Benefield: Windsor teacher Laurel Green makes the grade at bicycle track racing

There are no qualifying races for those wanting to compete at the UCI Masters Track Cycling Championships.

Riders must be of a certain age and must have a certain amount of experience and success in mass start races, but the litmus test, at least according to Laurel Green, is really whether your fellow riders think you can handle it.

“You have to sort of socially qualify by people (not) saying ‘No, I don’t think you will be competitive,’?” she said.

Green, 48, who this month went to her second UCI Masters championship, has only heard encouragement from those with whom she rides and trains.

Their faith was well-placed. The physical education teacher at Brooks Elementary School in Windsor came home from the eight-day event in Manchester, England, with two silver medals. She came in second in the 2,000-meter individual pursuit and the 40-lap points race.

Green, who has been riding bikes competitively since she was a 24-year-old bike shop employee in Madison, Wisconsin, started racing in velodromes seven years ago.

Track racing is so different from road riding, it’s a must to get regular workouts in a velodrome just to get used to the different bike and the style of riding. For Green, that means a 2-hour drive to a concrete track in San Jose and sometimes a trip down to Carson in Southern California to train on the wooden velodrome there.

According to Green, that put her at a distinct disadvantage at the masters competition when going up against riders who train regularly on an oval track.

“There are seven velodromes in England and England is the size of Northern California,” she said. “It’s just a thing in England.”

“Racing against these women who are my age, it’s like racing against 20 year olds,” she said. “These are not just old women. These are very serious athletes. So it’s a huge honor to even go and participate. So there is nothing shameful about those silver medals.”

And still, Green wonders if she should try again and go for a gold in 2017.

“I absolutely think it’s possible,” she said. “Knowing how little time I spent on the track compared to my competitors, I definitely think it’s possible. Am I going to do it? I don’t know.”

Green called the process of deciding “uncomfortable.”

“I’m not going to lie, I definitely still feel hungry,” she said. But she also has to balance her teaching career as well as the time she spends coaching other cyclists.

Green’s knack for maintaining balance and form at top speeds on a sharp-pitched oval may very well come from her childhood pursuits. Growing up in Sebastopol, Green was a competitive roller skater.

“It’s like a roller rink,” she said of the velodrome.

“If you can’t handle going super fast through the turns and staying on that line, you are going to compromise time,” she said. “It just goes fast. Your body is like ‘Holy crap.’?”

And maybe it’s the teacher in her, but Green said that mastering a fixed gear bike with no brakes and learning the pacing and bike handling was like an “intricate science.”

Green has brought her track bike to school to show her students.

“They all wanted me to get gold,” she said.

But Green said there are positives in striving for something, even if the goal isn’t achieved.

“Losing is one of the most incredible growing” experiences, she said. “I don’t think a lot of people can handle it. Losing is really hard if you value winning, but if you value the lessons behind losing, you are going to stay in the sport.”

Green doesn’t consider two silvers at a Union Cycliste Internationale event losing. But she’d still like a gold.

“Do I want to commit to another 11 months to refining my body even more?” she said. “As of today, I’m undecided.”

“My brain is working on it right now for sure. It’s working both sides. Is it really what I want to do?” she said. “It’s very uncomfortable but I have to welcome it.”

You can reach staff columnist Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com, on Twitter @benefield and on Instagram at kerry.benefield. Podcasting on iTunes “Overtime with Kerry Benefield.”