Weekend Recap

Advanced Sprint Clinic by Jennie Reed

On Saturday, March 21, twenty-four lucky attendees enjoyed two hours of match sprint and keirin tactics from our locally-grown superstar Jennie Reed. The venue at Redmond Town Center, the SecondStory Hideaway, formerly the Big Picture Theater, offered up beverages, comfortable theater seats, and the biggest projection surface I’ve ever seen bicycle racing on! Jennie led us through a great curated list of videos of male and female match sprint and keirin racing over the past decade. 

We began with match sprinting, and analyzed videos exemplifying techniques like the “razor” (done well and done poorly), leading from the front, pushing from behind, and insightful discussion of several “what do I do when…” scenarios, including how to beat a roadie with tactical savvy. We took a break for beer, wine and Coca-cola, and then after a bit more match sprint discussion, we moved on to the keirin. We discussed what tactics to employ if you find yourself in the 1-2-3 spots, or the 4-5-6+ spots, how to surf wheels to a good result against faster riders, and finally wrapped up with the video of Jennie’s win in the 2008 keirin world championship. It was an excellent clinic, and left us clearly wanting for more, but the two hours was up way too quickly. Thanks to SecondStory Repertory for the great venue and for quenching our thirst, and thanks to Jennie for sharing her experience and knowledge with us. I hope we can do this again!

Roller Racing at Element Cycles E-Lab