Not the Slowest

Rookie Track Racer, actually Rookie 53 year Old anything Racer who thought track would be safer than Road racing. HAHAHA, the truth is at least the finish line is not that far away.
Moved up to Cat 4 and can now race 4/5’s or Masters which may or may not happen based on attendance.

I race on the famed Kissena Velodrome which is 400m and asphalt with a turn 4 sprinters lane that can pop your knees up into your throat.
I do want to give a shout out to the PINK RHINO racing team who gave the ONLY men’s specific intro clinic in several years. They also paid for our 1 day licenses. Thanks guys and the clinic was well done. FYI, that was the first time I have ever been on a fixed gear bike.
Kissena does hold several women specific clinics but sadly few show up after for track races. I am sure the road race schedule conflicts and it can be a bit of a hassle to get to.
Races are Wednesday nights and I have been to 11 of 13 of them.

I’m a strong looking shy of 6 feet 205 lbs but am learning to kick in my fast twitch muscles. I ride about 8500 plus miles a year between long 100 plus rides and a 45 mile commute.

Race Night 7-25
What can In I say, THE WEATHER WAS BEAUTIFUL.
Finally Not Hot, Not humid, Just right with pretty calm winds.

I had hoped that this week I would finally join the Masters races as the pack there can be 5-8 riders but due to the Nationals the schedule excluded them (even though 6 were there). Oh well, back to the 4/5’s and about 13 of us this night.

Schedule had us 5th of each group of 3 segments of races with a short break in between each but that did not happen as the weather was great so every one was in good condition from the weather. FYI, there is NO shade in the track and rarely people bring tents or similar.

Schedule for us was
Points with 3 sprints 9 laps
Chariott

Scratch 10 laps

I was ready to do my best and try to start closer to the middle to front of the group except by the time the rail finished lining up I was about 10 of 12, not an issue, but I just could not squeeze through while we were in Neutral.
Whistle blew and off we went and I cranked it on hard to try to get up into the mid group by the time we would come out of turn 4. I was pretty successful from the outside to move up but the front was starting to break away as they were in a pack of 4 and I had to work the track by myself passing people.
Nearing the first sprint finish line I had moved up to about 6th and my chest cold was really burning but I said screw it, I got to get some points. No points in Lap one but 2 more sprints to bring home some bacon.

Going into lap 5 I saw a group of 3 in the front and 1 behind them so my goal was to catch that guy and ride his wheel. I zipped around him at turn 3 and sprinted to the finish line but he nipped me by a wheel. So here I was in 6th and thought I was in 5th.
After the race I learned that there was some young kid ahead of the 3 pack in what I thought was the front pack.
The rear group was way behind me so I figured to just crank away hard and ride this guys wheel for the next 2 laps and then make my move around..
On the Bell lap I planned to hook around with 200m out and sprint my fat butt into the finish. He had other plans as we were about 250 meters out he started to get out of the saddle to accelerate and I knew I would have to start a bit earlier and leave him in the sprinters lane.
Either way I took my opportunity and took it around locking him in the sprinters lane and took the line. As I stated earlier, I thought I got some points for 4[SUP]th[/SUP], but it turned out to be 5[SUP]th[/SUP]…ZIPPO, oh well.

Lessons learned?
a) I have to trust my speed and get into the front half earlier and keep my position there moving ever forward.
b) Trust my endurance and not worry about blowing up early. I believe at this time my endurance races will serve me better.
c) Get some people to work together with in the race and share pulling etc. I was alone the whole time.
d) Maybe upping my gearing to 49/15 on Long races, Now at 48/15 (this is about right for this track).
e) If this was 12-15 laps, I would have had those suckas. Okay maybe not but one can dream.

Charriott sprint: I was at the rail, not a good position but figured I could use the incline in turn 1 and 2 to my advantage.
I sprinted standing through turn 2, maybe should have stayed up longer but the first 3 were out there and I overtook the other guy in turn 2, so I came in 4 of 5.
Not bad, but the top 3 went to the finals.

Lessons learned?
a) Short sprints are not my thing…today. I need to become more explosive. I am getting faster but this train takes some time to crank it up.
b) I think longer sprints may prove workable such as Kilos and TTT 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] position
c) It takes me a bit longer to get up to high speed, but once I do I am a player

Skipped the scratch race as I had to do some errands.

