carleton

Brag? Tell it to potential sponsors so that you can get more swag/fees-paid?

wens

If you get 90? And convince usac, and pay for everything, you could race a world cup...

Bulldogsprinter

Thursday track meet. First event flying 250m, used my new technique coming out of turn 4 with more speed, started the seated acceleration at about 150m kicked at 120m. Did a great 14.22s and won the event. Riding a 250 is really weird on a outdoor 400m track. Was really happy with my time, quite windy day, not very warm and I didn't bother putting on my race front wheel.

Next for me was the Keirin, seven riders of which only four sprinters. I was stuck in p5-6 behind under a super slow blundering roadie who was all over the place, got up over the sprinters lane then suddenly dropped back almost taking me out. When the derny pealed off he started to go up the banking trying to pass so I followed. When the first sprinter kicked he lost the wheel so I had to come around there was about 50m difference between number 1 and me at that point and I knew p1 was a fast guy. I accelerated past the roadie and almost onto the wheel of the next two, but noticed they had lost the leader so I came straight past. down the back straight I closed on the leader. Turn 3 I got up on his hip and by turn 4 I flew past, I easily kept the speed up and won by a bike length and a half. Easy victory never felt like I was going all out, bad placing and shouldn't have won but did. Season is over and I have my best legs.


Edit. Just finished editing the video from the race last 200m for the keirin was 12.45s, but my last 200m was a blazing 11.68s. Passed the leader about 30-60m before the line.

Bulldogsprinter

Nationals 31.7-2.8. We started on Friday with Match sprint. The weather was as bad as it gets the start had already been postponed due to really heavy rain fall and we had had three cars driving around the velodrome to get it dried out, The wind was coming from the north and was hard with really hard gusts. Worst possible direction as it hits you during the back straight and one never gets up to tops speed. My aim for this season was to go sub 11.50.
I felt right away that I didn't get a good time a gust hit me just as I was coming down the banking and robbed me of my speed, I clocked a 11.793, a season worst in races. Still it was good enough for 7th so I was through. Our reigning champ also had a bad day he only posted a 11.048 making him the second fastest and my first round opponent.
I drew first position. I knew my only chance, extremely slim chance but still, was to keep it slow and hope that my jump would be good enough. My number one goal this season was the team sprint, and position one so my top speed is not all that good, but my jump is devastating. I lead for the first lap keeping it slow and going up and down the banking keeping my eye on him. After the bell he jumps around me taking the front as the "champ" likes doing. Well I kept at on his wheel, he kicked a little at 200m to go but didn't cause me any trouble, turn 3 I ran at his wheel and jumped onto his shoulder, he kicked again. The I heard my front tyre blow so I got off the gas right away. I rode the final 100m staring at my front tyre, but it din't look flat. Well it turned out that my front tyre didn't blow, it was the champs back tyre but as I was so close to it it sounded just like mine.

Next for me 5-8 finals, I keep acing the cards; position one again. Start of slow but fast enough to keep the other behind. I go up the banking on the back straight coming in to turn 3, rider number 4 tries to take my lead so I come down the banking like spider to protect my lead. Well he didn't really like that, so he push me up the banking, pinning me next to the fence in turn 4. Luckily the two other riders decide this is the moment to go and jump, forcing rider 4 to chase. I get on his wheel and hitch a ride. In turn 2 the guy on the front decide he's not dragging anyone to the line and suddenly pull up, almost taking the second riders wheel with him, this caused the commentator to almost swallow his mic. We didn't crash and rider 1 kicks again, with 200m to go I'm still last with a lot of ground to make up. I jump past rider 4, coming out of turn 4 I drag race past rider 2 and gain on rider1. Not enough distance left and loose by half a wheel.

Next day the kilo. It's still some wind, but slight warmer. I'm second to last to start, my realistic goal is 3rd. 1-2 will be between last year champion and last years 2nd place our best (and only internationally racing) omnium rider. I get a good start, hitting top speed at around 300-500m, clocking a sub 12s 400-600m. Final time a new PB 1:10,9. And I get the bronze. I now have 48 kilo points from two races, so I might do one UCI CL3 race somewhere in europe to get Finland some more ranking points.

