The Saturday evening session was all about the madison. Daniel and Colby rode a great race, scoring points and attacking at will. They overcame a few obstacles and road aggressive the entire race, they launched what ended up being the winning move and shattered the filed in the process, only the Danish (Saxo Bank) team of Michael Morkov and Alex Rasmussen were able to stay on terms in the thick of the chaos, earning the World title in the process. Daniel went long on the last sprint only to get nipped @ the line, taking 2nd in the final sprint (and 8th on the night).

Shelley raced the points on Sunday, it didn’t quite go according to plan. She escaped a near race ending crash early in the race. I celebrated as if she won when I saw he make it through. No points late in the race forced her to look for a lap, with 14 or 15 to go she got into a promising three rider move, took a pull, swung up track then right back down into Lizie Armestead...who was heading up track rather than pulling through. It’s hard to place blame, Shelley was in full gas attack mode and came down hot...assuming the other riders had committed. She had no chance, her front wheel overlapped big time w/ Lizzie and Shelley came tumbling down hard in a spectacular replay worthy crash. I ran across the infield assuming the worse, only to find Shelley up on her feet checking her bike and body for functionality. She was thrown back in a lap before the 10-to-go sprint, then attacked w/ Cali Willams w/ 7 to go. The field gave them a bit of room for a few laps, but got back to business as 2nd and 3rd place were still up for grabs. They got rolled w/ 3 or 4 to go, then rode the pack home for 16th place.

The rest of the night included Taylors omnium ride, the woman’s keiren, and the epic battle between Gregory Bauge and my new favorite sprinter Azizulhasni Awang.

Posted some pics of the morning session, the men were riding their 200’s, and the women riding the omnium. Canada’s Tara Whitten is my new 2nd favorite rider, she manhandled the group in the scratch, bridging up to a group of two, then attacking them and leaving them for dead w/ about 6 to go. She held on for the win by 50m w/ the pack closing fast behind, while the other two were scooped up by the on the last lap...ouch! Bravo Tara!

Much better day of photos, figured out the white balance and put some more time into the fisheye. Shelley put on a great show in the scratch, attacking solo mid race and getting up to 1/2 lap, eventually two bridged across (Canada’s Tara Whitten and Spain’s Leire Olaberria)..the Spanish girl started f-ing around straight away, and 2 more bridged up...6 is way too many, and organization broke down. It was a shame, cause the original group of 3 was the perfect mix. Tara W was very impressive, her and Shelley were the main aggressors, everyone else was pure negativity...and sure enough they all got worked by the Cuban in the end (she was the hands down favorite for a bunch sprint). Shelley was cooked in the end and rolled in 12th, not contesting the sprint.

Up next, madison. Taylor rides the omnium on Sunday and Shelley has the points on Sunday.

I never got a photographer pass, so I can’t get on the track...but I can get on the infield, so will focus more on shots of people warming up and such. I rented a few lenses...2.8 fisheye, 50mm 1.4, 24-70 2.8...plus my 70-200 2.8. I shot all day underexposed and w/ incorrect white balance...thats why they are all a bit yellow, hopefully I will get that sorted out today. I was also trying not to use my flash, there is almost enough light to get away w/ it. Daniel raced the scratch last night, a group of 6 lapped, so that ended his race. Shelley races scratch tonight, stay tuned.

Pics posted here.

After a heroic bridge to certain peril in the scratch I quickly found myself OTB...so I got a few pics of the scratch, a couple shots of people, and Tim got a few of the madison (but I gave him my camera w/ some funky flash and shutter speed settings that made it almost impossible to get proper shots...but he did manage to get a few good ones of me;)

I leave for Poland on Wed, and have a bunch of cool glass lined up...although I am still waiting to hear about press credentials.

Got me some strobes (big ass flashes), this changes everything, I might have to start taking pics of things that don’t have wheels...watch out Pendleton!

I brought the hog out to Hellyer for some pre-worlds moto-pace action. The Proman girls had their new Hit Squad kits, so some photos were in order. Below is Nicola showing off her new TT position. Thanks to all the sprinters who let us hijack their session! And Tim Brennan who snapped some shots while I was driving the hog.

I am working on a press pass for Poland, hopefully I can get on the track and document some glory. Stay tuned. Also, don’t forget about RTWC on Thursday March 19th.