1incpa

I'd love to see a picture of that.
I have had plans for just that sort of thing rustling around in my head for a while. Just not clear enough to start cutting wood.
PI

Divebrian

I'll see if I can take some pics of it tomorrow as I'm getting my stuff together to leave on Sunday for Nationals.

tobukog

So I saw how the tents are set up. Some will be on concrete, some will be on grass. The booths are fairly small in size compared to last year. As far as I can tell, there will be no common rollers to share.

topflightpro

So I do need to bring Rollers and plywood or just Rollers?

And I'll add that until this week, I've never felt the need for the wagon. But figuring I'll need to haul Rollers, plywood (maybe), chair, and a large cooler, in addition to my normal race day gear, it seems useful.

Normally, I don't bring my Rollers as I have ample time to warm up on the track and the events are stacked so I'm basically rolling around the warmup circle in between events. Sometimes, I don't even have time to change gears.

carleton

This is exactly why I made this post above:


It's sorta unnerving to do the same routine all season then have that routine upset during the biggest event of the year.

As the saying goes, "Practice how you Play and Play how you Practice."

Which is I think why Taras wrote:

Some tracks have a culture of warming up in the infield on rollers (Alpenrose, TTown, etc...) and some don't (DLV).

1incpa

Cool, thanks!
And good luck to everyone at Nationals!
PI

tobukog

I think if you arrive early enough you can get a concrete booth.

carleton

Fast4 50,

Did you make it to Nationals? How did it go? Were our tips helpful?

Fast4 50

I did make it to Nats'!!

It went well although I didn't achieve my goal of top 5, I was 6th. It was a great learning experience. It exposed my weaknesses and some strengths. The biggest takeaway was the effects of training at altitude. I live at 7700 ft and the Boulder Velodrome is 5000' and the OTC is 6000'. The thick humid air felt like riding in sand when I got to speed. It literally felt like I rode into a wall. I think I need to focus on lifting more and maybe doing erg workouts with supplemental O2 (suggested to me by the head Nordic Coach for the US para's). Also I was the only rider in our age group riding spoked wheels.

The tips were great. One of the coaches called me a Boy Scout for being so prepared. Two things I added along with all of your suggestions were compression tights for the long drives and in between heats and a Zero Gravity Chair, a fancy name for a reclining camp chair. It was nice to get my legs up between heats. I'll try to go back through this thread and make a packing list on a Google Spread sheet and share the link.

Thanks everyone for the help, it figured into the equation somewhere that helped me squeak into the tourney....I'm sure I was a nice warm up for the winner of the tourney in the 1/4 finals...

carleton

I'm glad you had a great time and didn't have any infield/bike worries to add to you having to worry about the other racers.

Be careful with the compression stuff in the summer in the southeast. When last I checked, compression gear hadn't really shown itself to be effective (some say it is, some say it isn't). But, what is definitely true is that it will keep you from cooling off. Heat can be a formidable enemy. It can increase recovery time between efforts, slowly sap your power, adversely affect your mental acuity, cause cramping, and even worse. So, the recovery gains don't outweigh cooling off in the +95F/35C degree infield.

This goes for all compression: socks, tights, shirts, skinsuits, etc...

The best setup I've ever made was a 2-piece skinsuit made with normal bib shorts and a Nike or Under Armor compression shirt. These can be found for $25-35 in basic colors in long or short sleeves.

1) It's easy to get in and out of, being 2 pieces.
2) You can warm up on a loose fitting T and then put on the compression before your events. Then after the events, take off the compression and put the loose T back on.

Racer Ex 

If you folks haven't seen them, the Feedback Omnium rollers are stellar. They make two sleds, the low resistance one is great for track warmups. Really can get your spin on, and they fold up tiny and fit in a medium suitcase. Used them this week and love them.