Later the same day me and two other sprinter decided to do the scratch race, we did ok for a bout half the race then the breakaway got away and we suffered in a small group to the end and sprinted for minor positions, I ended up with 10th, scratch raced are funny one never goes really fast mostly sub 50, sprints mostly sub 60, but the constant jumping without rest kill sprinters legs faster than anything.

All in all a good weekend , pissed with the flying 200m but otherwise ok.

VanceMac

Nice to meet you, QP. I didn't know you were coming, but I'm walking the infield and I see that kit out on the track. Hey, I know that (unmistakable) kit!

You know, sometimes at these events you get small fields and/or the big dogs don't show up. Or they do show up, but everyone plays cat and mouse until the end. Let me assure everyone: that was not the case here! Pace was wicked fast, and there were numerous VERY strong riders who got popped. Eventually, we'll get the video and we can do some number crunching on pace/power.

queerpunk

there's video somewhere?

i'm glad my kit is unmistakable! that's what we go for. Since our main sponsor is Zubaz we don't really get the option of the modern trend toward sleek minimalist geometric design. We gotta go big and bold!

VanceMac

There will be. The guy who was there all week shooting the video does it on a volunteer basis, so it will take him some time to crunch through them all. And his first priority is putting together packages for everyone who paid for documenting their performances (mostly juniors).

queerpunk

very cool. would you drop me a note when you see it making its way out to the internets?

Impreza_aL

it's been a couple months but i finally updated my flickr.

this was the last omnium i did for the season. sorry the clips are 15 sec because they get uploaded to an instagram.

goal of the evening was to help my friend grab some points but that didn't happen...

https://flic.kr/p/xshcTU (scratch, i was trying to lead him out but he lost my wheel)

https://flic.kr/p/xshHD3 (belgium win n out, again i was supposed to lead out but he went for 3rd place)

https://flic.kr/p/wN2trZ (austrailian pursuit, he ended up getting passed early so i turned myself inside out. i wasn't able to catch the cat2 roadie #becausesprinter )

https://flic.kr/p/xGzgDN (match sprint, so they made us match sprint... no rest after the aussie pursuit... )


i don't put out the watties so i have to get slippery!

VanceMac

First omnium of the year. Really good turnout in all fields (17 women!) considering the early date, as well as several major road/crit races this weekend. 60 lap points race was painful this early. Miss-n-Out. And here is my one move... scratch race, video picks it up with 5 to go, racer in pink gets away. I come over the top 2 laps later to try to catch him. Don't quite make it, but hang on for 2nd. Finished 4th for the omnium, won by Olympian Giddeon Massie.

Sorry, can't get it to start at right point... skip to 3:55.

dunderhi

Awesome!

Still a few more months before I can hit the track.

VanceMac

Second Friday Night Race date was blistering. We had six racers from the upcoming World Cycling League pushing the pace for both Men and Women. 20 lap snowball, which averaged over 30mph. Super Sprint (miss-n-out half the field, into a scratch). 60 lap points (29mph). A little early in the season for such fireworks, but it's a good kick in the pants.

VanceMac

Big weekend if you are in southern California.

• Friday night: final of the first Friday Night Racing series
• Saturday morning: Cat 5 omnium/clinic
• Saturday afternoon: Junior omniums
• Saturday afternoon: Junior Madison
• Saturday afternoon: Masters omniums
• Sunday: first of Time Trial series

We have guests from Arizona and Norcal in town. Should be a blast!

carleton

That sounds like a fun weekend of racing!

Muddlfuc

We had our club champs again this weekend..
F200. 500TT, 2k Pursuit and a 25 lap scratch.

Was having a Cracking day. (for a fat man in skin suit)
1st in the Flying 200 with a 13sec flat
2nd in the 500TT with a 41 seconds
3rd in the 2k Pursuit with a 2min 34sec
and a face plant on lap 23 of the scratch as i was coming around for 3rd :S
the guy i was working with slowed then pulled up suddenly taking my front wheel with him.

Time for a new helmet and skin suit.. :S

Still managed to get a Silver over all in the championships so was really stoked with that.

carleton

Congrats!!

