Track start on the wall

So LTR #4 (Learn to Race) was last night... and it was a blast! After the first 3 clinics gave instruction on track technique and etiquette this one the let us loose to have some fun and try a few races out.

Today, was also killer as I got to take my new track bike out for a spin. She is a compilation of wheels from Christine, my ghetto fixie, seat and post from my defunct Opus Road, Tru-vativ track cranks, surly cog and a sparkling new Opus Libretto track frame, which I picked up from Ed at Mighty Riders. Its bling-bling. Since she is all shiny white and I got her put together during a snow storm, I have nick-named her the "Snow Queen". Pictures will be posted soon.

Anyway... onto the clinic.

[UPDATE]
Here is the manufacturer's picture of the Libretto. Besides the wheels and seat its pretty much my setup:

Click to enlarge

Race 1

I am not entirely sure what to call the first race. It was a 15 lap (3km) race where we had to ride together for the first 10 laps, the final 5 laps were up for grabs.

At one point we had a pace line and Skylar left a gap soI came up to squeeze Skylar out. He yelled at me, "Oh no you don't!" and we bumped a bit as we jostled for position then he gave me a good hit and I ended up bouncing up about 10 feet up track, before I conceded and got on his wheel.

After the 10 laps were up the fun started. If I recall me and Skylar were having it out when Trevor and Sascha launched an attack. They got the jump and a good gap so I had to work to get back on their wheels. Then with three laps to go I decided to wind things up a bit. I rode everyone off my wheel for a bit but Sascha and Trevor worked together and got on my wheel with one lap to go. By this time I was out of breath as I launched an attack just a bit too early and I didn't give it hard enough to open up a bit more of an attack. This was my mistake. As a result I had to suck Trevor and Sacha's wheel and watch as they fought it out and Trevor narrowly got a tire width on Sascha at the line. I did not contest this one as clearly the couriers [Edit: and fairweather rider] had better position and all I could hope for was to watch the action first hand.

Couriers: 1, Road Geek: 0

Miss and Out

The second was the Miss and Out, were every three laps the bell is rung and the last one over the line is pulled.

In these types of races you always have to watch your position. Its easy to get boxed in low and with no where to go you can be forced to be the last over the line. Since city fixie crew had been talking of boxing me in I knew I had to be mindful of the action.

I was able to ensure I had good position as we whittled down the field. With about 5 or so riders left I was getting antsy so I took a good pull and strung out the field a bit. This eliminated the remaining riders and before I knew it we had 3 left, the same match up as before: Trevor, Sascha and myself. The order was Sascha, myself and Trevor I didn't feel like pulling so I sat on Sascha's wheel.

Then the bell rung and we had 200 m to decided who was the next to leave. Coming into the final corner, Trevor came around me and I was boxed in low, putting the order Sascha, Trevor and myself. I knew that I had to do something to protect the honour of Road Geeks everywhere so this is when I decided to come around high and drop the bomb.

In the corner I got out of the saddle and went high side and started cranking into my sprint about mid corner. Its more work high side in the corner, but you can come out of the corner faster. At this point both Trevor and Sascha were too busy fight among themselves that they probably didn't even realize what was about to happen. Out of the corner, I caught them both with about 20 feet prior to the start/finish, after which I dropped the hammer, and bombed the black line in the next corner.

As I was doing this, Trevor got a wheel on Sascha and it was just Trevor and myself in the final matched sprint. However, my well timed attach gotten me about 20 feet on Trevor (outside the draft zone) and there were 3 laps left. This is why track racing is so exciting. In a period of just a few seconds Sascha went from being in 1st to being pulled and Trevor went for ensuring his position in the final sprint to being 20 feet down as I laid down the hammer at the start of the three remaining laps.

As soon as he saw what had happed, Trevor chased and I performed damage control to ensure I maintained or expanded on the gap. With just three laps to go you suck up any pain you might feel and keep the legs spinning. You break it down into pieces... must make next corner, must make next corner, must make... The gap is too important to relinquish, if its large enough then Trevor can not gain any advantage on the draft and we both have to work equally as hard.

As the laps counted down I noticed I was gaining ground and with about half-a-lap remaining I could see Trevor was letting off which allowed me try and catch my breath a bit so I could pretend that I was feeling great as I rolled over the finish line.

Couriers: 1, Road Geek: 1

Conclusions

I give it up to the couriers, they ride every frickin' day as fast as they can and it shows. I really hope they keep coming to the track races and putting as many "spandies" - to quote Skylar - to shame as they can.

I think the diversity only adds to the overall environment at the track. Plus I enjoy having others to break up the sometimes serious scene. There are a number of goofs in the road/track scene and it is nice to get some more. I have a bit of a rep for doing silly things (aka my squeeky sumo toy for the cross season.) And I think the more people there are injecting fun and silliness the better!

After all, at the end of the day, its only a fucking bicycle race.