Flatballer

Damn, that's terrible. Anything weird about the crash or just one of those unlucky falls that we hope won't happen?

RIP, condolences to her family.

TMonk

I don't know the details of the crash, although it was clear to me (given the injuries sustained on the left side vs right) that she fell from high on the banking down track and likely hit the side of her head as soon as or before her left thigh got all scraped up. I hate to say it but it seems to me like some jackass in front of her (whom she was overlapping) moved up track slightly without looking back and took her out.

enjoi07

Terrible circumstances. That numb shock definitely hangs around. I can't help but recount the incident; seeing the look on her husbands face in the ambulance but thinking she would most certainly be all right...I really feel for the family...

zizou

Sad news, RIP

CommuteCommando

I heard this on my Strava feed and came here looking for details. Very sad. Heart goes out to her family.

spazegun2213

While I don't want to take anything away from her family so I'm only going to say that there was a serious head injury as a result of her fall.

This is absolutely tragic and even her co-workers are devastated by this loss. I did not know her as well, but she was part of the community and a good friend to many people I do know. I wish the best for her family.

TrackMonkey7

Wow, what terrible news. It's so strange to hear of a death from a track racing accident. My condolences for everyone affected.

carleton

Wow. My condolences to her friends and family.

This is so sad.

Racer Ex 

Tough few weeks in SoCal.

We've had a lot of bad crashes and ambulance rides in this year. 2 deaths.

After Masters States at Encino the announcer commented that there wasn't a single crash the whole weekend.

Brian Ratliff

Wow. I don't know what to say. My thoughts go out to her family and friends...

zitter

raced my first track omnium tonight in 4/5's since this is my second time racing on the track. won the 15 lap scratch race, 9 lap tempo race, tied in the 30 lap points race and won the overall.

on another note, Jackie was in the same velodrome class as I was and we chatted a couple times. I was shocked when I heard the news since she was a very good rider. She was very active in the community and it was a huge loss for all of us. I was also at the crit where Chris Cono died (did the 3's race before the 1/2/3 race). hard times for the cycling community

spazegun2213

Race report from friday:
Durward, Jackie's husband, raced with us. I guess they both got into cycling 1-2 years ago to lose a little weight and she started racing. He started going to her races, and taking pictures. But he rides as well and Friday was his first race ever. Nearly his entire family was there to see him and I was impressed that they were even there. The races were a bit weird as it was July 5th and most of the D riders were elsewhere, but there were a TON of A/B riders there. They were all on super low gearing and were instructed to "stay back" if there was a good battle going on.

The first race was a 6 lap point a lap, and wouldn't you know it Durward went off the front. We started a good paceline, but the A/B riders would not take much time at the front, so it was not as fast as it needed to be to catch him. He took the first 5 laps for the win. I tried to snipe the 5th lap and the last, but I was about 20m to far back. I did get a nice second, and he commented that I came around him so fast I nearly blew him off the banking, lol.

The second race was a triple sprint, and I managed to be leading the first sprint when a B rider just blew past us... jebus he was fast. He was also strong and did it another 2 times, lol. It was really interesting to see them go, as I had nothing left on the third sprint, and they were able to just stick it out. I think I managed a 4th in that race with only one D in front of me.

The last race was a 12 lap scratch, and I felt like I was done. The race turned into a good place line and with 4 to go I managed to be in a prime position. I was 3rd back, and when the the first guy pulled up, the 2nd guy stepped on it. We pulled a gap on the field that lasted for nearly a lap. When he pulled off I was hoping he slot in behind me.. but he didnt... rats. With 2 to go I just decided to go for it. The last lap was painful.. very VERY painful... but I managed a 2nd with a B rider again taking the win. Durward was right behind me with the help of a B rider leading him out. I was happy i fended of the pack and didnt completely drop my anchor.

Overall it was a great night, and I need to get out to the track more often. Without the monday classes, fridays are about the only times I get on the track bike, and that is just not enough!

zitter

^I think I was that B rider from Friday if he was in a UCSD skinsuit

Last night was my first time at Tuesday Night Racing so I was in the B/B+ combined field. Won the 12 lap tempo, 15 lap scratch, and 35 lap points race.

TMonk

damn you

zitter

didn't say it was easy haha

edit: tonight at TNR in the B's, won scratch race and points race
edit2: last tnr, won the win n out and scratch race, also went 5:09 for my first 4k and 1:12 on my kilo (trying to get below 5:00 and 1:10 by September)

Flatballer

Man, this one has slipped a ways down. Friday night was Match Sprints. I had some fancy new SuSo tires on, but my latex tubes didn't get here until Saturday, so it was just the tires for the night.

Warmed up feeling decent, I never feel amazing at the track because I have a hard team ride on Thursday nights. As I get stronger the team ride will turn into a much easier ride, but right now it's tough. Lower rolling resistance from the much higher pressures and nicer tires felt pretty good (I'm at 130/145 instead of 120/120 now, coming from GP4000S).

Went to take off the 16 and put on the 14 for the flying 200 and my chain whip broke. Again. It's the nice Park Tool one, 1/8" chain, should be strong. Originally I broke the longer chain off the tool where that little nut/bolt connects it. I then proceeded to break one that someone loaned me in the exact same place. I drilled my chain and tool out and put in a bigger bolt/nut. Worked for a while until I broke that last night. My cogs spin on fine, I greased the threads, not sure what's wrong. Gonna get the strongest bolt for that size that I can find, might just have been a cheap bolt.