For future hot outdoor events, bring a beach towel. Soak it with water for a poor man's cooling vest.

taras0000

I've never thought of a beach towel. I always kept a towel that was large enough to drape the area of my chest, and soaked it with rubbing alcohol. The alcohol is cheap enough and a couple of bottles will last you the weekend. Draped over the neck and upper back, it allowed me to keep my legs moving on the rollers without overheating.

rensho3

Thumbs up for the Feedback Omnium Track! I used it for the first time at Natz and I agree it is the way to go. No need to look for a place to set up rollers, or worry about someone in a crowded infield bumping into you. Plus, you can easily carry it on the plane without fighting with the airline staff.

Also thumbs up for the wet towel! It wasn't just nice to have; it was a piece of survival equipment in the heat and humidity!

carleton

Yeah, those looked awesome. I didn't ride any, but my buddy has the 1st generation set. He loves them. Used them to warm up for his Team Sprint. They pack away as small as a camera tripod.

To be honest, I'd recommend them over rollers. Rollers:

- Require more packing space.
- Are heavier.
- Require concentration (some can't look away or have a conversation when on rollers).
- Require minimum speed.
- Fork stands for rollers exist, but are that much bigger and more to carry around.

I mean, if we focus on the objective (low resistance work to warm up, stay warm, or cool down), they tick all of those boxes.

Feedback Sports:
My only suggestions for the next version of them are to:

Make the rollers wider to accommodate more sway in the rear wheels. My buddy jumped off of his once. It was user error, but I think that the packing and usage footprint wouldn't suffer at all when doing so. I know they want to be as small as possible (and they've achieved that). I think that maybe 2" wider would help a lot and not hurt. Trackies like to do rev-outs at max cadence for muscle activation and sometimes sway a bit.

It seems like the current design would allow for an optional wide set of rollers to be swapped out.

Offer some sort of optional (add on) rectangular boards that would spread the weight of the front and rear ends horizontally for use in grass. The length x width would be the same as the packed-up unit and fit into the same bag.

Alpenrose for example:


Maybe get some prototype sets into the hands of track sprinters (not just roadies and enduros) who use rollers slightly differently and get feedback.

$429 MSRP isn't cheap. I think if they can get the price down closer to $250-300, they may be a "go-to" item for trackies and many will own a set. I don't know what the margins are on them, but if that's possible, I think that would help a lot.

Divebrian

Sorry it took me so long. I should have taken pictures while I had it fully loaded at Nationals, but I had other things on my mind. I had it loaded with two bikes, including fort wheels, rollers, race wheels in a double bag, two helmets, two pairs of shoes, tools, pump, chair, gallon of water, and a small duffle with clothes, towels, etc. It has over a 500 lb capacity and carries everything nicely and easily rolls over the transition from grass to asphalt or sidewalk.

taras0000

Sweet cart! Still trying to figure out if there's a hidden 3-D image in the driveway pavers.

carleton

That's awesome!

1incpa

Thanks for the pics! That's a pretty sweet wagon!
Definitely gives me a clearer picture of what I want to build.
I'll be sure and post pics when (if) I get mine built.
PI

topflightpro

That was you? I totally saw you and your cart at Nats. I was very impressed by the cart.

Also, someone commented it was the first time they'd seen a Koga in the US.

carleton

[Roar of applause from all of the Track Wives and Track Girlfriends around the world]

As the wife of a teammate (who goes to Master Nationals almost annually) once commented, "He just invites me so I can help schlep his stuff in and out of the velodrome."

topflightpro

To be fair, I did meet one or two track husbands/boyfriends too.

topflightpro

Reviving this thread.

I'll be arriving on Monday afternoon/evening, and I'm racing Wednesday, Saturday and maybe Sunday.

Who else is heading up to T-Town?

1incpa

My scratch race is Tuesday, points race is Wednesday. I'm registered for the Madison on Sunday but my partner broke some ribs in a training crash. We'll see how that works out.
I did notice that there are 19 guys registered, so at least one will be looking for a partner.
Paul

topflightpro

@Divebrian and @sarals, it was nice meeting both of you at Nationals this week.

Brian, I stopped you in the courtyard to ask about your cart and asked if you owned a Koga.

Sarals, we met while sitting at the start tower before our events. I think I was doing the Kilo and you your match sprints.

@queerpunk, sorry I didn't get a chance to say hello.

sarals