Robert

Kayce

I had a solid night.

Scratch race:very tight and close. One guy that is a very good time trialer went with a lap and a half to go, and turn the screws on all of us, he got the win.

Miss and out: I got in good position on ever lap, and could pin some one in, so I made it to the final two. Again the time trialist got the best of me and won.

Unknown distance: It ran like a scratch, no one tried for a guess. Small field so it made a little more sense. I honestly cannot remember how I finished, but it was okay.

Chariot: I got stuck in 4th possition. Had a very good start, but 3rd was pretty even with me, so I couldn't move down. Ended up stuck on the back.

LeeRoySD

Friday night racing at the San Diego Velodrome:

I won my first race tonight (C's and D's but hey, everyone starts somewhere...) 7 lap scratch race... I took a flyer with about two and a half to go and opened up a pretty good gap. The boys gave me a little bit too much rope and I somehow managed to stay away for the win.

The tempo and points races that followed were much less eventful as it was all I could do to just try and sit in... I know that it's a small victory, but the celebratory grilled hot dog tasted fantastic....

TMonk

^
nice.

i can't wait to start racing at the sd drome.
ive finished level 1 and will likely have my track bike built up with 2 or 3 weeks before the season is over

Flatballer

Not great Thursday. I was a bit sick, head cold. Flying 250 felt fast but was actually slow. They combined the C and D for everything. I'm a D. Miss and out I hung for a while, then they called me, except there was a guy behind me who had dropped, so I had to sprint back on. Made it a couple more laps, but then that sprint caught up to me. Unknown distance got caught between a slow guy and couldn't bridge. Points race I was just too tired and got dropped at the gun.

carleton

Won Georgia State Championship Team Sprint in the Elite category yesterday.

They had me riding Man-3 in a 327M track. Not sure if that was the best decision, haha. But I hung on for dear life.

My buddy said I rode like I had a refrigerator on my back during the last 1/2 lap.

bitingduck

Where's the "like" button around here...

Great Job!

carleton

Thanks!

VanceMac

Nice job, Carelton. The 327m threw me off, had to look it up... I didn't realize DLV was "1/5 mile". Wow, and just noticed your margin of victory -- .13 seconds! I guesss that refrigerator was the small dorm sized one.

carleton

Hahaha! Thanks!

Yeah, I have no idea why the track was built on a mile standard.

Baby Puke

Nice riding, Carelton. You you doing elite nats?

spazegun2213

Congrats Carleton!

carleton

You are the second person to ask me that today. I haven't really thought about it. Are you going? The only way I'd go is to do Team Sprint. But, I don't have a team lined up...unless you want to do it again. I'd be much easier for everyone on a 250!

Thanks!

queerpunk

I dangled my way into 2nd place in a 15-lap scratch race last night. One of our pros set a fast pace from the get go, so we were single file for a while. One attack came with around 6 to go, but the pace was so high it didn't get anywhere, and the single file line behind us started splitting up. I was in the right place at all the right times to surf wheels across gaps and when the attacker and the pro had blown there were four of us at the front with 2 to go. I had a teammate in the group, and am the worst sprinter of the bunch. But, I kept the best sprinter boxed in, and kept contact with my teammate and a rival as they were sprinting - and managed to come around the blown rival to take second behind my teammate.

One of those double-sided races in which I congratulate myself for racing smart, with great positioning, but also give myself a grimace for just surviving my way to the end.

Flatballer

Frustrating night last night. Flying 250 was slow, still. I felt better, but it's still only 18.6 or so. I can't even break into the 17s. Sad.

Win and out is a stupid race, I don't like it. Finished somewhere at the back. Attacks went early and it all got blown apart. Got outsprinted for 7th or something. Finished next lap in 8th or whatever.

Miss and out is awesome. My favorite race still. Surfed the back for a while, sprinting over the top with ease. Fun. Then got greedy and tried to box in the guy who's wheel I was surfing over the top, since he's strong and was gonna be fresh. He felt me and attacked and he boxed me in and I couldn't get around. Oops.

