AaronH

I live near two skytrain stations and have a 2-bike rack on the car. Get yourself with your bike near either one.
Not sure what the etiquette is for taking a rain-soaked bike on the track though ;-)

Squirrelli

If so, then I am definitely down for some velodrome riding! Not sure if they will let me ride the IRO on the track...I also need to take off my fenders and slap on a larger ratio.

Do you know when they will have a class in the next several of days? Maybe weekends?

EDIT:
I'm checking their schedule right now...there are private LTR1 classes running from 7:00 to 8:30 and there are LTR1 classes from 8:30 to 10 today.

Jan. 16 (sat) also have LTR1 classes running from 7:30 to 9:00 and the rest of the hour is open.

Would you be down to ride with me soon?

Jan. 28 have the same schedule as today, but sans the private LTR1.

carleton

The IRO will probably be fine. Some tips:

- No lights
- No accessories (bells, saddle bags, water bottles, bottle cages, etc...basically anything that could fall off.)
- No brakes
- A gear ratio of 48/16 (or similar) is appropriate for the beginner classes. Bigger and you will hurt. Smaller and you will spin like crazy to keep up.
- Must have drop bars with bar end plugs (to keep from taking core samples of flesh if there is a fall).
- Bars must have grips or grip tape at least on the grip area. No bare bars.
- Bullhorns are only acceptable (and encouraged) for time trials.
- Some sort of foot retention (straps or clipless pedals. MTB clipless may not be acceptable at some tracks.)
- No baggy clothes.
- Helmet. Skate/BMX helmets are perfectly fine and are very appropriate for track racing being that the races are so short. There are elite racers that use skate helmets. These are about 1/2 the cost of a regular road helmet.
- Bike must be in 'good working order' (read: Not Janky)


By the way, I forgot to mention that you guys shouldn't be afraid of crashes. "crash" is such a harsh word and doesn't describe what happens. Most of the time people have a mishap, it's just that, a mishap. People simply slide down the track or have a minor fall, laugh, get up, dust off and start over. Even then, these are rare.

EDIT: shouldn't

Squirrelli

Good tips carleton, I will be emailing the velodrome to see if my IRO will be allowed on there and other questions I have in mind.

I will finally have an excuse to be use my Suntor cogs! Going to run 46/14 or 15 because I don't have any rings larger than 46.

craigcraigcraig

cool thread, would love to get to the superdome and race with that old guy TT so he can teach us young kids how it's done sometime.

AaronH

I'm running a 46/15 on my moto track
How baggy is baggy? I have light weight shorts for all-mountain use and they're reasonably fitted. I always ride on the road with them.
The LTR1 on the 15th should work fine.

Squirrelli

PM sent.

Dannihilator

I'm pretty much starting my training Thursday.

Haven't been all that ambitious this year.

Squirrelli

Going to the track tonight!!!

So stoked!?#!@%?#$?@?#

jdgesus 

Pix

carleton

I haven't done much on the track yet for this season. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so I can start soon.

Sweet. Let us know how it goes. Pics?

Squirrelli

I'll try to snap some picchaz if I could.

TejanoTrackie 

Helmet cam!

PluperfectArson

I used to go there, not to race, but to watch events and chat. It is a fun place to go, and there tends to be something going on quite often during the season. People there are incredibly friendly as well.

I used to live ~6 mi from it, went there quite often. Now, I live ~2 hours from the closest velodrome, zzzz.

Squirrelli

I time travelled to the future to capture this.

TejanoTrackie 

The dude in front forgot to hold up 1 finger to signal 1 to go. Anyways, I normally do those types of workouts with a derny motor leadout.

carleton

More helmet cam:

https://ckdake.com/content/2009/dlv-beginner-class.html

Dannihilator

That's been my problem as well.

AaronH

The camera really flattens out the track
I had so much fun tonight on the track but holy crap I really gotta lay off the potato chips.
So nice to be able to ride in January without getting rained on

Squirrelli

Yea, I was having way too much fun to snap some pix...

At first on the coat I was like oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy the whole time...and when we picked up speed to ride in the sprinter's lane; the need for speed was there. Had like death grip on first the first couple of laps, then I started to relax, loosen up my grip and I was off. So much faster and how much control I had when I relaxed.

And the Doc can kill it on the track, holy eff was he fast. I couldn't even sit on his wheel for more than a lap...

carleton

I'm glad you guys had a great time!

fixedgear80

And.. Don't forget to shave your legs guys/gals. I wish I could go and get my feeling hurt.
My New Years resolution is to visit Alpenrose Velodrome this year, bike there (13 miles) do a few laps and then ride the bus home. Maybe once I get a Real Track Bike....

carleton

Shhhhh...don't mention the shaving part yet. We don't want to scare them off.

But, yeah...shaving is the bomb. There is also a huge psychological benefit, too.

Dannihilator

I have a problem, my new mtb is distracting me from my training.

carleton

As long as you are doin' somethin'! I know plenty of guys that use CX as their base training.