Anyway, luckily I have a flip/flop hub so I already had a 15 on the other side. 49/15 is what I wanted to sprint in, but I would just have to make due with it for the 200. This hurt me a lot as I never really got up to speed and only managed 14.4 or something. It felt fast, but that's proably because I was spinning like crazy.

This 200 time put in the bottom 4, which is probably where I would have been anyway, so whatever. They split everyone into round robin groups of 4 with the people who had similar 200 times, and we did 2 lap sprints instead of 3.

In my group one guy was huge (in a not good way) and qualified with a 16 or something. One guy didn't know how to ride on the track but was strong. His wind-up for the 200 was all screwed up and he still ran 13.6 or something, which put him in my group (he should have qualified much higher based on his strength). Other guy is maybe a little stronger than me, but we're relatively well matched.

First race is the guy I'm well matched against. I draw lead out. Starting from the rail. I head immediately for the blue band and just cruise barely turning over at a walking pace. Get to the back stretch and we track stand for a second (although I almost fall over, I'm still getting used to track standing in a huge gear on a steep bank). A couple feints by me, back to the blue band for the corner. He goes way high, I'm middle, but he gives me probably 15 meters by accident when I start to ramp up a little. Still watching (mistake, I should've gone right here) he goes, I go, he's in front of me going into turn 1 of the last lap, I can't quite close it down and he gets away. I was too focused on getting him to lead me out, that I didn't go when he gave me too much room.

Second race is the strong guy and I draw follower. There's a little confusion though when we roll off the rail because someone else is still on the track, but the ref told us to go, then the chief ref told us to stop, so it got a little screwed up and I ended up beside and a little in front and below him in the first corner. Damn. He keeps the pace a little higher than my first race, maybe 15 mph, we stay on the banking. We kind of ramp it up side by side on the front stretch, I'm below and a little behind, he stays high, I'm in the lane, he just rides away from me, even taking a way long way around. If the tactics had been better I could have beat him, but I mangled it and he was stronger.

Third race is the guy who is pretty out of shape. Not much tactically here. I draw leader, ride around a little bit with him a little bit behind, and then just go with a lap to go and gap him by about 60 meters by the line. A win is a win I guess, but not really.

Definitely could have won the first race, should've had a better flying 200, second race I could have won. I definitely enjoy match sprinting though, probably my favorite track event. Wish we got to do them more often.

The slow, tactical game is just awesome for me. I think my favorite event would probably be a "last person across the line wins" thing, I could totally do that. Plus, I love putting on a show, and you can hear the crowd when you're track standing, riding around the blue band looking backwards, feinting, they love it, and it looks fast to them even though I'm not very.

Baby Puke

I would suggest that you never want to be both behind and below your opponent in a match.

Kayce

You should get your track to race some Crawls.

NateRod

First day taking track clinics and doing some novice scratch and point races at Kissena.

It's amazing how riding a bike in a competitive context (which I had never done before today) puts things into perspective. Even for an introductory event, it was an eye opener.

I'm in way worse shape than I thought I was.

That was amazingly fun. Painful, shameful, but fun.

Flatballer

Rough night at the track Friday. Had my fancy new latex tubes in for the first time. Getting dressed, bike sitting on the rack, 140 psi explosion (which are really loud, FYI). Tube is shredded, along the seam, I figured it's a bad seam and put in a back up butyl tube. Pumping it up, get to about 60 psi, it explodes too. Check the wheel again, and the rim tape is SLIGHTLY off center and the sharp edge of a spoke hole is cutting the tubes.

I don't carry spare rim tape, so I borrow a spare tubular wheel from a teammate. Except he doesn't have track nuts on it, they're on his other wheel. Mine are a different size, so no go there. Get a pair from the track put them on, and proceed to race.

Do terribly in the first two races, never got to warm up, my legs just weren't there. Third race I touch a pedal in the corner after rolling off (we were going really slow) but stay upright. About 10 laps later I go to slow down and my legs just keep going. Spun the cog off. I was in a hurry and never put a lock ring on. I figured it would be fine. It wasn't. I coasted down (eventually) and called it a night (thankfully it was the end of the night anyway).

Time to buy some rim tape and another couple tubes.

Could've been worse. Could've blown the tire on the banking instead of on the rack. Could've crashed when I touched the pedal. Could've caused a crash when I spun the cog off. Live and learn.

Hida Yanra

NateRod - we all started somewhere, and the vast majority never start. Get after it, you'll have a blast.

FB - sounds like a couple rough race reports, sorry to hear that. Latex tubes are REALLY, really picky - even oil off your hands can compromise them. Next week should be great

NateRod

Yeah, no complaints. Just an honest observation about myself. It was a great time. Really looking forward to going at it again.

carleton

I NEVER use stock rim tape. Whenver I buy new or used wheels, I also buy new *cloth* rim tape like Velox: https://www.rei.com/product/545060/velox-rim-tape



It may be heavier than others, but I don't care. Safety First.

Flatballer

Yeah, Velox is where it's at. It's what I have on my other wheels. These were used wheels that came with the bike, I never inspected the rim tape. I'll be picking up some new Velox tape and a couple latex tubes at the LBS this week.

carleton

You should also consider getting:

- Steel chainring bolts ($10?)
- A strong track chain (Izumi ECO, KMC K710/710-SL are my favorites around $20)