I ascend from below ground at Main Street, Flushing from the 7 Train to find a New York unfamiliar to me. Anxiously I scan the surroundings for Kissena Blvd. Upon finding it, I hop on my track bike and slowly pedal down the road, hoping to avoid the evening rush traffic barrage. I also ride carefully, as I don’t want to get lost in this unfamiliar borough. I am finally doing it; after all the excuses, I’m finally heading to the famed ‘Track of Dreams’ to try my hand at real velodrome racing. I’m not even in sight of the track and my heart is bounding in anticipation of what I might find. Finally, after a mile or so, I see a car pulling into an unmarked driveway with a track bike on its roof. I am here. This track has been a white whale for me for some time, but I could never manage to muster the motivation on the Wednesday nights to head an hour away on MTA, but now I’m here. I’m so excited as I take my first laps on a real velodrome that I forget how nervous I am for a moment. Its fun. But what would racing be like? I have been told for some time now, that a guy of my size would be perfect for the track. For this reason, I am filled with a mix of excitement and trepidation. I managed to arrive so early, that hardly anydody is here. But slowly, they arrive, trickling in from all areas of New York, Jersey, and even Connecticut. Its a whole new scene. Hardly anybody is familiar to me, despite having raced nearly every weekend in NYC since early March. Anthony Slokar, of Jonathen Adler, is one of the few people who I do know. In my self-conscious paranoia, I annoy him with all my stupid questions about race format, gearing, upgrades, nutrition, whatever…He assures me it will be ok. The great thing about Kissena becomes quickly apparent to even a first timer. It is fun, it is relaxed, and it feels like Summer League lacrosse that I used to play on local sandlots in Pennsylvania with guys who liked competing and hanging out equally. Since races are run as an omnium, there is plenty of time to watch other riders scream around the asphalt loop while I get to know some of the guys and gals who appear to be regulars at the track. My first omnium (7.26) didn’t go as well as some had expected of me. I found out quickly that my 48-16 gearing gave me little to bite into when winding up a sprint and I found myself spunout pretty quickly in every race. I did manage, however, to win one race by working with JP, a strong Cat2 road racer and fellow beginner on the track, trading pulls and gaining a sizable gap on the field in the ‘miss and out.’ I was barely able to sneak by him in the sprint. That was my most memorable moment of the first week. I wound up 4th in the final omnium. I wanted more, but was told by more than a few guys that I would need a substantially larger gearing. Fast forward one week. I arrive with a 48-14 and a weeks worth of experience. The turnout in the Cat5’s is big enough that we are split into two groups. JP, to my delight, has upgraded, so I’ll be the sole roadie in the group tonight. This week, in addition to Tony Slokar, is Ken Harris, sporting his National Champion’s jersey. I am excited to watch them in the Cat1/2/3 race. With the bigger gear, the track becomes a lot smaller. I am able to sprint longer, and hold a constant acceleration to the line without topping out. It serves me well and I am able to easily win the first race, a 5 lap scratch. In the second event, a Chariot (one lap, all out), we are split into 3 heats with the top 2 going to a final. I place second in my heat after shutting down my sprint when a big fast new guy by the name of Jon and I are clear of the pack. Thanks to a good hold and push by Tony in the final, I am able to cleanly take the Chariot as well. In the final event, a six lap Tempo, each lap nets 2 and 1 points for 1st and 2nd place. I go for it from the gun, winning the first sprint with enough gap to take the second lap with a large lead. I ease off to let a rider catch up and use his wheel to launch my sprint on third lap. I continue this tactic for the rest of the 3 laps, taking 2 points on every one. “Now this is more like it!� I think to myself. I finish the omnium with a total of 21 points (out of 21 possible) from the night’s three events. With only a flicker of light left in the sky, we have the ‘B’ feature race to do. It will be a 9 lap scratch race. With several keen eyes trained on my sprint I patiently wait for the final lap. To my chagrin, I tactical move comes early, and I wait just too long to bring it back. In the end, I missed winning by inches, and would have won had the line been 15 yards further, but thats racing. On the track, any tactical mistake is payed for quickly, and I can only imagine how tough it is to race with the wise veterans in the 1/2/3 field. To that note, it was a privilege to watch Tony and Ken clean up several events and take 1st and 2nd in there omnium. With the setting sun, we slowly head out. Back to the train that will return us to Manhattan. Kissena has a beautiful magic to it. Racers ride till they puke, but always manage a smile and a high five afterwards. There seems to be a real fraternal affection that these ‘trackies’ have for one another. I can only hope to earn their respect and trust on the ‘drome. All my thanks go to Allen Atwood and John Campo for their tireless efforts to make track racing possible for New Yorkers. Without them, this humble Wednesday ritual could never take place. I can’t believe that I’ve waited this long to race out here, but I won’t be missing many more of these races from here on out. I have been bitten by the bug that bites so many who head out on Wednesday nights with there track iron. I dare anybody else to try to survive Kissena without being bitten.