Marymoor Grand Prix director David Mann described the earlier years of organizing and promoting Redmond’s big track cycling race as a challenge.

A lot of effort had to be put into getting sponsors lined up to build a substantial prize purse, and also publicity, getting the niche track cycling community to travel up to the Pacific Northwest to showcase their talents in front of large crowds that the sport rarely sees.

Now it its sixth year, Mann said all the pieces have fallen into place.

Last weekend’s 2011 Grand Prix attracted a record 175 registered racers while offering a lucrative $17,500 total prize pool.

“Crowds filled the stands, and the racers started commenting, ‘you gotta come out here, there’s a good crowd,'” Mann described. “I don’t need to do much with the racers, they all assume they’re coming to Redmond at the end of July. That’s the best part.”

LOCAL FLAVOR

This year’s talent pool at the Grand Prix was unlike any before, as seven of the top 10 placers from Nationals were racing at the Marymoor Velodrome, including local favorites Jennie Reed of Kirkland and Tela Crane from Sammamish, who teaches the kids’ cycling classes at the Velodrome.

“If you look at last year, every single one of the women that won events here went on to win national championships,” Mann noted. “Bringing all of that to the Redmond area, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

Reed, who was on both the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing United States Olympic track cycling teams, led off her Grand Prix on Friday night with a win in the Keirin event.

In the Keirin, riders are paced by a motorbike that gradually increases in speed until approximately a lap and a half remains in the race – then it’s an all-out sprint to the finish.

Reed was in the middle of the pack until well into the final lap, when she charged the outside along with Crane, who was trailing close behind. 

The local duo finished 1-2 in the race, eliciting a loud roar from a packed house at the Velodrome, that had spectators lining the entire 400-meter track as well as the stands.

“There were a couple of fast girls coming up, and I don’t have the kick that I used to have,” said Reed (right), who will be gunning for the 2012 Olympic Games in London as part of the Team Pursuit event. “I have good instincts in Keirin, so I try not to plan too much. I wanted to reel all the girls in on my hip and then just do a razor for the front, and it worked out great.”

She added another win in the “Miss-and-Out” distance event, topping a field of 23 riders that had to stave off elimination by not being in last place at the end of every lap. Finally, she partnered with Crane to win the Madison, a team event where each pair of riders tries to complete the highest number of laps in total during a certain time period, with only one going at a time while the the other rests.

“It’s just a great opportunity to show what I’ve been training for all year,” said Reed on what she enjoys most about the Grand Prix. “Also, to mix it up with some of the up-and-comers, they’re nipping at my heels.”

A SPECTATOR SPORT

In talking with the racers, the common response about the Grand Prix was that the unparalleled turnout of spectators made the event stand out above others.

“I’ve done a lot of racing all over the place, and the only place that has rivaled this is South America,” said Crane, who will be heading to Los Angeles for the Pan-American Games trials before pursuing her own Olympic dreams. “Everywhere else in America dims in comparison to this. It’s really awesome how many people get out and the motivation that comes from having (the crowd). We don’t get very many chances to show off what we do, and it’s exciting to watch.”

Portland native Kevin Mansker, a 22-year old who races for Team Project London 2012, had a great Grand Prix himself, winning the Men’s Keirin final with his Project London teammates Daniel Walker and Michael Blatchford placing second and third behind him. Just before the Keirin qualifying began, the team also broke the sprint track record at the Velodrome.

Mansker said that the crowd gives the riders an adrenaline rush that pushes them beyond the pain of racing at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour on Marymoor’s lengthy course.

“The track is wonky,” he said about the Velodrome. “It’s long, it’s painful, but you come out for an event like the Keirin and you see this huge splash of color in the infield and people lining the entire 400-meter track, you can’t beat that anywhere in the country.”

And for youngsters like Mansker, the intense competition at the Marymoor Grand Prix provides the ideal breeding ground for up-and-comers to prepare for bigger and better things, and as his team’s name clearly states, one overarching goal.

“August 20 and 21, (we’re heading to) the U.S. Grand Prix of Sprinting, that’s basically an international, massive-level race,” he explained. “The best in the world are coming to Colorado, and that’s our next big one. After that, the London Olympics. All of my team, that’s all we’re doing — working towards the Olympics.”

All photos courtesy of Bobby Yadon.