Point a lap was incredibly frustrating. Strong guy goes from the gun, and then idiots sit on the front lap after lap, with me screaming at them to either chase or pull off. I go around with one or two people, we rotate, and then idiots mess it up again. It was like they were on his team or something. I kept trying to explain that you can't win a point a lap if someone is up the road, we're all just gonna tie for last if we don't chase.

chas58

+1 Great job! Where is the video??? ;-)

chas58

Finished 6 days of racing – three races a night. I feel like my legs are going to pop (or give out). It’s nice to have a day off.

Our team finished first on the last day, so that was a good way to end. My teammate was a fast rider, and that is why we won. Of course being the slower of the two, I knew it was me that everyone else was going to attack in the Madison. But I held my own, and never let the leader get away.

It is pretty intense racing 6 days in a row. I go to sleep at night thinking about strategy, what I did wrong, what I did right, what I could do better. The last race was 10 miles long at speeds averaging in the low-mid 30’s; that is quite the way to end 6 days of racing!

Dalai

Brilliant result chas58! Being able to ride consistently over 6 nights, including keeping enough in the tank to make it to the sixth day is impressive!

carleton

Ha! I don't think anybody wants to see that performance from me!

Congrats!

spazegun2213

Went down for the C/D races last friday night and had a blast. I was able to sign up without any problem for the C/D but due to my lack of experience the coordinator didn't let me compete in the sprints. I can't blame the guy, and I think I'll be able to sign up for match sprints the next time. But the night started out with a 25 lap pace line. It was actually rather slow compared to the monday night freight trains. I decided to call out after my pull with 2 laps to go and cool down. The sprint looked a little slow, but it was fun to watch.

The first race was an 8 lap scratch and was my first chance to guage the speed of the feild. I figured I'd sit back and react to whatever happens. Turns out one of the monday night riders (3 of us were racing c/d) decided she'd make an early move and attacked in T-1. As soon as I saw it I decided to see what I could do, and as soon as I started to follow so did the 3rd monday nighter. The 3 of us gapped the feild a 1/2 lap and after the first lap the first rider missed her timing coming back down and dropped of the 2 of us. We continued with 1/2 lap pulls and I started to slow during lap 5. I told the other guy this and took my last pull only to see someone had bridged the gap, and off they went. I managed to catch the rest of the racers chasing, and finished nearly last. After not being able to really sprint at the end. It was interesting for the race to be over so soon, it was simple, easy and I felt good. When I got back to the paddock the other mondy night rider thanked me for that start and told me he continued on to win! I was really happy to hear that, knowing that I didnt have the endurance to make it, I'm glad I gave him a chance. We discussed surprising the feild with the jump and what is really needed to keep it going.

The second race was a 20 lap points race and my goal was to not be last! Knowing that there were some really fast guys that could out sprint me and had more endurance I sat back and watched in the paceline. We all did pulls, some for longer.. some for shorter peroids of time. However, at lap 15 I saw something strange, the second rider in the paceline moved up the track a little as well... as if to block the leader from rotating. Being 4 or 5 back I thought it was strange as the line slowed a little, and the leader got back on the front to speed it back up. This would foreshadow the next race, but at the time I sat there wondering why this was happening. I assumed it was the weaker riders trying to take advantage of a faster rider, but the manuver was just strange. With 2 to go the paceline just took off! For a few seconds out of the saddle I wondered if I had not heard the bell, and I mingled with the group of riders that was once the paceline. Coming around for 1 to go the bell did ring and the pace increased. I was well placed on further up the track and between t-2 and t-3 I made my attack. I managed to out sprint that entire group of riders (I'm guessing 6 or so) and even one of the other monday night guys. I was really happy with my performance because I was not last, and managed to time an attack correctly. I'm sure I was mid pack in the overall standings as I didnt win any points, but it was a good race.

The last race was a 21 points race and was to be my undoing. I was able to stay with the paceline for over 1/2 the race, and then lap 17 or so, they responded to an attack. I could not sadly, and the pack was split. I manged to start doing 1/2 lap pulls with another guy for a lap before his 1/2 laps turned into 1/4 laps, and 1/10 lap pulls. Come lap 20 I was done with his horsing around and pulled way up leaving us both high and dry. If I was going to do all the work, he was not going to get any benefit. About that time, I saw a rider just fly by me... up, I had just been lapped. I was completely zapped of all motivation, but finished a lap down. I found out later as I saw the guy that lapped me cooling down on rollers that he was a very good B racer, and was fast. I felt a little better about being lapped and heard that he had gapped the feild nearly a lap on his attack... jebus.

