Track Race Report Thread

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby mikesbytes » Sat Feb 28, 2015 3:03 pm

Before attemptImage
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby mikesbytes » Sat Feb 28, 2015 3:20 pm

Clip underneathImage

That drops the pad 30mm and brings them inwards 10mm. What it also does is rest my forearms on the base bar, which doesn't feel too bad but I need to check.

Perhaps I should go for a 120mm stem as moving to underneath moves the pad back about 70mm
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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby foo on patrol » Sat Feb 28, 2015 3:44 pm

But couldn't you lift the front of your bars up, so that the pad area drops down? That combined with the 100mm stem, might nearly get you the right position! :idea:

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby mikesbytes » Sat Feb 28, 2015 6:47 pm

Did have a passing thought about lifting the front, which of course would get the elbows lower. I think legal limit is that that the clips can't be higher than the seat which wouldn't be a problem for me

So I've tested. Bars on ground, distance elbow above ground
1. Flat above bars (original position) 100mm
2. Flat below bars (picture in photo above) 70mm
3. Angled upwards above bars (original position + angling) 50mm
4. Angled upwards below bars - can't be done the base bar is in the way)

So that is showing that the praying mantis position is giving the best drop with my existing equipment

The other interesting thing with angling upwards isI that its pushed the tip of the clip back a whopping 60mm meaning I could use pretty much any stem I wanted
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby foo on patrol » Sat Feb 28, 2015 8:32 pm

There ya go, go and do some testing now and let me know how it goes. :wink:

I'm going to be chasing the Individual Pursuit in my age group later on, so I will be interested in your outcome as I don't and don't see me being able to get a dedicated TT bike in the future. :( I do however, have a mate that has got a set of Corima disc wheels that were made specifically, for the GB Team Track team back in 2005 I think it was. :mrgreen:

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby mikesbytes » Sun Mar 01, 2015 9:27 am

A set of disc wheels sounds great. I need to sort my wheels out, the ones in the picture are borrowed, when I found out I'd qualified 4th, I used my mates wheels to help with bridging the gap. I've lost the track adaptor for my new disc wheel, my old disc wheel developed a flat 10 minutes prior to qualification and my front deep dish wheel has a flat. Singles have advantages and disadvantages...

Testing out will be limited to trying the position on the trainer, track training is Mon and Wed evening and I work both evenings. I only ride my track bike when I race, which will be the Australian champs in March
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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby KGB » Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:25 am

I have a feeling there is a tech reg requiring aero extensions to be parallel to the ground. I'm not sure how that works with ski bend extensions etc and as usual it is often open to interpretation.
Image

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby mikesbytes » Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:20 pm

Its kinda mute now, I've pulled the pin on the Australian Individual Pursuit due to the cost in lost income. If I felt I had a chance of a medal, I would of done it. I've entered the points race
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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby ironhanglider » Mon Mar 02, 2015 5:44 pm

Another day at the track, and more tales of triumph for the heavy tandem...

ACTVCC - Narrabundah Track night. 25/2/2015

I think that there is still some residual effects from the NSW Masters happening, because there was fewer than usual in A grade. There were only 3 riders plus Steve D the guest rider from B grade for this week, and about 9 in B grade as is now the custom there was a group of 5 fast B graders (who race D grade in crits) and 4 less fast (who race in E, and F grade in crits).

The night started with an 18lap scratch race. As always a longer scratch race does reveal a bit about the personalities and abilities. The first few laps ticked off quite happily, with everyone doing full lap turns. There was a bit of variation in speed with the less fast B graders being unable to maintain the same speed when they hit the front, and some of the higher end B graders getting frustrated and then feeling the need to pour on the power when they took their turn. As for us we tried to run the middle ground and simply maintain speed when we hit the front, and to gradually close gaps down when someone went off the front. We would have been happy for the bunch to be together at the end, but that wasn’t ever likely to happen. As bad luck, or bad judgment would have it we found ourselves on the front with 2 to go so we just rode a calm lap in order to accelerate into the bell. At the bell there was a general acceleration and Phil came past with no one on his tail so we drifted up to grab his draft, knowing that the 333m lap would give us another chance to come back at him before the end. Aaron took the opportunity to duck down the inside at the end of the bend. Phil then tried to close the door on him prompting some brief conversation. We stayed out of that mess, as Aaron pulled ahead and we ranged up alongside Phil in the final bend, we had already got past him and kicked away in the run to the line to finish a clear second.

