Frozen Flatlands Omnium Day 2 - Taking it easy

Today was the second day of the Frozen Flatlands omnium put on by Baddlands Cycling Club. It was the third and final event of the omnium, a circuit race on the car road racing track at Spokane Raceway Park. Unlike last year, when the race was postponed for two hours while the track was snowplowed, the weather was great. The course was a little different than last year though. Due to resurfacing on the track's main straightaway, which doubles as a dragstrip, the organizers were required to be a little creative in creating a circuit. The resulting course used nearly all of the track except for the dragstrip and utilized about a quarter mile of narrow, infield road with some bad pavement. Certain sections were delineated by numerous cones and a 180 degree turn on the main straight about 400m from the finish line was also a necessary feature. An additional highlight was the "fence" running along most of the straightaway, including the area where the 180 was, that consisted of rebar set up for the new concrete walls to line the dragstrip. Certainly not something you would want to fall on or into. The organizers did a good job making do with the situation on the dragstrip and I feel the course was reasonably safe, but it did provide for some additional stress in a large Cat 4/5 field.

I felt quite good, even after yesterday's sufferfest in the road race, but decided not to take any chances in a nervous pack on a slightly sketchy course. I spent the race just sitting in and finished near the back, but comfortably in the bunch. My single point from the TT did net me 27th out of 77 competitors in Cat 4/5 for the weekend and just like every Baddlands event I've attended, this weekend's racing was well run. They do a great job with their races.

Last year was my best season ever and I didn't see anything this weekend to concern me that I am off my pace of last year. This season is off to a great start for me. Next up is the Wenatchee Ominium in a little less than six weeks.