So I figured I might as well go - better to rock up late than not at all! In the end it meant that I only missed one motorpaced F150, and I was knackered after 3 anyway, so perhaps it was for the best!
After a month off the bike, it was good to be back out there, and while my endurance and recovery have suffered, the engine seems to still be there - speeds were all in the high 50s, with a top (supposedly. I'm not trusting my garmin much at the moment) of 59.2. This business of sitting behind a motorcycle makes it oh so easy! Mind you, the jump was only from about 45, so it still required a decent acceleration.
Anyway, good session, even if I did go on to lose to my daughter three times in a row. Oh, the ignominy! New nuts and so on should be arriving this week, so I'll finally be 'safe'. With any luck.
Showing posts with label F150. Show all posts
Showing posts with label F150. Show all posts
10 January 2012
30 October 2011
ABOC Summer #2 with DISC
Or something like that. After yesterdays spinning 'warmup' I felt in a reasonable place for a bit of sprinting action. First up we did some powerjumps on (for me) 86", 2 x 3/4 lap. I lead out the first one with Dino, jumped at the 200 line from mid-30s and sprinted to the line unchallenged. Second one I was in second position and followed Dino's jump down the back straight. Here I was in a good sort of position to go around him, but I just haven't been able to get that move right, and I came out of his draft and just sat there, finishing a bike length back - right where I started!
After that we went up to race gear, 99", and did a motorpaced entry + 150m. I jumped poorly, but still managed to hit 61.4 coming out of turn 2, but couldn't quite hold that down the back straight, dropping back to about 57 which I held to the end.
Partnered Flying 200s, and I lead out the first against Craig. The jump again was ordinary, and I rather dove down in to the lane before the 200 line rather than smoothly coming down and still up around the red line at that point. I actually accelerated down the back straight this time, up to around 57 from 55, and held that to the line pretty well. The next one was similar, following Craig this time, except that I was meant to lay off coming out of turn two, take height, run down in to the slipstream and around. Again I got it wrong, not taking enough space and rather diving back down behind him leaving me with not much of a run. So I pulled back out too sharply, got stuck on his hip and couldn't pull past. Marginally closer than with Dino, but not much!
We finished with another 1.5 lap match sprint, and I was up against Jarrod this time. I was behind him, and had plenty of height when he went with about a lap to go. I was half intending to practice the laying off again, but I just plain had too much speed and muscled around him instead. So not quite the right sort of practice.
One thing that's become enormously more apparent as I've gotten stronger in the gym and on the trainer is that that's not really being transferred to the track very well. I'm almost scared jumping for a flying 200 because my bike handling just isn't good enough, especially at DISC. Or, at least, I've convinced myself that this is so. And I did hit the fence with my foot winding up for the second 200. I don't have a power meter, but I reckon if I did it'd show that I was down a good 10% at least in my jumps compared to on the trainer, and quite possibly more (I mean, I've never trained with power, so I can't really quantify. But you get the idea.) Simply because I'm lacking in confidence and skill. More training I guess! And at least BBN isn't quite so slippery...
After that we went up to race gear, 99", and did a motorpaced entry + 150m. I jumped poorly, but still managed to hit 61.4 coming out of turn 2, but couldn't quite hold that down the back straight, dropping back to about 57 which I held to the end.
Partnered Flying 200s, and I lead out the first against Craig. The jump again was ordinary, and I rather dove down in to the lane before the 200 line rather than smoothly coming down and still up around the red line at that point. I actually accelerated down the back straight this time, up to around 57 from 55, and held that to the line pretty well. The next one was similar, following Craig this time, except that I was meant to lay off coming out of turn two, take height, run down in to the slipstream and around. Again I got it wrong, not taking enough space and rather diving back down behind him leaving me with not much of a run. So I pulled back out too sharply, got stuck on his hip and couldn't pull past. Marginally closer than with Dino, but not much!
We finished with another 1.5 lap match sprint, and I was up against Jarrod this time. I was behind him, and had plenty of height when he went with about a lap to go. I was half intending to practice the laying off again, but I just plain had too much speed and muscled around him instead. So not quite the right sort of practice.
