andre nickatina

I want to know everything about what you guys do to train on the road (if you do this at all, say if you don't have constant access to your velodrome).

-What do you ride, fixed or geared?
-If fixed, what gear ratios and for what purposes?
-What mileages/times?
-Intervals, base, both, what?
-Hills, no hills?
-What track events do you train for?

edit: 18 views and no replies? Lame... maybe I should just bother at Fixed Gear Fever instead...

yonderboy

Both FGF and this forum seem to be pretty dead right now. This forum especially so. Maybe this will spark some discussion.

This is only my 3rd year racing on the track, so take all of this with a grain of salt. My training week is split between 3 days on the track (or rollers if the track is wet), 2 days on the road. I'm mainly a scratch/points racer. My primary focus this year is the AVC and the FSA Gran Prix.

Track:
- Tempo intervals
- Speed drills
- Mock points races

Road:
- General base work
- Hills (everywhere is a hill where I live)
- Group rides
- Spring racing

On the track, I ride anywhere from a 77 to 88 gearing, depending on what I'm doing. Lower gearing if I want to focus on form, etc. These workouts are anywhere from 30 to 60mins long. If I'm going out on the road, I'll be out there for 2 to 3 hours. When road season starts up, I hit all the spring crits and do the weekly series at PIR to get my pack riding and sprint workouts all in one shot. After that, I try to make it to one track race a week.

A lot of the track riders in the Portland area race both road and track during the season, so we don't have many pure sprinters or pure pursuiters. That makes doing the weekly omnium races hard, because everyone is strong across the board. It gives you a lot of great experience, though.

akaio

^-- Thanks for the response.

You have any suggestions for where to find group rides here in PDX?

Any events you would suggest? My plan is really to do the first track intro thing on Wed the first time it is offered. Then do one of the banana belt series (road) and then just do weekly PIR and then the Tabor series when it comes around (because I work right near it and I could easily make it every week). What are the big track events a rookie should be eying/training towards? This is my first year I will be racing and so I will be in Cat5, I plan on doing a combo of road and track. I dont have any specific training plan because I dont know which events I will be better at.

yonderboy

For group rides, check the OBRA club ride list, or Portland Velo's ride calendar. I've been toying with the idea of getting a group training ride together on the weekend, but my schedule has been all over the place this year.

The major track events in the area that are good for beginners are the Erik K Track Race (5/3), and then the OBRA Championships (7/11-7/13).

Fast Twitch Fridays have Novice omnium events between sprint rounds. They're shorter than the Thursday omnium events, but the atmosphere is not as serious. The Alpenrose Thursday Series has madison and long points the first Thursday of every month. If you want to get into riding madison, that's the best place to learn and find a partner.

akaio

Great thanks for the info, I need to meet up for some early weekend group rides here soon.
That gives me some goals for events to put on my calendar as well.