SSS Round 1, 2015-16

So! Back to racing once again. The short version of the race report - geez, I had fun! Slightly longer version?

I've written a little about my 'preparation' below, but to expand a little - I really had only the bare minimum to ensure I could be safe. I didn't even change the gear I had on (which was ~92) in part because I didn't search to try to find any other rear cogs, but also because... well, I'd established that everything was mechanically okay, and didn't want to do anything to upset that going in to the race. And whatever gear I was on, I'd just be riding around anyway, essentially.

Flying 200, wouldn't say I went 100%, but gave it a pretty good effort. Got a little out of shape going in to turn 3 again, which saw me run a little wide out of turn 4. Ended up with a 14.308, which was marginally faster than I thought I might get, even given the running wide. I looked up all my previous F200 times at SSS, and found the following:

2010/11:

15.289 (tiny pretend bike)

14.308 (borrowed bike)

2011/12:

14.185 (92")

13.567 (?)

13.809 (?)

13.935 (?)

2012/13:

14.113 (86")

13.515 (102")

14.087 (95")

2015/16:

14.308 (92")

I could probably just did cross-reference with blog posts to find out what gears I rode for as many of those as I have info for. Not entirely sure why I didn't record those three in 11/12 - was I worried about giving important information away? I am for laughing! Anyway, clearly I should always ride 102" when there's a northerly, and maybe 98" when there's a southerly. Either that or there's woefully insufficient data from which to draw any useful conclusions, one of the two.

Anyway, that time put me 3rd fastest in C-Grade, slated to ride against the two fastest qualifiers and one below me, so looked like a potentially tough day! As it happened the third heat was cancelled due to a spectacular but ultimately non serious-injury-causing crash in B-Grade which held up proceedings for quite some time.

My first race against a chap named Blake I lead out, and allowed him to get behind me. I wasn't too too concerned about that even if it wasn't ideal - I felt I could keep a fairly good eye on him. And I did, right up until just before the point where I knew he would jump. I hadn't wound up the speed quite enough though, and instead of jumping where I knew he would (and he did, without my even looking) I instead basically started pushing the pace higher (coming in to turn one of the last lap) and didn't jump hard. He got 5 metres or so and that's about how it stayed. Proof positive is in the power file - a peak of only 1127W and an average from jump to line of ~850W for the 15 seconds or so.

Second race was against a junior by name of Jonathan who'd qualified some 0.8s slower than me. I was leading again, and my plan for this was pretty simple - pace high enough (mid-high 30s, nothing extravagant) to nullify his jump without actually going long myself (because fitness) take a decent jump and just burn him off. And that's how it went - again I wasn't bothered letting him in behind me, kept the pace up and jumped through turn one again - but this time not having taken my eye off him until I accelerated. I more or less just held a gentle acceleration up the back straight and, knowing he wasn't with me, started easing up through turn three and basically coasted up the final straight. Peak of 1340W on the jump, and held ~900W for the 10-11 seconds of the actual effort.

Given my qualifying time that was enough to put me in to the 3v4 final, against a chap named William who'd qualified about a tenth slower than me. I was following this time, and went in with no very specific plan except to try to push the pace up if he didn't keep it there himself - preferably without taking the lead myself this time. It wasn't as fast as the last race, but I wasn't as concerned about his ability to jump away from me so I was comfortable as it was. I had quite a bit of height and space coming out of turn 4 and considered going there with a little over a lap to go, but didn't feel any particular desire to do so and, being right beside him, felt I had him sufficiently covered if he went at the line. He didn't though, and crossing the line with a lap to go pushed the pace more, staying high while he was a little below the blue, and we went at basically the same time in the middle of turn 1. He had about two lengths on me but I had much more speed, coming out from behind him approaching turn 3 and passing him by the start of turn 4, dropping in to the lane on the straight and winning comfortably (practising my throw anyway, at entirely the wrong spot!) Hit 1659W on that one and a top speed of ~54km/hr (based on cadence - garmin didn't want to pick up the speed sensor for some reason, and GPS speed is useless on a velo) and an average of ~980W for the 15 seconds. Which is, you'll agree, quite a significant difference to the first race!

So nothing grand, but 3rd place in C and some useful reminders of what racing is was handy. Mostly though it was just lots of fun, reminding me why I liked to do this in the first place. So roll on round 2!

SSS Round 2 2012-13

Well, I won't claim that it was quite as much fun as last round, but it was still a fun day. Qualified on 102" and actually managed a PB at Blackburn of 13.515 in favourable conditions featuring a Northerly pushing everyone down the back straight. Again, on the back of not much training, and not having been on the track bike since last round. Interesting. And I could have gone faster, but as usual my jump wasn't quite as hard as it can be, and my riding not as smooth. See: training.