One thing that's become enormously more apparent as I've gotten stronger in the gym and on the trainer is that that's not really being transferred to the track very well. I'm almost scared jumping for a flying 200 because my bike handling just isn't good enough, especially at DISC. Or, at least, I've convinced myself that this is so. And I did hit the fence with my foot winding up for the second 200. I don't have a power meter, but I reckon if I did it'd show that I was down a good 10% at least in my jumps compared to on the trainer, and quite possibly more (I mean, I've never trained with power, so I can't really quantify. But you get the idea.) Simply because I'm lacking in confidence and skill. More training I guess! And at least BBN isn't quite so slippery...
16 October 2011
DISC Summer #1 with ABOC
Nice to get back on the track today after lots of spinning and lifting. I was on standby as support for Team Splat!'s Around the Bay epic which left me rather late getting to DISC, and without a partner for powerjumps when he defected to the enduro stream!
Accelerations generally felt a bit soft tonight, especially on 86" but even up on 99". My body just didn't feel right. I hit about 43km/hr in each 1/4 lap powerjump on 86", but felt like I should have been able to get higher.
The next drill was a F150 with a motorpaced entry on 99". I was pretty happy with this despite the sloppy jump, it felt fast and was - an average speed for the 150m of 60.47 with a top of 62.4 after crossing the 200 line at about 59. In fact, even though it was only a 150m effort, my average speed for the 200 (approx!) was still 59.5 - or only just over 12 seconds. Of course, that's with a motorpaced windup and entry, so even though the 150m was unassisted, doesn't quite mean it equates to an actual 12s F200, even at DISC! Still, nice to go fast.
After that, a full F200 though motorpaced the entire way this time. Again my jump was poor, and I came down off the fence too early, but speed was good - crossed the line at about 55, and accelerated all the way, crossing the line at about 61 (and still accelerating!) for an average of 59km/hr, about a 12.2 or so. All I need to do now is to organise a motorbike for my races...
For the first time in ages (well, a month or so) we did a windout, back on 86" (one day I'll get a new chain so I can go down to 82"... one day). Got up to 61.6 on that, which is a pretty decent effort. I don't have my cadence sensor at the moment, but it would have been up around 150 or so.
Finished off the evening with a practice match sprint - again, I didn't have a partner, but this time I formed a group of three with Merv and someone I don't know. Merv took the lead and I was initially at the back, but moved up through the middle, keeping height. Merv jumped from the bottom with about 300m to go while I stayed up the bank, accelerating and watching the other rider behind me. I saw that he wasn't going to come underneath, so I just dropped down around the 200 line a couple of lengths back, accelerated down the back straight and came up beside Merv just before the turn, held him there, then pulled away to win. Which, all respect to Merv, with my speed I should be able to do, though he's a better rider than I am.
Accelerations generally felt a bit soft tonight, especially on 86" but even up on 99". My body just didn't feel right. I hit about 43km/hr in each 1/4 lap powerjump on 86", but felt like I should have been able to get higher.
The next drill was a F150 with a motorpaced entry on 99". I was pretty happy with this despite the sloppy jump, it felt fast and was - an average speed for the 150m of 60.47 with a top of 62.4 after crossing the 200 line at about 59. In fact, even though it was only a 150m effort, my average speed for the 200 (approx!) was still 59.5 - or only just over 12 seconds. Of course, that's with a motorpaced windup and entry, so even though the 150m was unassisted, doesn't quite mean it equates to an actual 12s F200, even at DISC! Still, nice to go fast.
After that, a full F200 though motorpaced the entire way this time. Again my jump was poor, and I came down off the fence too early, but speed was good - crossed the line at about 55, and accelerated all the way, crossing the line at about 61 (and still accelerating!) for an average of 59km/hr, about a 12.2 or so. All I need to do now is to organise a motorbike for my races...
For the first time in ages (well, a month or so) we did a windout, back on 86" (one day I'll get a new chain so I can go down to 82"... one day). Got up to 61.6 on that, which is a pretty decent effort. I don't have my cadence sensor at the moment, but it would have been up around 150 or so.
Finished off the evening with a practice match sprint - again, I didn't have a partner, but this time I formed a group of three with Merv and someone I don't know. Merv took the lead and I was initially at the back, but moved up through the middle, keeping height. Merv jumped from the bottom with about 300m to go while I stayed up the bank, accelerating and watching the other rider behind me. I saw that he wasn't going to come underneath, so I just dropped down around the 200 line a couple of lengths back, accelerated down the back straight and came up beside Merv just before the turn, held him there, then pulled away to win. Which, all respect to Merv, with my speed I should be able to do, though he's a better rider than I am.
