magiccx

Thinking about heading up from the Seattle area to Burnaby this winter. In the A Group what gear are guys running?

I'm used to racing at Marymoor (400m outdoors) and seem to have settled on 46x13 for my all around gear. That's around 93 gear inches (700c wheels with 22mm tires). I moved up from Cat 3 to Cat 2 this season, have an ok sprint but more of a fast tempo rider. I tend to do best catching a draft and coming around 200m out from the finish. I'm not a 150rpm+ rider. I know there are other gear combos I could be looking at but I like the feel of the 46x13 for sprinting and it's tall enough that I hold speed off the front.

I've emailed the track and they'd put me in the A group which is unlimited for gearing, I'd also be inclined to ask about starting out in the B group which is limited to 86.4 (48x15) to get a feel for the track and racing before stepping up.

Brian Ratliff

Burnaby, if I'm not mistaken, is a steeply banked 200m track. I would use gearing more like what you'd find at Alpenrose: 49/15 to 51/15, even for the A's.

magiccx

Yep 200m track.

Pretty sure I am over thinking things Just need to get my butt up there with bag o' rings cogs n' chains and just do some training rides to find what I like.

Hida Yanra

eh - similar here.

BrainInAJar

The C & B group are gear limited to 86, and the A group typically runs 88 or 90

Brian Ratliff

Do you happen to know what the race organizers do with guys coming up from Oregon with an OBRA licenses? Are we forced to a UCI license, or is there some sort of temporary local license we can buy to race in Canada? Me and my training partner might make the trip a few times this winter when we get sick of the rain down here - it's the closest indoor track.

BrainInAJar

That I don't know, you'd have to email Keylin, or ask Erin or Zach from your track (they come up pretty frequently, so they probably know)

Brian Ratliff

Everyone from WA comes down to Alpenrose thinking they can run high 90's gearing. It's almost always wrong and way too high. I imagine it's the same with Burnaby. I'd start with an 88" (49/15) and adjust to taste (Burnaby is shorter and steeper than Alpenrose). Yea, I know, this is warmup gear for you Marymoor guys, but trust me. I've seen so many guys come down and waste their first omnium race struggling to stay with the field trying to stay on top of their gear.

It is particularly bad for sprinters. xengravity can attest. I've seen guys start out in a 98" for the first sprint, get blown away, go down to a 96" for their second, get blown away again and then get the chain break tool out to go down to a 94", which is finally on the high end of normal sprinters gears.

Brian Ratliff

Yea, I figured as much. I'll ask them.

magiccx

You need an UCI license -- request one from USA Cycling. It's $150 and good for the calendar year.
You also need an account with the Burnaby Velodrome, this is easy and done online via their website.

Brian Ratliff

So if I want to race fall and winter (straddling December), I'd have to buy two UCI licenses, right?

magiccx

Yep, this is how I understand it. You'd need a 2013 license for this calendar year and then a 2014 license for next calendar year. Sucky. Would be nice if the licenses where good for 12 months from purchase date and not calendar year.

Guess this means I'm committing to doing some races up there next Oct - Dec too

Hida Yanra

well, Marymoor is an "interesting" track, so I try to not assume that rules of thumb here are necessarily applicable elsewhere

for example, lapping the field. It's a terrible strategy at Marymoor, it almost never works (sub 5% I'd say), but in a good sized field on a 250m track, that's 150m less ground to make up... so many things are "a bit off" about track racing here.

magiccx

$150 is for a BMX license, MTB and Road (track) are $90. I just ordered mine.

This is interesting:
Please read and accept the following:

1. This License will expire on 12/31/2013.
2. To purchase a license that will expire in 2014 you must purchase the license on or after December 1, 2013.

I'm doing the license processing now as I want to head up in Oct and Nov, maybe Dec too. Need to dig my passport out and send USA Cycling a copy to complete the request.