Facing Fears & Learning to Love the Track

By Susie 
Photos by John Davis, Julio Herndandez, Nik Bales, Peter Griffin, Nils Hilliard and Vihn Tran 

Racing comes easy for some people, I am not one of those people. A few years ago I broke my pelvis badly as the result of a crash on a group ride. I was on bed rest for 2 weeks and crutches for 3 months. I missed the entire CX season that year and basically had to relearn to ride a bike.

Since then riding in a pack has been more of a mental challenge for me. I used to be fearless and now I’m cautious. Gaining the courage just to get back out there and go on large group rides was a struggle. I raced track last year, but my main goal was to not die. Most races I’d hang out on a wheel I trusted and just aim to survive. I came back this season to face my fear and become stronger both physically and mentally on the track.

For the first season ever our team had sponsorship and the funding to pay for 100% of racing and training thanks to Thomas Forsyth, Wabi Cycles, and team fundraisers. The whole team went to Encino’s race school in March and attended as many weekly training sessions and clinics as we could. Having the team out there training together kept the energy up. We improved together and learned to race with each other instead of against each other. ​

Monday night sessions with Stefan taught me so much about riding and racing the track safely as well as kicking my ass on a weekly basis. I started to feel noticeably stronger every week. By the time spring racing started at Encino in April I was more confident on the track than I had ever been. I was ready to race not just sit in. I started instigating attacks not just responding to them. For the first time I was actually having fun out there racing. ​

12 omniums later I’m a much smarter, stronger, and braver racer. I even surprised myself with a few individual race wins (wtf how did I win a Keirin?! ) and my first Omnium win. I honestly never thought I’d stand on that top step ever at the track. I still have a ton to learn, but this season was a great start.

Season highlights were winning the miss n out one night with all my friends screaming in the crowd

The womxns field at Encino 

And these Skinsuits 

But my absolute favorite part about track racing, is and always will be the camaraderie. The womxn that race track are so amazing. We rip rip each others legs off, scream at each other in the race, fight each other for wheels but in-between omnium races we chill hard in the in-field sharing snacks and laughs.

My true love is still Cyclocross but track has a special place in my heart now that I never thought it would. ​

Links
Encino Velodrome
LAVRA / Carson Velodrome