queerpunk

If brute force isn't working, you're not using enough of it.

dro.pru

Just used it for the first time. Steel was too soft.....

rensho3

I bought one from the Velodrome shop in England. I can't get a pix of it right now to show you, but it is a thing of beauty. And brutally strong. The chain part has a little magnet on one end to keep it neat when stored. I love it, and since I have had it, changing cogs, even after a series of standing starts, is just not a problem.

Velocirapture

that used to be my philosophy.. but after stripping a few bolts (and half a threaded BB shell) I revised my view. Torque wrench ftw.

noglider 

Tomorrow (Sunday) is the first clinic of the season at Kissena Velodrome, and I've enrolled and will be there. The organizer sent a last minute email saying (among other things) that it would be ideal to have a gear ratio in the low 70's. That was a relief to me, because I knew it was time to gear up. I went from a 65" and switched up to 77". Scary at first, and not great for early season sprinting for this newbie. So great, I went to my LBS and developed a relation with one of the mechanics there. I bought a cog, and him put it on.

I took a vigorous ride around Central Park and found that the drivetrain was quite noisy. Scary, because I wondered about the risk of the chain jumping off while riding. I went back to Martin and asked him about it. He said the problem was that my chain was stretched. Already, huh? OK, so I had him put a new chain. At each visit, I tipped him $5, and I think I'm in good hands. And yeah, the chain is quiet how. Much pleasanter.

No question specifically. I just wanted to weigh in while I anticipate my big day.

Velocirapture

How did it go?

noglider 

It went GREAT! I had a barrel of fun. I learned a lot about how it works, and I learned a lot of skill. It felt so good to be moving so fast on the track.

I was in a couple of mock races and came in last in one and either last or second-last. And I had a great time in them anyway. Now I know where I stand. I've got the skills. I haven't got the speed. Gotta do some speed work.

My attitude is if I am learning and having fun, my standings aren't important.

Met some nice people, too. There were all kinds of people there: 30 registrants in all. One guy was 59. Another might have been older. There were people -- men and women -- who appeared to be in their early 20's. There was one boy from high school. The folks from Pink Rhino Racing held the clinic and they were super encouraging and helpful.

carleton

Nice! Sounds like a great time.

As you have already done, don't worry about how you place in these mock races. Be sure to get what you need out of them, namely comfort in close quarters and 360 degrees of perception.

noglider 

I've always been good at 360 degree perception on the bike, so I got it on the track quickly. Comfort in close quarters came after a few laps, and it improved over more laps.

It was interesting that we were told never to apply backward pressure to the pedals. I didn't know about that, and I got the hang of slowing with the other methods available (sitting up to catch wind, moving up (to the right) and just spinning easily).

I knew not to worry about my standings. I'm going to enter races as soon as I can, and I expect to come in last for quite a while, but I know I'll have fun anyway, and I'll learn from all of it. I'll be working on strength and speed now, because those are the two things I lack the most.

The captain of Pink Rhino Racing, who held the clinic, said he could see my good attitude, and that was encouraging for me. My daughter taught me a lesson when she was in sixth grade. She was on the school wrestling tam for a while. In her first competitive match, she lost resoundingly, and when she got home, she said, "I lost, and I had a great time!"

I have a Garmin Edge 200, and I'll follow my progress as I ride the streets and roads.

queerpunk

Brean is great.
He threw the first alleycat I ever did, which I found out about on the SSFG section of bikeforums, and it got me into racing.
So that dude gets a perpetual high-five from me.

noglider 

Agreed about Brean. Great guy.

Are you going to be in any events in NYC soon?

noglider 

I just saw the Shimano chain whip on the interwebs. Looks to be good, and at that price, it better be.

The Wipperman one looks good, to, and it's only $21.

My LBS mechanic just uses his bench vise. That's nice, but I can't bring that with me.

queerpunk

Unfortunately no.
I'm there for occasional holidays, but no racing.

carleton

That's the story of my track racing career!

Velocirapture

huh?

Would love more input/ background on this. New to me - but granted, we have a very small track scene and only informal intro sessions, if a club is keen and arranges one.

gtrob

I think he means in a pace line with other riders, in order to not slow down suddenly. Soft pedaling/sitting up slows you down pretty good, and if you want to make small changes in a turn to simply move up a few inches to fall back a bit. We teach something similar in our intro classes, to stay off the brakes until you are off the track.

Obviously as the speeds and experience go up this wouldn't apply anymore.

carleton

+1

Yeah, I've seen guys in the beginner class actually skip and skid on the track as they would on the street.

noglider, I think what the instructor may have been trying to communicate is that you shouldn't slow suddenly and you should learn to manage your gaps smoothly. It's kinda like how you teach new drivers to not use their brakes on the highway. Of course you'll use your brakes on the highway, but the ideal way is to manage your speed with appropriate gaps and subtle acceleration and coasting (floating). On the highway, you don't want a driver closing a gap by surging up to 80mph then suddenly braking down to 60mph when they encounter traffic ahead of them. The smooth way is to accelerate gently to like 65mph then coast down to 60mph as you approach the car in front.

So, yeah, like that

carleton

OK, I was waaaay out of the loop on track racing last summer when they split up US Elites into "Timed" and "Mass Start" national championships (weird, I know).

Timed: https://www.usacycling.org/results/?permit=2013-18
Mass Start: https://www.usacycling.org/results/?permit=2013-7

So, it seems that there the Flying 200M event was held in the "Timed" event in California and the Sprints took place in the "Mass Start" event in South Carolina. There were different participants. How did they seed the racers in the Sprints tournament? Did they run unofficial flying 200s or something and did not record them in the records website?

EDIT: Also, both hosted a Keirin tournamnet. Which one was the official Keirin for the national championship?

Quinn8it

The Keirin Tournament at Timed Nats in Los Angeles was a Demonstration Event only- and the 200m was the seeding event for the Keirin..

keirin at Rock Hill was for the Jersey

Pole Line Stand

Can anyone provide feedback pertaining to the Free Lap Timing Systems? The reviews I have read so far seem solid. However, I wanted to see if the system would be feasible for use on a velodrome for training sprints, like a 200tt. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

noglider 

Aha! This enhances my understanding of what we were told.

He also said the bike messengers who ride fixies on the street have the most inappropriate habits for track and are therefore hardest to teach, and here I was, trying to develop those habits. Now I can stop. I'll just use my brake on the street most of the time.

Soil_Sampler

Your Macks are slipping?

8bits

it's much more a preemptive question tbh, the design doesn't seem to inspire confidence but I'll give it a try, my carbon hoops are on the way so I can build the wheel, I'll update you guys about it when I built and use it.

JMR

They are great... Guys I train with use them, I will get one for next season. The only downside is that you need to go within 70cm or so of the sensor... so when timing a flying 200 on our 333m track, we put one sensor about 3/4 up the bank on the start line (200m to go), then one at 100m to go, and one at the finish line.

Just have to make sure that other riders (especially the moto) know the sensor is there and to avoid it.

We have a pretty good group at our sprint sessions so it isn't really an issue.

JMR

gtrob

We have a shared system at our track so you just need to get a transponder. Mylaps I think its called.

Ive used something similar to freelaps in my race car, its basically a beam that you set on a wall and a receiver/screen in the car. Now that I think of it would be kind of trick on a bike, as if gives you a lot of easy to read data (fastest lap, if you are slowing or speeding up, etc). A little bulky for a bike Im sure though.