Surfer77

so i started second, dude in front took sprinter lane, i was dropping down from stayers line to get on his wheel. he was moving really slow and i was paying more attention to his back wheel than my speed. i went down *so fast* i had no idea. i thought i had broken my chain. i wont make this mistake again! and thats not me in the pic, just a random photo from last weekend.

colnago62

Bummer. That looks like a nice velodrome, though.

Surfer77

It def is! Rock Hill, SC, if I did not say so….

Morelock

2019 about 10 seconds into the start of the scratch race the guy in front of us clipped his pedal and took a few of us out. My shoulder still occasionally comes out of socket... that wasn't a great weekend for a few of us on here as I remember...

Rock hill is steep and if you aren't on short cranks/speedplays, or you're going (relatively) slow and not paying attention/not used to that track, that can definitely happen.

Glad you are (relatively) alright! Now you can really claim that track Blood soaked into the surface!

Surfer77

Hi Morelock,
Strange thing is I went up to the office to say what happened, and as I was returning to the track, the same guy and another crashed at the same spot! What are the chances?!

It was totally my fault, not paying attention to my speed. I have 165s and Looks. Not a fan of Speedplays. Not yet anyway! ; )

Clythio

Gloves, full fingers gloves, everytime. And long sleeves, integral or "summer arm warmers".
But with 165 and Look, why did it touch?
Which frame are you using? Real track geometry with high center?
Well, it will heal, anyway.. keep going!

Surfer77

i was just below the stayers line, moving down to get behind my opponent who had the sprinters lane. I was just going too slow.
Yes, Aventon Matero,
But yes, bringing a pair of Mechanix full work gloves if not fully healed. I have not seen any others wearing full gloves, tho. Is this done? ; )

carleton

+1 on full finger gloves.

Baseball gloves are the best bang for your buck here. Form-fitting, great leather, easy to find, inexpensive, lots of colors.

carleton

Yes, you should be wearing gloves on a cement track (for reasons that should be obvious now). When you fall and slide, it's instincutal to put your hands out to help keep your head from hitting the ground as well as drag them to slow down. Further, after a slide, small cuts on the palm of your hand can be just as debilitating as small cuts on the feet of a runner.

Mechanix gloves will likely be too loosey goosey for sprinting.

Top riders even wear gloves for grip and protection on well-manicured wooden tracks:

Surfer77

Actually, I went down so fast my hand was still gripping my bars when I hit the concrete. That is how my knuckles got ground down!
Yes! I also thought batting gloves might be good.
Then I thought of golf gloves, but it is so weird, they sell golf gloves left or right! Not pairs!
I will check Dicks, the only sporting goods store, or Walmart.
Thanks both of you for the answer.
I did not want to look like a moron! ; )

carleton

*Yeah Baseball Batting Gloves (sorry).

I've used golf gloves, too. The leather is even nicer. But, you have to find a match pair individually. And the leather is thinner and doesn't last as long. I only used them for grip more than protection.

Russ Roth

Just picked up some long finger BMX gloves for MTBing, something about the poison ivy currently covering parts of my hands, didn't think they'd be good for track but I'll be bringing them with me now. https://jrbicycles.com/ has a bunch of larger adult sizes on clearance for 10.00 a pop which isn't a bad price.

OP, that looks painful, hope it heals quick.

Pacelineg

I was involved in a nasty crash at the velodrome in Montreal (yeah that dates me). No gloves and no hand injury, my right hip took all the impact and damage. I can't image what kind of damage I would have sustained had it been on a concrete track.

Hope you recover quick and are back at it soon.

Surfer77

Thanks! i did find a pair my size for $10.
Thank you, it is more painful than i first thought! its been 10 days and still “oozing” a bit. MD said to keep them uncovered, to allow faster healing. Of course, there is no skin there, so new growth is needed to heal over.
-Robin

Surfer77

Thank you!
I should be good for another sprint practice at Rock Hill next month. Healing slowly. Sometimes it aches a bit, and the road rash on my elbow is wicked itchy! Drives me crazy getting to sleep!
-Robin

79pmooney

I ride my fix gear on the road with Giant or Dankine full fingered MTB gloves. (Not for crashes but to protect my fingers from the undersides of the brake levers. Some of the Oregon hills go up lot farther than your banking.) Probably not the protection of a full leather glove but still a lot more than a short fingered glove and they are true cycling gloves. No palm padding,

Drawback for the velodrome - the color scheme works better in a duck blind.

Edit: totally off topic but your pic brings the sadness of Alpenrose's recent closing. 2 miles from here. Watched many races there. Loved to watch them on the steep banking your photo brings to mind. (My racing days stopped many years ago. Besides my mountain goat hooves simple don't work on steep concrete and even if they did, mountain goats are pretty useless in velodromes. I used to ride Skyline Blvd, roll into the grounds on my way home, park my (road) fix gear and watch the evening racing.)

Surfer77

Hahah! Im not much of a “fashion plate” at Rock Hill anyway! But I did notice that the Fly Racing ones Russ mentioned are only neoprene, prob not what I want. I will look at baseball batting gloves.

On velodromes, sad to see some closing. I dont know how Rock Hill does it, the facility seems way under utilized. It “only” costs $60 to take the certification class, then one can rent a bike for $5 and it costs $5/day. Maybe its too intimidating to ppl, idk. RH has a USAC sanctioned race once a month. Im not sure how many racers it draws. The city also has a dedicated 1.1 mile crit course and a BMX track! Free to use, just park and ride. I think they have club crits every weekend, and sanctioned races as well. Def a cycling hub, but apartments are weirdly expensive, same as Charleston. Prob bc of its proximity to Charlotte. Not sure what the demographics for RH, but track cycling is relatively inexpensive to get into vs road racing.
-Robin

700wheel

Is there any talk or action for a new velodrome on the Portland area?

colnago62

That truly was a sad day when Alpenrose closed for good.