Godsight

First day of racing was today at Bromont. Was racing in a group that I think would be similar to cat3 but we don't have enough rider to have categories on the tracks A bit disappointed but decent results nonetheless.

15 laps scratch race
Slow start, nobody know each other. When it's my turn to pull the pack at around 10-8 to go. I drive the speed up a bit for 2-3 laps. I had the plan to speed it up early to put some in the red so the end would be easier for me to then go at 4-3 laps to go.
With 5 to go, someone that identified as a possible threat try to speed up. Me and the eventual winner bridge him but the effort of the supposedly fast guy is short lived. used a bit too much leg on the bridging for me to go on the attack with 4 to go.
On the second to last lap, the eventual winner and I go for the long sprint (if we can call that a sprint). Not enough legs to pass the guy but we are clearly ahead of the rest and I finish 2nd.

Elimination race
I am terrible at elimination race. Never know how to judge my efforts. In this case, I go at threshold level with the idea of keeping that pace for all of the race. After 2 eliminations, I check behind and see that i have a quarter of a lap lead and decide to ease off and get bridged with the 2 behind me to get some rest and battle it out with those 2 for the final elimination. That change of plan backfired as I had not enough legs left and finished 3rd. I still think I could have won by not easing up and just gunning for it from start to finish.

Pacman Race
A bit of a fun race. Didn't get passed this time like last year. When we were 4 left, they stopped the race and turned it into a 2 laps chariot race. Finished 4th. I need more top speed.

Longest Lap
I suck at trackstanding, last about 10sec and was already out.

A good day of race. My shape is way better than last year but I still need to work a lot on many aspect of my form.

Bulldogsprinter

Helsinki GP UCL CL.2 race

Friday

I only rode the Kilo. First kilo with new TT bars. I have done now specific kilo training this year so I didn't really know what to expect, but my goal for this year is to ride a sub 1:10. The weather was ok, about 20C, wind died just before the race and a low pressure front was coming. I was second to last to start, reigning Finnish champion (and NR holder) and reigning champion of Georgia were the only to start after me. I had 54x14 as my gearing. I started quite well got the power down fast. Back wheel bounced a little in the first turn costing me speed. I was able to dig deeper than before and afterwards I was hurting like hell, really hard to walk. I got into the hot seat with a new PB 1:09;543! Right after Georgia's champ beat me with about a second and our champ beat him with just over a second. But still new PB and 3rd.

Saturday

We were supposed to ride the Keirin, but it rained all day.


Sunday

Knew from the start this would be a tough day. We had match sprint and following that we would ride yesterdays Keirin.


Had 52x13 for flying 200 (wanted to use 53 or 54, but they're missing at the moment and 55 felt too big for the weather). Weather was damp, cold 14C and windy (7m/s with gusts 12m/s). Had a good slow lap building speed and as has been my wont lately I jumped quite late but very hard. Same thing as has been happening lately the bike felt like it accelerated almost too easy and hit peak speed just after the timing line coming out of then turn I faded a little but still felt it was good time. Pretty sure I could have gone faster with a slightly longer gear. New PB 11.127s! Second fastest.

First round was against a newcomer. I ridden a keirin against him and knew I had the measure of him. Planned to ride the blackline and take no risks, but he offered me a great opportunity to test some tactics. He came up along side me so I trapped him on my hip. Coming into the last lap (400m velodrome) he had enough and started accelerating I held him for a little longer then let him lead me out. I had an easy time following 1.5 bike lengths behind him and with 150-180m left I accelerated seated out from his slipstream and took the win by a bike length. Easy ride could save quite a bit of energy.

Next I faced number 3 from the qualification, the Georgian sprint champion. I knew he had a lot more experience than me and we only had 0.029s difference in our times and his PB is 10.4s so I knew I had my work cut out. I drew position 2. He almost came to stand still 2 meters from the start playing tactical games. We went up and down the velodrome quite slowly and started the sprint late but hard, coming into turn 3 we were both still outside the sprinters lane. He left a gap and should have swooped under him but I hesitated and only jumped into the lane exiting turn 4. During the drag race to the line a ran out of leg speed, should have put on a longer gear. Switched gear. Race 2 I decided to lead out, first lap real slow and then pick up the pace on the last lap. I didn't raise the speed quickly enough coming into turn 1 so he jump the inside line, I got his slipstream but never got around him.

