MASTERS NATIONAL CYCLING : Oregon Woman Finally Captures Her Gold

After pocketing five medals (three silver and two bronze) since the start of the Masters National Cycling Championships a week ago, Janice Gaines of Portland, Ore., finally won her first gold medal Friday at the Velodrome in the women’s 30-34 10-kilometer points race, an event in which she had never competed.

Gaines also earned the award for best all-around rider on the track.

“I talked to Betsy King (multi-national champion from Gainesville, Fla.) before the start, and she was talking about positioning and strategy,” Gaines said. “I just wanted to stay upright. I had practiced it (racing on the track) so I’d be safe and so riders around me would be safe. After I went for the first sprint I thought I’d go for it. I wanted to get a (national champion) jersey really bad.”

In a points race, cyclists sprint every fifth lap and are awarded points according to their positioning. In the women’s race, which was 30 laps around the track, points were doubled at the 15th lap and again on the final lap.

“It was going so fast I didn’t know who was around me or who was getting the points,” Gaines said. “I was determined to do well, to gut it out when I was hurting near the end. In every race I ride, I always continue to push hard and control the race from the front.”

Local riders Tani Barbour of Vista and Tracy Evans of La Mesa placed second and fourth, respectively.

In the men’s 45-49 20-kilometer points race, Jim Montgomery of Herndon, Va., successfully defended his title, followed closely by Victor Copeland of Rancho Santa Fe.

“My strategy was to initially take it easy then, when I saw the field tiring, I was going to come from behind and dive down the track and break away,” Copeland said. “When it came down to the last lap, Dan Wulbert (of Cardiff) said something about me going ahead. Then Jim attacked and he jumped ahead. I’d liked to have won, but I don’t mind losing to (Montgomery).”

In the men’s 55-over 10-kilometer race, Larry Reade of Buffalo, N.Y., lapped the field to easily capture the national title. The race was stopped midway through to clear a cyclist who had slipped off his bike and had to be taken off the track. Reade said this definitely had an effect on the concentration of the cyclists.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen. They (the officials) wanted us to move to the side of the track. I was standing up there shaking,” Reade said. “There was too much time to cool down.”