Hermes

MEA and I did that workout with Roger on Tuesday and MEA did the motor game. She sort of won the motor game but I suspect if the guys practicing Madison at the end of the line would have focused, they would have survived the entire 40 laps. What was totally cool is the way she closed a gap created by the racer in front with 4 laps to go when he was on the motor and suddenly dropped down to the pole lane. Normally the exchange on the motor is done by the racer on the motor increasing speed and pulling up toward and to the right of the motor thus helping the racer behind get on with a minimal gap. They had to be at 32 mph+ by then and she was in a 90.6 gear. She is on the motor at the start of the video.

AzTallRider

That was quite the bridge effort. She is such a star!

AzTallRider

I did TT intervals commuting to work yesterday, then a TT tallest gear workout on the way home. Then, with my wife visiting her mom, I was forced to represent us both at a party for one of her volleyball friends, who just graduated from Physical Therapy school. So I hung out, drinking too much wine, with this group of volleyball players. My workout this morning really sucked (gave up on a 10K practice TT), but somehow it just didn't really bother me.

Allegheny Jet

Heading out on our five hour ride this AM. Gravel logging roads make a fun ride. The 1,300' climbs, not so much.

Hermes

Great pics but I am switching over to volleyball.

Hermes

I did a workout at VSC this PM. 60 lap warmup and 3x10 laps motor paced. With Roger on the motor, he set the pace for 4 laps at 48 Km per hour. He pulled up to the red line and I went underneath and took two laps with him behind. On the 7th lap, I pulled up to the red line and he took the lead for 4 more laps. When I took over, I increased the pace to 50 km/hr and then he went to 55 for the last four laps. I was in a 90.6. Great workout.

shovelhd

I am too short for volleyball. Dang it.

Hermes

Box jumping.

shovelhd

The rack.

Allegheny Jet

Probably a dumb question but I will ask anyway. Do you track guys put a different cog on the other side of the wheel to save time making changes? I'm thinking about putting a 14 and 15 on my Fugi's wheel and using the wheel from the Raleigh Rush Hour with a 16 and 17. I would need to buy additional lock rings. I do have 48, 49, and 50 chain rings.

I did a sprinting workout in the 48/15 tonight and know 84" is not ideal when I'm riding 33 mph. Maybe once I develop a better spin at HC but I'm not there yet.

AzTallRider

Gym work today. I actually did it. Seems that, if it is the only training assigned, with a rest day following, I'll get my butt over to the gym rather than have 2 days off in a row. Legs and glutes are trashed.

Hermes

Yes, I have a warmup wheel with a 16 and 17 on it. On my training wheels, I will have a 14 and 15. Generally, race wheels will only allow a cog on one side.

I treat working on track bikes and changing gearing and cockpits with the same level of focus and procedure that jet airplane mechanics use. My goal is zero mechanical failures and it is easy to forget something. On your 160 meter track, it will be easy for you to pull 2Gs in the turns. That puts your weight at 370 pounds going 35 mph. So check everything carefully including the seat.

Cleave

I'm too short for a lot of sports except bicycle racing.

chasm54

If only... . I'm built like a rugby player. Should have taken up rowing - there are no hills on the water.

Allegheny Jet

I have done hard sprints on the track twice now. The next AM my back and quads have been sore. I assumed that it could be due to fit and the HC. Now I am wondering if the sore back is due to the G force. I recall two times last night when finishing up an interval, and driving it home through turn four, my front wheel wobbled. It was a little unsettling and I even checked the bike afterwards. The wobble could be due to fatigue, HC and the G force. Hopefully I'll adapt through practice and strength building. It is also difficult riding the black line when on the rivet at max speed.

shovelhd

Hc?

Allegheny Jet

H C = High cadence. During indoor training I have held 200 rpm's for 20" and 160 rpm's for 1' minute in the 39/25. Add 600 + watts on the sprint efforts and it all changes.

Racer Ex 

Fuji?

Allegheny Jet

Yes, ouch! I hope its not the bike.

Hermes

My advice is always the same for 50+ racers doing new things - ease into it. It is not so much about a 50 year old body as it is the desire for things to happen fast and 50+ guys do not allow enough time for adaptation. If you were a new junior to the track, you would be in junior gears spinning faster and going easier. My advice is to stay in easy gears at the track and learn to spin and pace line. Sprint efforts on a track bike in a bigger gear are really really really tiring and stress the back and legs. At least they do mine. So if you do sprints at the track, do less intervals and allow more rest between intervals. The big sprinters I know do not do many efforts in a session. But the ones they do are really hard.

As far as your back is concerned, you are compressing the vertebrae in the turns at high speed more but whether that makes a difference, I do not know.

sarals 

She's pretty awesome, Hermes! She just gets stronger all the time.

Can you hear the music while you're on the bike?

sarals 

Suck it up!!

I'm too big for dodgeball.

Dang it. ("If you can dodge a wrench....")

Hermes

Sara, Yes, we can hear the music. It comes over the PA and I think we were listening to a Pandora station. That is much better than Roger's playlists that feature such classics as the Beer Barrel Polka.

AzTallRider

I'm certainly tall enough, but TallWife (5'11") banned me from the courts nonetheless, at least when she is on them. But now she is asking why I don't put my efforts into volleyball, rather than cycling, so we can play together. Doh! Which part of banning me from the courts did she forget? The part where she only wants to play on women's height nets, or the part where she wants to play with people her caliber?

What she really wants is for me to build a sand court in the yard, and she knows that, were I still playing, it would already be there.

Cleave

Yes, you can hear the music (and Roger) throughout the facility. Most of the year there are girls (and sometimes boys) volleyball teams practicing in the center of the track. Roger's playlist generally comes from the 60s and the 70s which is fine by me. I wonder if the kids have any appreciation for the music and I wonder if it negatively affects their ability to have a practice. Obviously it's not that bad because this has been like this for years.

My usual analogy is that it's like going to a spin class or the roller rink. Unlike a roller rink, we never change directions.

What do you have against polka music? For some reason, he generally plays it around the holidays. Yes, Roger uses Pandora. Before Pandora he had a friend of mine who is also a DJ make some mixes CD mixes. Those were more eclectic than Pandora.