jmikami

a couple of thoughts off the top after reading this. Hopefully I didn't repeat much.

1) Find a group of people to train with, doesn't have to be your teammates, especially if you don't have track teammates. The best thing you can do is spend time at your local track and find some other people to ride with. Ask around at the next race or training session and don't be afraid to talk with a few different groups and get a feel for how open they are to having more people at their workout times. I learned far more from riding with friends casually my first few years than I ever could have learned while trying to follow wheels at 25 to 30 mph when I just wanted to stay up and finish. The racing is important, but you need someone to talk with about your mistakes after the race too.

2) Gears ... always race smaller gears to start. Even if you feel more comfortable in a bigger gear, go down one in the front (49/15 to 48/15 for example). Racing a smaller gear earlier in the season is a great way to gain more control of your bike to speed up and slow down. For your first few races you really don't need the power gear to pull away and lap the field, you need the little gear to learn how to ride in the group. This is not to say you want to be at 120 RPM the entire time either, so ask around what gear you should use and if in doubt go smaller. Elites may not share their gearing with other elites, but they will help out a new person who is doing the novice race, just ask them or an official.

3) relax shoulders and arms and hands and lightly hold the bars ... no death grip with locked elbows. Look 10 feet in front of you not at your front wheel and let the track guide you through the corners. Most tracks do a decent job of getting you around without the need to over steer, just let it happen.

4) Stay/Stick/hold your line means that, please attempt to stay at whatever distance from what ever line your are near and just stay there. Someone might be coming under you or over you and you don't know. They might have lots of experience and be able to dodge you if you move, or they may have a mechanical issue and need to make a sudden move and you just need to hold your line.

5) Know the track. Blue band ... don't ride here, or even near it. People going fast will clip their helmets on your shoulder if you are on the blue band when they come around at speed, ride well inside of this if you are off track and going slow. Next is the black line, don't ride here either until you are good enough. Ride a few inches or even a foot above it. The person who wins is not the one who spends all their energy fighting to stay on the black line around the corner. Next is the red line. I tell all my newbies to use this line during practice when alone to learn to hold their line. Start on this line and slowly learn to bring yourself lower. During races and large training groups this is the line you stay under to allow people to pass over you. In a race if you drop under the red during a sprint, you need to stay there. Many can't hold this line on our track, so be careful and practice. The next line on the track is the stayers line and it divides the track into those who go fast (below) and those who go slow (above) and those who are warming up on it. It is another good line to practice on when getting use to a track and will often have the pacelines before races to allow the speedsters to control the sprinters lane (between the black and red lines). Our track tends to have pacelines in the sprinters lane as well, but most tracks tend to leave that open for the sprinters.

6) Know where everyone is on the track. Especially during training, when racing, always. You don't have brakes, and neither does anyone else, some are slow and low or high and fast and dodging around the rest. In training I am always looking around to get a feel for who is in a paceline and how high they come up track in the corners to exchange (they should stay below the stayers line, but not all do). Most tracks use the stayers line for the paceline and leave the bottom for sprinters/speed work and the top for getting up to speed. Be aware of who is doing their 200 meter work and who might have just finished and is coming off. If you have never done a pre-race warmup ... then get their early and just watch from your rollers the first time. There is a dynamic to it and you need to be very aware of what is going on.

7) Use the bank, it is there for a reason. You go up track to slow down and down track to speed up ... for free! I rarely hit the breaks and often use the track to alter my speed, you can't always do this but by leaving yourself room on the track you can swing up and down to change speed. Of course you can't do this in the middle of the pack with riders around you, so buck up and scrub speed the hard way with your legs then, but if you are in a single paceline or match sprint, use the bank not your legs.

8) Find out the track speed/pedal hitting speed/ slowest you can go at any new velodrome. Ours in 12mph at Alpenrose, Burnaby much higher others are different, some like marymoor you can basically track stand in the corners if you know what you are doing. But heed the advice of locals and don't go testing out their track just because you have a high bottom bracket or nice tires.

9) If you are anal like me ... gear charts are great, but also know that certain tire sizes can alter your gear a full 2". If you are riding 19mm tires you are going to have a higher RPM than those riding 23mm on the same gear. This is not critical since most everyone is going to be fine with a standard gear when they start out, but as you gain experience you need to gear up for a 19 and gear down for a 23 if you want to really dial in your RPM. I made up a few different gear charts for different wheels and speeds and it was interesting to see the differences.

10) check your bike! Pick up your handle bars and hit your front wheel ... you did tighten it correct. Handle bars not loose, tires are pumped up, crank bolts are not falling off (yes I have seen a crank come off a bike in a race more than once). Make sure you ride your bike around the apron (the flat part of the track inside the blackline) a few laps and nothing falls off before getting on the banks. Stomp hard at least once to ensure your rear cog is on tight. Then hit the breaks hard to ensure it doesn't spin off. I do this at least 2 or 3 times if I recently changed gears. And if you have stuff on your bike, take it off. No pumps, water bottles, fanny packs ... your junk is safe and you are at most 200 meters away from it at any point.

I am sure there is more, but these are things I mention to new riders.