Next up was a flying lap. Much as a metre by metre description would enthrall you all, you can just be satisfied with our time of 25:43. At least we were…

The next race on the program was a 4 lap handicap. We started with only one rider in front, and with another off the same mark as us. We started in front, but we stayed high to let Steve H come underneath since we are so slow off the fence. This arrangement worked well with us being able to drop straight onto Steve’s wheel and use him to help get us up to speed. We started working half lap turns and were getting into the race when we looked back at 2 to go and Steve H was nowhere to be seen. There was nothing for it now but to go as hard as we could till the end. We dug in, gritted our teeth and held on for a satisfying win – once we could breathe again.

The last race was the 6 lap graded handicap. Graeme, who is one of the less fast B graders knew that he wouldn’t be in it at the end so he started at the front to lead us out for a couple of laps. Sadly that was probably half a lap too far because by the end a couple of the fast men came past and we had to really wind up to chase back on. We tacked on to the back and went to the front to do our turn and looked back to find no one on our wheel again. Again we found ourselves having to do another 2 lap time trial to the finish. This time we got as far as the final 10m when Steven J from A grade flashed past to take the win.

It was another great night, but we find ourselves in the uncomfortable position of being at the pointy end of B grade (at least on sustained speed), but off the pace for A grade. Depending on who shows next week, we might be getting the tap on the shoulder to be moved back up to A. it is the price of success I suppose.


Cheers,

Cameron

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby foo on patrol » Tue Mar 03, 2015 5:35 am

Keep working on it Cameron and you'll get there and give to A grade. [emoji106]

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby dalai47 » Tue Mar 03, 2015 11:19 am

KGB wrote:I have a feeling there is a tech reg requiring aero extensions to be parallel to the ground. I'm not sure how that works with ski bend extensions etc and as usual it is often open to interpretation.
Rules have changed once again. I'll find the details and update tonight...

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby dalai47 » Tue Mar 03, 2015 11:26 pm

dalai47 wrote:Rules have changed once again. I'll find the details and update tonight...
As long as the ends of the extensions are +-10cm above/ below the pads it's fine.

http://qld.cycling.org.au/DesktopModule ... mentid=259

Also not sure if Mikebytes can have the pads that low so forearms can rest on the basebar. There was something in the earlier rules you could only rest contact points on the pads and end of the extensions and grips on the basebar... This may be an old interpretation - too late tonight for me to trawl through the rules...

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby mikesbytes » Wed Mar 04, 2015 12:49 pm

Thanks dalai, from that document, it appears I can make a number of adjustments, in particular moving the clips forward upto 80cm without needing to justify. Also notice that seat is 5cm, I thought it was 7cm. The regs may cause some issues with my road TT bike but that's a road discussion. its a also a little contradictory, it appears to say that 2012 regs still apply even though they don't conform with 2014 regs.

I've seen padsintegrated into the base bar rather than been attached to the clips

The problem is also that the official might dig up an outdated ruling in his/her head to cause you grief, or some rule that doesn't exist such as whether the pads can be on an angle.

Perhaps I should buy a hinged stem and set the clip-ons up conventionally. I might go for 120 (current is 80 pista) and position the clips back 20mm to result in the clips being 20mm forward. There's a reasonable tolerance in moving the clips forward/backwards and I wouldn't mind the base bar being further forward as it will give my monkey arms more leaverage out of the starting machine.
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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby ironhanglider » Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:08 pm

Wednesday is Vets track night!

On the menu was a 20lap scratch race, a match sprint (pairs based on mark for a 2 lap handicap), an Italian pursuit, and a 6 lap graded handicap. Today A grade got bolstered with the addition of a couple of new riders, so with 7 of them and 10 in B grade there was no need for anyone to make a guest appearance into A. (If you haven't been following my posts I ride the track on a tandem with my vision impaired friend John).

The scratch race started pretty calmly since we got onto the track first, and had one of the slower B grade riders behind us on the fence. John and I usually don't try to animate the race, but we will follow the attacks of others. Being on the front our traditional slow starts don't hamper us so much. This time the race was run at a fairly gentlemanly pace and the race was all together at 4 laps to go with Graeme on the front and us at third wheel. With no disrespect intended Graeme is one of the slower B grade riders, and with half a lap to go before the end of his turn (Graeme will always do a full lap) I could tell that the rider behind him was getting antsy. I pulled alongside in the back straight, partly in an effort to keep him under control until Greame had swung up, and partly to give us a bit of extra time to respond to the change of pace. Unfortunately I misjudged the effort required (or failed to communicate) and we ended up going past and overlapped Graeme just as he was swinging up. I was awake to it and we swung up right to the fence. Of course the difference in height and radius means that you can be travelling faster in terms of real speed, whilst still only maintaining parity with the front of the bunch, which means that when you come down off the banking you appear to accelerate much faster than would be the reward for purely your own effort.

