So the days leading up to Madison Cup were definately motivational draining! God decided to open the clouds on the Friday of Madison Cup, he seemed to do this a lot and only on Fridays!!!
It rained all morning on Friday, cleared up around lunch time so we did things as usual, had a big pre-race meal at 4.30pm then it rained again so the decision was made to call off Friday and postpone racing to 7.30pm Saturday night... Lying around the house doing nothing for 2 days while the weather was crap wasn't easy! Saturday was foggy all day so we were unsure if racing was going to be on but had to go through the pre-race motions again and to be honest we either wanted it to piss down with rain, or clear up! Funnily enough at about 5pm the fog disappeared and it was looking good to race. So we headed to the track ready for a big nights racing.
Madison cup is a two man event and the overall winner from is crowned from the results of 4 race's. On the programme for Madison Cup was a 50lap Madison (16.6km), a 10lap scratch race, there was 2 heats and each partner went in different heats, and a 100lap Madison (33km). The pairings for us kiwi's were Shane Archbold and Tom Scully, Shem Rodger and Jason Christie, and Aaron Gate with myself.
We lined up for the first race, did 13 laps then a massive thunderstorm rolled in and held up racing by an hour and a half! They had a car on the track trying to dry it while we waited under the grand stand out of the rain, slowly loosing motivation! Finally the track dried and we were back out their finishing off the 37laps of the first Madison, there was a lot on the line of Madison cup. Shane was 2nd in rider of the year just one point behind a Argentinian rider and one point ahead of a Aussie.
First Madison couldn't have turned out any better! Shane and Tom 1st, Shem and Jason 2nd, Me and Gatey 4th, as well as me and Gatey picking up 2 cash primes during it. The Aussie rider who was 3rd in rider of the year got 3rd in the first race so we had to be on our game for the next few race's, but the little Argy rider didn't place which was good!
The scratch races were interesting, and ended up being that riders who we knew wouldn't keep up in the last Madison and didn't get any placings in the first Madison were all going for the win while we were watching the riders who were up for rider of the year and who we knew would be dangerous in the final 100lap Madison. We scored points in both scratch races so we were still in the lead overall with Shane and Tom.
Around came the final Madison and we were sitting well to take Madison cup and rider of the year with Shane but the 100lap is a long race and anything could happen! The first 20laps of the race were pretty controlled, Aaron and myself picked up a few early cash sprint primes. Shortly after the second sprint the pace went on and the gaps started to appear with groups forming around the track. All 3 Kiwi teams were in the front group, along with a few other strong teams. Shem and Jason took a lap solo about half way into the race with Shane and Tom winning points on sprint laps through the race... Shane/Tom along with Shem/Jase were first and second, so it was up to Gatey and I to keep the front of the race together and make sure we looked after the other two kiwi teams. Shane/Tom initiated an attack and Shem/Jase followed along with two other teams who we knew weren't up to win Madison cup or rider of the year so we were safe! Aaron and I sat on the front and let them get a lap.
Shem/Jason won the overall night of Madison Cup, Shane/Tom got 3rd overall and had enough points to win rider of the year! Aaron and myself rode for the other two teams picking up cash prizes along the way so all and all it turned out to be a almost perfect night for the kiwi team!
After Madison Cup we packed up our gear, spent a night in New York and hoped on a plane to Los Angeles, then from Los Angeles to Auckland and I was finally home after a long but enjoyable 5 months!
Since being home I have been catching up with friends and family, training and also some lab testing over on the North Shore at the Millenium Institute of Sport! In less than 3 weeks I will be heading down to Invercargill for a Elite Track Camp which is 2 weeks long, then I will continue my build up to Oceania Games in Invercargill on 11th November.
Until something exciting happens, take care!
