As the sun peeked over the eastern end of the Baton Rouge Velodrome on Saturday morning, competitors for the Louisiana-Mississippi Bicycle Racing Association track championships at BREC’s extreme sports park prepared for an arduous day of racing.
The LAMBRA track championships — hosted by LSU Cycling — was the first event held at the Velodrome since construction on the neighboring skate park was completed last year. The event drew 29 riders of various ages and skill sets to eight races that spanned the entire day.
“The Velodrome has been closed for two years, but I am really excited to see traffic starting to pick back up,” said Susie Skaggs, BREC extreme sports park manager.
Mike Williams, 2011 Master’s category world champion, shared Skaggs’ excitement and said the track has contributed to his achievements as a rider.
“The only reason I have had success is because of this track,” Williams said. “The key was to host events with short races and plenty of them.”
Drewes took the first event, setting a time of 13.9 seconds in the most competitive field of the day, category four. Category four is the second-lowest classification. Riders are classified according to their success in races and overall experience.
The riders then took on the preliminary chariot race — a one-lap race, from a standing start in which the first rider across the line wins. The individual pursuit followed, which puts two riders on opposite sides of the track, and they compete to complete the race distance in the fastest time.
Category four riders Drewes and Tulane rider Ben Bradley were tied at the midday break for the lead in the overall event.
“The break gives riders a chance to get fuel in their system,” Drewes said. “It also gives the riders who competed in morning events a chance to rest before returning to take on riders who may have come just for afternoon track.”
The fastest rider on Saturday was category-one racer Robert Landry, who repeatedly took great starts and turned them into huge leads.
The continual close finishes in category four made for an energetic bout. The first race of the afternoon for category fours echoed the intense competition as Bradley sprinted to the front within seconds of the finish line, taking the lead in the overall event. However, the competition didn’t end there, as the next race was close coming into the final turn and was ultimately decided by the width of a tire.
In the end, Bradley was the overall winner in category four for the event and Drewes took home the win in the LCCS.
 
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Contact Joshua Bergeron at [email protected]