As a result we remained high and wide and ran off the banking with 3 laps to go and tried to open a gap quickly. Well it almost worked, but we took one klingon PhilA with us. PhilA is a good rider, but he is small and doesn't offer much in the way of shelter. He is also not great at pushing his own way through the air. (poor power/drag numbers). We swung up to the blue line at 2.5 laps to go, but Phil just followed us. We then had a small game of chicken, since we weren't going to just tow Phil to the line, and he was just biding his time. He did come through for a half-lap but swung off before we got to the bell. At the bell we could hear the sound of wheels approaching so we kicked as hard as we could. In the end we managed to hold off a fast finishing Rocky by half a wheel.

Next was a match sprint. It was a little unfair since our 2 lap Hcp mark is a bit more generous than it should be. As it was we raced against PhilC. For this race we went to the front and rolled around at a good speed. I used the shadows from the afternoon sun to see that Phil was a few bikelengths behind at the bell. We attacked and opened a gap at 250m to go and maintained it to the line.

For the Italian persuit we were lined up at 4th wheel behind PhilA. At the gun a gap of 4 or 5 bikelengths quickly opened up in front of us. We busted a gut to catch PhilA just as the rider in front swung up and we found ourselves on his wheel for his lap and did our best effort to maintain the speed for our lap before we collapsed in a heap at the end. The team went on to win!

For the final scratch race I don't remember too much about it.. We were doing half lap turns for the most part as the numbers slowly dwindled. PhilA swung up at a lap an a half to go, and we accelerated into the bell. Just as well because Garth from A grade ranged up alongside us. However importantly he didn't get past, he drifted back behind down the back straight and we tried to keep up the pace. Garth was not done with yet and came around us in the next bend to take a well deservded win.

All in all, another successful night at the track.

The rumour is that the next couple of weeks will be devoted to a club omnium championship which we are looking forward too.

Cheers,

Cameron

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby foo on patrol » Sat Mar 07, 2015 5:35 am

Starting to come together for you Cameron. 8)

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby dalai47 » Mon Mar 09, 2015 12:56 pm

I am still racing on the track locally most weekends. Yesterday it was at the Coburg Velodrome; another of the many Melbourne velodromes and one I hadn't been to before and so wasn't sure what to expect. On arriving I was impressed to find a really nice steeply banked 250m outdoor track! Although a touch bumpy, it offered a nice venue to spend a sunny autumn afternoon!

Image

Four races were in the schedule. Unfortunately due to a number of potential reasons (long weekend holiday and the Bendigo Track Carnival also being held) there were only 5 riders in A grade for the day...

First up the usual scratch race. I was able to watch all the riders and once one pulled out with a flat tyre it was like a long sprint derby with riders all waiting for the other to attack. A couple laps to go the sprint is on and end up making ground to pass all but the winner who had a clear gap by the finish and was still pulling away.

Second race was a win and out. Again the fastest guy got a nice gap and easily won the first sprint. I moved up to sit on the hip of the rider in front and hit it hard on the whistle giving an all or nothing effort. Luckily I won the second sprint easily as I would have rolled in for last after that effort otherwise!

Third race was a match sprint with the fastest guy who has a mean kick. I was on the front and tried to go early but he was onto my wheel again almost immediately so I swung up. A little more foxing till he got the jump underneath me and it was all I could do was keep him in sight when he went and he cruised easily over the line in front of me.

Final race of the day was a heat for the 8 lap Handicap with top three getting through to the final. I was the second backmarker and just couldn't make up enough ground on the riders infront. Scatch marker finally came through a lot later than I was expecting and too late to catch up the riders infront so both of us missed out getting in the final.

In the end although not making the handicap final, I did enough to claim the second place cash for our grade on the day.

Finished with the Coburg club firing up their BBQ, so hung around afterward and enjoyed the company, sun and a few snags.

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby foo on patrol » Mon Mar 09, 2015 10:30 pm

Good stuff Dalai. [emoji106]

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby mikesbytes » Tue Mar 10, 2015 12:12 pm

Is there a bump (dip) coming off the turn? Or just the photo angle
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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby dalai47 » Tue Mar 10, 2015 1:20 pm

Possibly just the photo angle. It was a rough track but no noticeable dips that I can recall...

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby Leeroy » Tue Mar 10, 2015 2:21 pm

How does the banking compare to, say, the BBN track?

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby dalai47 » Tue Mar 10, 2015 4:30 pm

Way steeper - comparable to DISC only concrete!

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby Leeroy » Wed Mar 11, 2015 5:55 pm

must get out there someday then - should be fun.