Bronze final. I faced a 40s masters rider who's really fast (silver at master worlds last year). Knew he likes doing a quite long sprint raising the speed all the time and really likes putting it on when get along side him. So the plan was to rush the gap and come past him going a lot faster. Plan almost worked but let the gap get too big and ran out of road to pass him. 2. Race plan was to keep it real slow and use my jump. Well plan flew out of the window when I noticed that he left quite an long gap and I went hell for leather 500m out. Backstraight the headwind hit me and I started dying a thousand deaths. In the end he easily beat me on the home straight.




Keirin.


We had some more rain so the stat was postponed making this a super long day. Quite a few guy decided to call it quits, so we only had the finals with 7 riders. I drew lucky number 7(****!) I got position 5 behind the derny after the start but I let another rider slot in as Ik new he'd give a good leadout. In the end he didn't want to give me long leadout, only starting his sprint with 200 to go. Midaway through the turn I had a monumental brainfart as I was up close the stayers line going about 65kph I dropped down a little to follow him instead of just going. We had 150m left so kicking as hard as I could I could have done something now I just followed and ended up 5th.


All in all a great weekend with two new PBs. Did quite a few mistakes in my sprint matches and in the Keirin but I'll learn from that and come back better. One only learns by doing.

carleton

Nice write up. Sounds like a great weekend of racing. Congrats on the PBs and the bronze! Those are always nice.

SprintzNKiloz

HAHA. Oh man, I rode a 108" in our state championship F200 Thursday and it was TERRIBLE... 12 seconds. I rode a 97" to a 11.6 a few weeks earlier. Won't make that mistake again. 11.1 is blazing.

happybday29475

Similar story from a week ago...track noob, my first F200 ever...I made a game time change to 106 inches...resulted in 12.8". Disaster! lol. Got yelled at later by my coach...wtf was i thinking?

I can tell you what I was thinking...the dutch Olympic team was racing our little local race too, and the huge gears they were pushing incented me to go a bit bigger than plan. Doh! I'm no Dutch Olympian! lol

PS - Hoogland did a 10.1 second F200.

Koogar

I missed that time trial day destroying whatever early season fitness I had on holiday! Did Theo ride?

happybday29475

Yeah Theo was about 1/10" slower than Hoogland...but Theo screwed up and ran over a bunch of the marshmallows (or whatever you call them) on the finishing straight...probably cost him 0.1" or more right there.

I got a kick out of seeing the world's best do their stuff. They were technically good, I'm sure...but I might not be able to recognize such. What I did see was awesome athleticism and powah. And, they're nice peeps, too.

carleton

We'll officially call them "marshmallows" from now on

VanceMac

Just ended our Friday Night Series. Nine omniums (3 each in Feb, Apr, and Jun). These are the highlight of my year. So fun.

In the never ending pendulum swing that is participation in track racing, we are on the upswing in Socal. First time we've been able to separate Cat 1/2 and Cat 3. Big fields in the Cat 4, which produced several upgrades to keep the momentum rolling. Still trying to reach critical mass in the Women's so we can separate out the 1/2/3 from 4. Almost there.

This last event, we ran "Unknown Distance" night. Unknown Scratch, Unknown Win-n-Out, and Unknown Tempo. While I'll always be a fan of traditional Scratch and (especially) Points races, I have to say, the Unknown Tempo was quite the race. As you know, since there are points every lap, it's redline from the gun and doesn't let up. This usually makes for a painful ~15 laps. This night, however, it ended up being our longest race at 38 laps. Half the 1/2 field was out before lap 20.

In virtually all Tempo and Snowball races I've done, the end of the race ends up being 1-2 guys clearing the remaining points and the field basically sits up. With the unknown distance, you can't do that... you have to stay engaged until the end. Very interesting dynamic. And brutally tough. While I'm not really a fan of Unknowns, I now think Tempo and Snowballs should regularly be Unknown Distance.

Trying to guess the bell on Unknown Win-n-Out. I was a few laps too early.