BENZ28

Good evening guys and gals

I did a beginner course at the local track tonight, just to try something new. I've never been on a fixed gear bike much less ridden on a track. I've always wanted to try it out but never really had the opportunity until tonight. Needless to say...I'm going to have to find myself a bike now, as I absolutely LOVED it. The rental bike was fun but I look forward to having my own.

After learning the basics on safety and etiquette, we did some simple follow the leader stuff on the track and then he took us up and down the banks/turns and got us used to the track and riding the fixed gear on the track. The coach was excellent, he was also coaching a couple other guys and was doing timed laps and things of that nature with them. So he got us ready and wanted to do some timed 100m and some 200m efforts. I didn't expect much but was excited when I heard the times as I didn't think they sounded too bad. My first 100m time was 7.5, then my first 200m time was 14.5(with the first 100 being 6.9ish).
I'm a road rider and really enjoy crit racing but I have to say this was so much fun. I'm really looking forward to doing this again.

May be a silly thread but I think I'm still amped with a bit of adrenaline and just needed to share. And I was curious of what the average person with ok fitness would get on the 200m times. Being it was my only attempt at it I assume I have room to grow, and I'm not in my best form or weight, lol. Either way it was an awesome time. Hope everyone has a great evening!!

Cheers!!!

carleton

Hi and welcome to the sport!

The flying 200M is a highly technical event. With the same ability, but better technique, a new racer can take 0.5 to 1" or more off of their time...in the same training session. Then when you add comfort on the bike, gearing options, fitness, better line, and experience then they get faster.

I like to think of the Flying 200M as being similar to the high jump. Anybody can do a basic one. Most beginners will suck. But, if you train for it, you can get more out of the same body with practice and the right technique.

But, understand that your #1 enemy in the flying 200M (and all bike racing) is wind. Overcoming wind resistance is exponential. So, the energy it takes to take you from 14.5" to 14.0" isn't as much as will be required to go from 14.0" to 13.5". 13.5" to 13.0" is even harder....and so forth.

This is a really hard question to ask.

14.5 is pretty normal for fit, untrained newbies.

Let's say your rental bike had a 48/16 chainring/cog on it. This means that during the timed portion of the event, your:

- Average speed: 31mph / 49.9kph / 13.9m/s
- Average cadence: 132rpm

There is a lot of room for improvement.

My guess is that you'll be around 14" your next time and 13.5" the time after that.

I've watched a guy go +14" on his first flying 200 and in 3 years get to 11.2" (0.5" shy of the track record set by Kevin Mansker) on DLV's slow and bumpy track. But that guy put in A LOT of year-round work in those 3 years.

bitingduck

And it's not the same as sprinting in a mass-start event, either. In all my racing I consistently sucked at the 200, but in a mass start race (even a short one) I could consistently beat more than a few people who were as much as a couple seconds faster than me in a 200. Usually by managing to avoid 2-up drag races, but even in drag races I'd often squeak ahead by a tire.

BENZ28

Cool! Thanks y'all. I'm excited to go back out. I figured it was pretty scientific just because knocking a second or two off of a 14 second effort is much different than knocking off a few seconds on a 20 minute road effort, at least proportionally speaking the 14 second effort is going to require overcoming a lot more technical aspects/(At least thats the way it sounds)
I'm really looking forward to riding on the track again.

Huskey

So I included coaching in my answer, thats about 4 hours on a Wednesday for me. It's not really training but it's still an aspect of the sport I enjoy and get something out of.
I don't do any road miles though, only track, Gym and ergo for me

queerpunk

me too, but my strategy is to be a lap up on them by the time the sprint comes around.

carleton

When you think about track, pretty much forget everything you know about road racing. Bringing a road racing mindset and tactics into track racing will likely do more harm than good. It's like comparing hockey and field hockey. Similar, but very different.

BENZ28

Yeah I think you missed my point, not comparing apples to oranges, rather making the point of the major differences between the two.

Thanks for your input!

defspace

Judging by the date and your location, you must have been at Alkek! Welcome. The track is the best thing that's ever happened to my cycling.

Shoot me a PM with your email address if you want to discuss things. My low post count keeps me from sending PMs.

BENZ28

Thanks!! I'll do that for sure. I'm actually in Colorado Springs for a month and was at the Velodrome here. But I will be check out Alkek after I wrangle up a bike. I'm opening a bike shop in the town I live in about an hour south of Houston so I'll probably try to snag a track bike from one of the brands we will carry.

700wheel

Drive up to Erie and check out the Boulder Valley Velodrome (about a 90 minute drive) - similar geometry to those tracks (250 m, 41 degree banking) used on world championships and Olympics - calendar at Boulder Valley Velodrome Calendar | Boulder Valley Velodrome

BENZ28

Yea that sounds awesome! Do they have rental bikes?

700wheel

Yes but I'm not sure of the prerequisites - send an email to BVVelo@gmail.com - include your experience and USAC track race category if any.

rm -rf

A cool video from the Boulder Valley Velodrome. (I think youtube blocked the last part of the music track.)

The extreme wide angle and bright colors makes an interesting composition.

defspace

Should have known it wasn't Alkek. Alkek is currently under water from all the flooding in Houston. I can't respond to PMs until I have 50 posts, though I can read them. Shoot me a PM with your email if you want to discuss things.