2011 Frozen Flatlands Omnium

Finally! This past weekend it was finally time to get out and race on the road. I made my annual trek to the Frozen Flatlands Omnium in Cheney, Washington. The weekend’s events included a short time trial and a 24 mile road race on Saturday and a 50 mile road race on Sunday. Points are awarded for high finishes in each event and the rider with the most points at the end of weekend wins. This was the fourth year I had raced in this omnium and as usual I approached the weekend of racing with training as my primary goal. I wanted to ride a solid time trial, but I had no expectations of results in the road races. As a bonus, I would be introducing two of my Methow Cycle & Sport – Blue Star Coffee Roasters Cycling Team junior teammates to the world of road racing as this would be their first time racing on pavement.


In all my previous visits to this race, weather has been a factor at some point and this trip was no different. Saturday we awoke to temperatures in the upper 30s and sideways rain with high winds. By the start of my time trial, at least the rain had ended but the cold and wind was still in full effect. This year, the organizers had required that “mass start legal” bikes be used for the time trial which meant no specialized time trial bikes with aero handlebars. Essentially, everyone rode their regular road racing machines. When the weather is crappy, it tends to dampen my enthusiasm and I’m a little slower to get my act together for my pre-race routine and thus my usual 45 minute warm up was more like 15 minutes. Despite that, my time trial went pretty well and I managed an eighth place in the Masters 40+ field.

The weather continued to improve and by the afternoon we had sunshine and dry roads for the weekend’s “short” road race of 24 miles. The wind was still howling and as the conditions had been identical last year, I was pretty confident of how the race would develop and where I would need to be when. Last year, the race broke up during the last 5 miles of rolling hills and crosswinds. I expected this year to be no different. Unfortunately, some inattention on my part found me bridging to rejoin the main field as we entered the last five miles when I realized that the half-dozen riders around me were no longer attached to the main group. I rejoined the main pack soon enough but the damage was done. As the pace hotted up and the wind and rollers did their part, I yo-yoed off the back a couple times and then was gone for good. I trailed into the finish off the back.

The “long” road race on Sunday was blessed with sunny weather and significantly lighter winds. Although it was another off-the-back finish for me (I’ve never finished the long road race in contact with the pack), I was very encouraged to have ridden comfortably in the pack for the first 40 miles to the key climb in the race before becoming detached. The weekend had met my goals going in: a solid time trial and some valuable road race training miles which will serve me well as the season progresses. As for the weekend omnium standings, my time trial netted me enough points to finish 19th in the Masters 40+ field.