sbs z31

Did my first track racing tonight and my only highlight for the night was 2nd place in the chariot heat. I advanced to the final chariot round but lost badly lol. Need to work on a lot of things especially standing starts.

queerpunk

Well, I finally beat one of my big rivals in a head-to-head enduro race. It was a 15km scratch and a small field, fewer than 10 1/2s, including a newly-upgraded dude with a hell of a sprint and since I don't want to lose to a freshly upgraded guy with an ego and a sprint I was pretty willing to burn some matches to slim the field down.

So, about 15 laps in, I started attacking. First a dummy attack when the sprinter was on the front. Then again, taking one person with me, then again taking two people with me, and another time solo. I was feeling good enough to just go over and over again and make everybody chase, even if I wasn't feeling quite good enough to fully commit.

At some point about halfway through the race I was countered by my big rival and a guy who's very, very fast on the road, but I was able to jump on pretty quickly. We stuck together pretty fast, blew open a big hole, and the race was ours. My rival can be weakened when he has to work in a small group - so that's about as good a selection as I could hope for. We took 1 lap pulls and the small field had no chance.

I planned to attack with 2 to go and hope that the other two would hesitate just enough, looking at each other, that the race would be mine (I also expected that my rival would expect me to expect him to jump first and for me to draft and try to challenge him in a sprint). I reshuffled the rotation but my rival saw and blocked my route of attack. So, we came around, and right before we got the bell he jumped. I was higher up and I jumped harder, came down on him and got the sprinter's lane. Saw daylight and just gave one of those go-for-broke sprints with shaking arms and a terrible final few meters; I saw his front wheel creeping toward my bottom bracket but threw my bike at the line and kept it in front of me.

When I too my victory lap I had one of those genuinely emotional arms-raised victory salutes.

My rival's always been a step above me - a few steps above on the road, and always a benchmark to measure myself against on the track. it felt really good to finally go mano a mano with him and come out on top.

shrinkboy

cool, QP

Hida Yanra

cool story bro.



I keed, that's real rad.
I know you've been chasing the white whale for a long time- congrats. I saw the results on the interwebs yesterday and was looking forward to your report
Keep up the solid work, your progress has been fun to watch.

Dalai

277 days had passed since my last race, so I was quite nervous loading the car and during the 10 minute drive to my clubs velodrome.

Unfortunately there haven't been many riders showing up to our weekly club racing this summer, but for the purpose of my reintroduction it was perfect! Only 4 others were racing in A and B combined and were all riders I know and trust to ride safely.

First race was a 15 lap scratch (307m outdoor concrete) where the pace was a reasonable tempo till 2 laps to go. Was able to go with the accelerations but just not quite get around the final rider...

Second race was the Bessie Poole Handicap - obviously I didn't pay the handicapper enough nor did he get swayed with my lack of racing so was given scratch. Took three of the six laps to catch the main group and after a brief respite I kicked past 1 1/2 laps to go; only passed the front marker around 200m to go and kept my nose in front over the line.

Third race was meant to be a Points race. But given the small turnout, we were on the track again soon after the handicap so we all gladly took the offer of a Keirin instead. With me still coughing up a lung I was thankful of this and and ended up missing first by a tyre.

Final race of the day was a mystery distance scratch. We were rolling a reasonable tempo; first attack was made 8 laps in, when the two riders in front of me swung up I counter attacked immediately and was fortunate to get the bell one lap later and held it to the line. Though if line was a few metres further I would have been rolled as I was pedaling squares the last 200m!

Found sprinting with the narrow bars (have gone from Deda Pistas to 37cm Scatto's) an interesting sensation. The BT was rock solid! Given my lack of formal training since being back on the bike, very happy with how I rode.

carleton

That's great to hear, Dalai!

Glad that you are getting over the hump or starting to race again. Glad that the bike is sorted out.

The narrow bars will feel weird for about a week or two, then you won't notice them at all. I'm a wide guy and I've even ridden the 33cm Alpinas and they started to feel normal.

Dalai

Thanks. The key for me yesterday was to get back out on the track and race again... As I'd spent a lot of time questioning whether I wanted to race again with the higher risk of crashing again and not being able to be active. I have been competitive in some sport my whole life, so really struggled when I couldn't exercise last year!

Dalai

Another week past, and another day at my clubs weekly afternoon track racing - was Australia day public holiday last Monday so we raced then instead of the usual Saturday.

Had a few more riders - my nerves were still there but a little less than last week. Had a Scratch, Handicap and Keirin this week. Didn't go as well this week but results aren't why I'm going at the moment, focus is to feel comfortable racing again!

