Tamara Stephas

I just got back from Master’s Track Nationals, and was it ever a blast!! Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown is a great facility! It felt like the big leagues indeed, from the huge grandstand to the lighted display board – now I can finally say I have had my name in lights. The competition was big league, too. I heard this was the toughest women’s field in years, and I believe it. The racing was fast and aggressive. Needless to say, I didn’t place as well as I had dreamed of – but it was good enough for my first year competing at that level, and Marymoor took away our share of the medals. I was the best sprinter of the pursuiters and the fastest pursuiter of the sprinters in my age group. This failure to specialize placed me in the top 10 pretty much everywhere, top 5 in the pursuit and sprint, and 4th in the omnium. I redeemed my points race after the FSA, and would have earned most aggressive rider if they were giving an award. I also raced the team pursuit with my teammate Christiane Rekai, Jane Chateaubriand (Starbucks), and Cynthia Corbett from Texas. We rode a beautiful pursuit if I do say so myself, and won bronze even though – or probably because – we brought sprinter Jane to a pursuit party! Huge thanks to my coach Kenny Williams, who taught me how to prepare for this level of competition – and then supported half a dozen athletes through five days on what appeared to be about two hours of sleep. And of course to my love Michael without whom etc. He provided 24/7 moral support despite a broken collarbone. The entire Marymoor contingent rocked.

Trexlertown infield set up for Natz

The track has a bridge, so racers can cross to the infield during races

Coach Kenny knows everyone, so we had trackside storage for our bikes.

Annette modeling the first of many jerseys she will win this year.

I got on the podium a few times myself

Annette and Jane both on this podium - must have been something sprinty

Teammate Christi earned a medal too

Jane and Donna: the sprinters confer

Team pursuit podium. Not bad for a pickup team!

The FSA Grand Prix was a huge event for Marymoor velodrome and for my team who put it on. But it was mixed for me. The level of competition was amazing, with huge women’s fields, and competitors from all over the U.S. as well as Canada and as far away as New Zealand. I was competitive in the 3K pursuit, but had a terrible points race. Maybe I was having depth perception problems because I’m still monocular, or maybe I’m still gunshy from the accident last year, but it was just too aggressive for me, and I didn’t feel able to protect my front wheel. I ended up taking myself out of competition by deliberately dropping off the back of the field, though I finished the race.  It was very frustrating to feel like I had the strength but not the chops. That’s not like me at all, and I was really second-guessing my dedication to the sport and my ability to compete at the elite level.

I felt terrible until sprinting started the next day, but sprinting reminded me why this is such a fun sport! I raced well against some awesome women, and made some very smart moves, ending up 6th in the sprints. My weekend was made when I realized that I had qualified for Elite Nationals in both sprints and endurance. Apparently I don’t stink quite as bad as I thought. My plan is still to race Masters (age-graded) instead of Elite (open), but qualifying certainly gives my confidence a huge boost.