard on the legs and head. Morning sessions, evening sessions, we were going through four sets of clothing a day. On the last day of racing came the Madison, our last chance to go for the gold. The Madison is Colby's favorite event and quickly becoming mine. In case you have never seen a Madison, I'm sorry there is no way to accurately describe it. It's a cross between bike racing and professional wrestling, but it's real. Only one of the riders on a team are 'in' racing at a time, the rider who is 'out' circles slowly at the top of track waiting for his teammate to come by again. Every time teammates pass, one swings down, they hold hands for a little bit, and the rider gets thrown in. A Madison is not like any other race, it's more like a training workout from hell, 45 seconds max effort, 45 seconds off - for 45 minutes!
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Once the race started all my nerves settled and things started to go well. Colby 'M*F*' Pearce was hitting the group perfectly, and we won the first two sprints easily. After a while I could tell the 'M*F*' was really in effect, I would look across track on relief just in time to see Colby blasting off the front, again. The field, and I, let out a collective groan. Most of the race is lost in my lactate-fogged memory, but I do remember the exchange when Colby told me "THIS IS IT, THIS IS THE RACE!!" We were away solo, beginning to lap the field. After that it seemed like a neverending cycle of; Breath, breath, breath, sprint, sprint, sprint. Eventually we had the number two team in the same straight, and we knew we had it, we had won the national championship, and it was my first national championship. It was a day I had been waiting for, and felt better then I could have imagined. To share that feeling, that glory, the sense of achievement with a teammate was awesome, Team victory is always better then individual because everybody is on top of the world. That day was definitely one of the best I have ever had.
A whole new direction seems to have opened up, and I am looking forward to where it may take me.
Thanks for reading, and 'til next time
Chad