Scratch finished third, Handicap I couldn't catch the front markers this time so was good pursuit training. Keirin was feeling okay and was coming past a couple of riders when one flicked up to try and go around the rider in front of him. That was enough for me to also swing up and switch off (no one behind so safe to do) and rolled over behind them... So looks like it will take a little more time to get comfortable rubbing shoulders again.

Velocirapture

Hang in there, Dalai.

About 2 months ago in a training session, i swung up the banking (42 deg) to let a scooter pass underneath, and up onto a notoriously slippery painted section of the track (concrete). I had enough time to think 'damn i hate this paint', before my front wheel slid out... and i came down IN FRONT of the scooter.

I can still feel myself break out into a sweat on that part of the track, tbh, but at least im no longer sweating bullets.

Dalai

Thanks for the reasurance. Definitely going to keep riding my clubs summer track races till the end of this season; though will give the State Masters titles a miss as fitness isn't there by a long shot.

My focus will be on the winter road TT's and CX season. I had booked my flights to travel to a couple of rounds of the National CX series last year but missed them all due to my crash. Hoping to make amends and get to most of them this year!

cali_axela

Just started getting into track racing this year, and had my first event this weekend at the Carson velodrome with LAVRA. I attempted the 1k and the 4k. Went out way too hard in the 1k and couldn't keep it up for the final lap at all, had to totally let up... frustrating. But, kept a perfect schedule in the 4k -- not fast compared to real racers, but hit exactly what I was aiming for personally, so pretty happy about that. Such a fun experience racing in a fancy olympic velodrome like that, way nicer than our local one. I'll definitely be back for more.

carleton

Congrats and welcome to the sport!

And wecome to the Kilo :]

There is no such thing as going out too hard in a Kilo. The common method to riding a kilo is to go all-out 100% from the beginning and hang on for dear life. It's normal to feel like you could walk faster than you are riding during your final lap. Don't let up. You are going faster than you think. It's OK to feel like you are wobbling like a drunk riding home from a pub. Even the best do it.


Awesome!

cali_axela

Thanks! Yeah, I definitely need to start digging a deeper hole inside my pain cave if I want to keep attempting the 1k, that's for sure... and start doing some off the bike leg strength training for the standing starts. Even though my start wasn't fast, I'm just happy I didn't fall or get caught by the gate off the line like some people

dunderhi

Kilos & pursuits in February!!! You're making me feel like a slacker.

Seriously, timed events are a great way to ease into track racing, so just remember pedal hard, turn left, and don't try to coast after you pass the finish line.

Also please don't take this the wrong way, the track you raced at wasn't the Olympic Velodrome. The Olympic Velodrome was demolished in 2003. The velodrome your raced on is much nicer and is a world class facility.

carleton

Yeah, people often think that the velodrome in Atlanta (East Point) is the one that was used in the 1996 Olympics.

cali_axela

Right, I realize it's newer and nicer than the actual one from 84, I definitely just meant that it's an olympic/world-class facility. I was blown away by how nice it is.

Racer Ex 

Carson is a shrine to bike racing.

Hope to hit a number of the LAVRA events this year.

dunderhi

Yeah, the '84 velodrome was pretty nice at the time for an outdoor track, but it's hard to compare to an indoor facility. I raced on it during the '83 Nats. I remember there was a multi-alarm fire nearby right before the start of my Pursuit quarter final. They had to delay the race until the smoke cleared. Ahh, the good old days.

Racer Ex 

That was smog. The fire was a cover story.

carleton

Ahem, we don't mention smog in track circles since "the incident" in 2008.

Racer Ex 

Oh man. That was awful. 12 square inches of pure white on the faces of Olympic athletes and NO BRANDING!

Britta missed a great one there.

carleton

Hahahaha

rensho3

I learned to race track on the Olympic velodrome of old. My coach had a key and we used to motorpace until very late at night. Winters, such as they are in LA, could be cold and damp; we often had to stop use of the track when the moisture came up through the concrete in turns 3 and 4. That said, it's is really hard to beat the Velo Sports Center (the new, indoor, wooden) track. I missed the LAVRA race this weekend, but will probably do many of the other TT's. I am thinking of doing Omniums also, but they are only offering a 40+ class; at 65 it's a little hard to keep up!

gtrob

Come to Ontario, we blew it out of the water

rensho3

I graciously bow to the superiority of in-field bathrooms! If VSC only had those, I would be in heaven.