I enjoyed a hotdog and chatted a little before heading home. Overall it was a good night, I learned a ton and had fun.

chas58

Sounds like another good night of racing and learning!

JoeMetal

I had my first races on the track last night. We did an 8 lap scratch, a win-and-out, and a 2x6 points race.

In the first race, I pulled a wheel as I was getting up to speed, so that sucked. I dropped out, fixed things, and waited for the next event. Note to self: don't assume that because your friend has raced a lot on the track that you can let them set up your bike for you.

For the win-and-out, I was feeling a bit antsy as we were doing the three laps before the first one that counted. So, thinking that I could surprise everyone, I put in a hard effort with about 1.5 laps to go (333m track). I got well off the front, but blew up with about half a lap left. Then I proceeded to move backwards through the pack and pop out the back and wasn't able to contest any of the sprints. Good move, but poor timing.

In the points race, I played it a bit smarter and just hung towards the back of the pack up high on the track for the first 5 laps. I saw a move, so I jumped up over everyone and managed to get 4th (in a field of 9) to get one point. Then the race split up into a group of four and a group of five behind with me in it. I figured there was no way I was going to bridge the gap, so I just rode in with the group.

It was an awesome night for me. I had so much fun. I'm incredibly pleased that I was able to get a point in the points race, since my main goal was to not get dropped. Unfortunately, it was the last race of the season (except for the TT stuff on Saturday), so I'll have to wait all winter to have this much fun again.

chas58

Cool race. As you are learning, it is as much about strategy as power. Keep up the good work (and of course set up your own bike ;-)

TMonk

First night of racing at the SD drome for me last night.... lets just say I can't wait till next week and next season I will no longer be driving over an hour for a road race or crit unless its a really good one!

8 lap scratch:
Sat in for the first half and surfed wheels towards the front. A strong-ish friend (Luke) had been off the front with a small number of riders for a while and since they hadn't been reeled in I decided to bridge. When I got there it was falling apart. I looked behind and saw we still had a gap so I just sat on to get some air for 1/2 lap then attacked off the front to take it.

6 lap Tempo:
Boy, I raced this one like an idiot. I thought my hard pulls would be enough to prevent people from pipping me at the line, but I was wrong and got third or fourth the first two laps. At this point I decided eff it and that i'd rather just make the race hard then try and win. So what I did was follow wheels to the sprint and just immediately pull through super hard after and make it fast. I didn't win but if it was much longer I might have been OTF solo.

3x3 Lap Sprints:
This was an interested event. If it's not clear, the format for each race was simply a 3 lap "sprint" or scratch, with a mandatory rolling regroup in between. In this one I knew of a couple riders/friends in the field who have stronger sprinting wattage then I do, so I made the first 1/2-3/4 lap of each race fast as hell and then rolled up track and started playing the positioning game. I somehow took each of the three sprints and subsequently the event. Didn't expet to win here.

20 Lap Points:
Here was my chance to shine. I could tell that I would need a longer race to really take advantage of my fitness. There was a "guest" in the race that Jesse (the race coordinator) told to keep it under control at the start so I could tell he was my man. Said rider was off the front with one other rider after the first point lap and I immediately bridged. I rolled under them while they were soft pedaling up track and informed them that we had a gap. The third rider couldn't sustain our pace but the two of us stayed off the front and took really smooth half lap pulls. I could tell we were both capable of going harder but all I cared about was maintaining our gap. We didn't disrupt our rotation for points laps and just let whoever was on front take it, but he was a gentlemen and sat up/gave me the last two because I am a new track rider. I ended up with the most points and took this one too.

Stoked for my first night of racing, and I can't wait till I do two more Fridays so I can race on Tuesdays next season with the B's and hopefully A's eventually! Also I like to drink with my co-workers on fridays (just 3-4 beers so I can do a group road ride sat morning) so I missed that haha.

I gotta say driving 90+min each direction for a 55 min crit isn't making a whole lot of sense to me already. Next year I look forward to supporting local road events and primarily racing on the drome!

LeeRoySD

Great report and glad you could come down and race with us. You brought plenty of speed and some good racing skills that translated well to what we were doing. Congratulations on the early success. You'll be riding with the B's in no time...