Chris “Sittin’ In” Hall showed the team why he is normally found at the back of the peloton, chatting with the moto ref and waiting on the sprint: he can absolutely fly from the 200 meter mark.  He spent the past weekend proving this with a win at the Nittany Cup Track Races in Trexlertown, PA.

Hall, who has spent the season focused on track events competed in the Sprint, the Kilo, the Points Race, and the Scratch Race.  While he posted respectable results in all events, it was in the Match Sprints where he really made his mark by winning the Cat 3/4 overall.

Hall sailed through the initial qualifying rounds by posting personal best times and still saying that he was “certain to do better next time by trying one gear smaller.”  As he entered the match sprint rounds he bested riders from several teams with a combination of power and sound tactical decisions.  In the championship round, however, things got interesting as he was paired up against former teammate and regular training partner Bo “Robster Craw” Lee.  Chris was not worried and said, “I beat Bo before and was feeling confident against him.  I knew what he had to do to beat me so I would just have to do my best to prevent that from happening.”  The two played a nerve wracking game of cat and mouse until Chris decided the moment was right.  He said, “I hit the inside and just put my head down and went and Bo was right on my wheel.  Of course I never looked back so I didn’t realize until afterwards that he was right on my wheel.  We stayed that way the rest of the lap and he couldn’t come around me so I took the win.”  From his description, it all sounds so easy.

Though practically every member of Whole Wheel Velo Club will freely admit that they don’t understand track racing or the various track events, the team is proud of Hall’s win, especially as it comes over such a respected opponent and friend of Whole Wheel.  They will now be looking forward to seeing Hall once again sit in the back of the off-season group rides, pretending to have something wrong with his shoes until the next sprint point comes around…