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby ironhanglider » Wed Mar 11, 2015 10:41 pm

dalai47 wrote:I am still racing on the track locally most weekends. Yesterday it was at the Coburg Velodrome; another of the many Melbourne velodromes and one I hadn't been to before and so wasn't sure what to expect.
Someone clearly didn't grow up watching Flashing Pedals on telly.
Leeroy wrote:must get out there someday then - should be fun.
It is fun. The Coburg Velodrome might be 250m but it has long straights, longer than DISC. This means that the bends have a very tight radius. When you wind up to speed you find yourself being noticeably compressed into the bike in the corners. It is an interesting sensation, particularly the first time. I've not raced there, but I have done a few laps. There used to be an opening in the fence there, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is a gate there now. Spoilsports.

Cheers,

Cameron

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby dalai47 » Thu Mar 12, 2015 11:47 am

ironhanglider wrote:
dalai47 wrote:I am still racing on the track locally most weekends. Yesterday it was at the Coburg Velodrome; another of the many Melbourne velodromes and one I hadn't been to before and so wasn't sure what to expect.
Someone clearly didn't grow up watching Flashing Pedals on telly.
Correct. :oops:
ironhanglider wrote:
Leeroy wrote:must get out there someday then - should be fun.
It is fun. The Coburg Velodrome might be 250m but it has long straights, longer than DISC. This means that the bends have a very tight radius. When you wind up to speed you find yourself being noticeably compressed into the bike in the corners. It is an interesting sensation, particularly the first time. I've not raced there, but I have done a few laps. There used to be an opening in the fence there, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is a gate there now. Spoilsports.
Glad it wasn't just me. Did feel tighter on the bends than DISC...

There are currently a couple of large holes in the fences so should be able to get in easily.

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Re: Track Race Report Thread

Postby ironhanglider » Thu Mar 12, 2015 10:10 pm

11 March 2015 ACTVCC at the Bundahdome

Wednesday night is Track night.

As the season winds to a close, tonight was the first of a two week series to decide the "Omnium". However this is an omnium with a difference as Graeme who runs the show has decided that there should be an element of chance rather than simply deciding who is strongest. I would have been happy to have everyone ranked in order of all round ability a per a UCI omnium: ie Scratch, Pursuit, Elimination, TT, Flying lap and Points race. I am happy for a championship to go to the strongest rider. However if there is a race, I will race and try to win and John is the same.

The program for the night was for a warm-up graded handicap, a 2 lap handicap, a 2 lap TT, and a final 6 lap scratch race, with the middle two races counting toward the omnium. The weather was just perfect, however there was only two riders from A grade who showed up, Michael who is a genuine A grade rider and Rohan who is an A2 rider.

In the graded handicap we started at third wheel behind Ally and James. We did long turn and swung up at 3 to go to find that Michael had left Rohan and had caught up to the back of the bunch. We dropped down onto Michael's wheel to try and follow him round. It got a little messy for a while as riders were all over the place and Michael wisely waited for a clear opening. A gap eventually opened up and Michael went through it like a shot. We did our best to follow but it wasn't enough. Coming round to the bell Michael was a few lengths clear, of Phil who was going hard. We managed to hold Phil's wheel and came alongside him in the final bend, but he held us off and we finished 3rd by about half a wheel.

The first of the omnium races was a 2 lap handicap. This one didn’t get off to a good start when I pulled my foot at the first pedal stroke. Fortunately I managed to get it back in during the next two or three revolutions because being high and slow on this track is a really bad place to be. With the foot in place we managed to come down the track into the fray and tried to chase a group of four who were chasing James. The four passed James down the back straight for the final time and we were approaching the back of them, I was aware of someone coming up behind us but we were going flat out and they disappeared. The four fanned out a bit at the end as they were each looking for sprinting room and we ended up out above the blue line in 5th, at least a second behind the winner but half a bike length behind 4th.

The next race of the omnium was essentially the same thing but done solo. Timed events with standing starts aren’t really our thing, but we do what we can. In this case we ended up with a time of 56.85s for the 667m. I didn’t take too much notice of the others times but there were a few within a second either side of us. So we have got to be happy with that. I'd like to know what our split times were because I was particularly pleased with our second lap.

The final race was a scratch race. Michael sat this one out, so everyone was able to start together. This time the race just ticked along nicely with the pace easing off before Greame swung up at a lap and a half to go. This was basically the signal to go and so we wound it up from the front, but perhaps with not enough venom, because Ally hit out at the bell. We tried hard to hold her out wide and did for the bend, but the run off the banking was enough to launch her down the back straight. We were at full steam now and we were closing rapidly by the finish, but Ally held on by a bike and a half, with a couple of seconds daylight behind us. That last lap was probably as fast as we have gone on the track bike, it was a hoot.

I tried to get some clue as to what races we will have next week (and whether I should consider another gear) but Graeme was keeping the cards close to his chest so I guess that we will continue with what is working.

Cheers,

Cameron

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