26 September 2011
DISC Session #23 with ABOC
Hmm... what to say? Half-lap seated powerjumps hit a maximum of 53.4 on 86" against Nic, not bad. Motorpaced entry + 150m was okay, hit a max of 61.2 on 99" despite a bad jump and entry line, lifting my front wheel off the ground by quite a bit. Was still just below 60 crossing the line, so pleased with that.
Partnered Flying 200s I was feeling a bit tired already, and only hit a max of 57.1 when I had the lead. I followed on the next and tried to pass Nic, but got just about all of it wrong - left too much of a gap on the entry, closed in on the back straight but not quickly enough, swung up once already on the bend, came back, then came back out of the draft way too late... my tactical prowess is not extreme!
We finished off the session with a 1.5 lap match sprint - did this three-up with Nic and Neil for the fun of it. Nic led it out, Neil behind me. I tried to keep height, Nic came up to about the blue, and both Neil and I went for the lane at the same time with a lap to go. I got there first with only a moderate jump, hoping to keep increasing my speed all the way to the line. Neil came past me in the end, but only by half a wheel (all you need, of course!) but I was happy enough with the effort.
Partnered Flying 200s I was feeling a bit tired already, and only hit a max of 57.1 when I had the lead. I followed on the next and tried to pass Nic, but got just about all of it wrong - left too much of a gap on the entry, closed in on the back straight but not quickly enough, swung up once already on the bend, came back, then came back out of the draft way too late... my tactical prowess is not extreme!
We finished off the session with a 1.5 lap match sprint - did this three-up with Nic and Neil for the fun of it. Nic led it out, Neil behind me. I tried to keep height, Nic came up to about the blue, and both Neil and I went for the lane at the same time with a lap to go. I got there first with only a moderate jump, hoping to keep increasing my speed all the way to the line. Neil came past me in the end, but only by half a wheel (all you need, of course!) but I was happy enough with the effort.
28 August 2011
DISC Session #19 with ABOC
Enjoyable session tonight at DISC with the ABOC crew - another decent turnout of sprinters, into the double-figures I think.
More powerjumps on 99" to begin with - 6 of them in fact, 1 of those seated, and another 1/2 lap instead of a 1/4. Slightly higher max speeds for this week, up to 45km/hr on the 1/4s and 49 on the 1/2s, so happy with that. After a bit of residual stiffness following yesterdays weights session, it was reassuring to feel some snap in the legs!
We then did a motorcycle entry with a flying 150 to follow, which saw me break 60km/hr for the first time in a flying+distance, and not because of the draft - once the motorbike jumped I was nowhere near it, as it took a lower line in to the bend while I stayed up near the fence until near the finish line. It was probably a combination of this line and potentially a higher entry speed of 45km/hr at the jump which contributed to that. Not a dependable guide, but my Garmin records 9s for the 150m, which should indicate at least sub-13s for the 200 - will be interesting to see how that time has progressed by the time we get back in to Summer racing.
Finished off with some more skills work, this time with a form of hooking and diving practice - second rider on the wheel, going up the bank coming in to turn three, being held up there by the lead rider who then dives for the lane. In the final go around the sequence was reversed, with the following rider being the one to dive for the lane (and it's a long way down at DISC!) Fun stuff.
More powerjumps on 99" to begin with - 6 of them in fact, 1 of those seated, and another 1/2 lap instead of a 1/4. Slightly higher max speeds for this week, up to 45km/hr on the 1/4s and 49 on the 1/2s, so happy with that. After a bit of residual stiffness following yesterdays weights session, it was reassuring to feel some snap in the legs!
We then did a motorcycle entry with a flying 150 to follow, which saw me break 60km/hr for the first time in a flying+distance, and not because of the draft - once the motorbike jumped I was nowhere near it, as it took a lower line in to the bend while I stayed up near the fence until near the finish line. It was probably a combination of this line and potentially a higher entry speed of 45km/hr at the jump which contributed to that. Not a dependable guide, but my Garmin records 9s for the 150m, which should indicate at least sub-13s for the 200 - will be interesting to see how that time has progressed by the time we get back in to Summer racing.
Finished off with some more skills work, this time with a form of hooking and diving practice - second rider on the wheel, going up the bank coming in to turn three, being held up there by the lead rider who then dives for the lane. In the final go around the sequence was reversed, with the following rider being the one to dive for the lane (and it's a long way down at DISC!) Fun stuff.
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