Racing I dropped back to... 94" I think. Put a 14t on instead of the 13t, anyway. I'd actually qualified second fastest in B grade, to my surprise, so everyone I raced had actually qualified slower than me! I can't remember when that last happened, and it hadn't happened in B.

Doesn't mean I beat everyone though. Or, to put a slightly finer point on it, anyone! First race against Chris Dann - never beaten him. Still hadn't! I had the lead, but somewhat invited him to take it through turn 3 on the first lap - I took height, and with him down on the blue, wasn't too concerned that he'd jump from there. He didn't, but did take the lead, and we rolled around slowly increasing the pace. I looked for an opportunity to dive underneath him through turn one, and probably could have done, but didn't quite have the nerve/training. So we actually jumped with me a bike length behind out of turn 2, 200m to go, me with the advantage of height. I really should have beaten him from there, even though he has a better kick. But I didn't, and wasn't even close.

Second race, up against Kallum Parlivliet, I was following and after half a lap, decided to force the pace, not wanting to let him jump from a crawl. So I rolled up outside him, and he let me, climbing up behind me and then jumping out of turn 4. It wasn't a super hard jump, and I came down easily into his draft and flowed him around. I then did the dinkiest little break and run you've ever seen, just as he was accelerating in to the back straight (as he always does) which gained me virtually nothing. And then I just sat in his draft the rest of the way, like a... hmm.

Third race, Nick Abels, under 17 but big and strong. I'd considered going more or less from the gun, but figured I'd never be able to outlast him, even if it didn't suit him either. Instead he started accelerating around the pursuit line on the back straight in the first lap, and I sat beside him through to turn one, where I dropped back in to the draft. I stayed there, popping out momentarily (and not really entirely intentionally) in to turn 3, just because I stuffed the entry up, and rolled in behind. We didn't even really properly sprint. I was getting the distinct impression by this point that I'd already decided going in to the day that it was another practice run of sorts (which it was) and that I wasn't even trying to win (which is what ended up happening, even though I hadn't deliberately intended it that way.)

But that didn't matter, because in a field of 6, you don't go around losing all of your races and get in to the finals, do you? I was already getting changed when they announced I was racing the 3v4 final against Chris. Turns out that three people had won all of their races, and three had lost them all - and as the second-fastest qualifier, that meant that I was in (because Jarrod, the fastest qualifier, had injured his knee.)

So out I went, wondering what on Earth I was doing, and what I should do. Chris had the lead, and we did a bit of weaving and so on back and forth before we jumped, side by side, out of turn 4. As has happened before, Chris made it to turn 1 first, and I slotted in behind. And then I got the weirdest target-fixation ever. I was staring at his back wheel, not even glancing up, and when we got to turn 3, I wasn't at all prepared. I slammed in to the turn, flew up to the blue and it was over. Mind you, had I taken the turn flawlessly, I probably would have ended up finishing in exactly the same spot as I'd been at the entry to the turn - a foot from Chris' rear tyre. It was bizarre, I've never had that happen before, though I do get rather tunnel-visioned during a flying 200 - but, if I say so myself, I ride turn 3/4 at Blackburn near flawlessly. Generally speaking I barely get above the black, never mind the red. Okay, perhaps flawlessly is stretching things a bit. But I certainly don't let it throw me up in a F200.

So tactically and so on, obviously my racing was poor. My endurance was also non-existent, which was a problem not because of long drag races, but because I didn't feel that I could accelerate down the back straight. And mentally I wasn't well race-tuned. But I still had an enjoyable day, and clearly the strength/speed is still pretty good - though I can go faster. I wonder what the solution could be. Track training? Spin? Nah, don't be silly, how would those help?

SSS Round 1 2012-13

Well, that was the most fun I've had on a track bike yet. Not because I won anything - I didn't. Not even one race. But I was relaxed, I was happy, and it all just flowed really well. And that's precisely what I wanted from the day.

So, the day started off, incredibly enough, with Flying 200s. As usual I was a bit late, and missed out on warming up on the track. Nic and Neil both offered me rollers, but I ended up deciding not to bother - it felt a bit much like that would be taking it all a bit too seriously. And if I'm taking it seriously, what the hell am I doing on 86"??

So I just went out and put on an effort - and despite trying to be more relaxed and have fun, it was a genuine effort. 86" is way too small for me, of course, and it's actually hard to jump with because there's not enough resistance. And at the end I was rooted - partly because of the lack of a warmup, and partly because I spent so much time spinning. But I recorded a 14.113 to be 6th (of 8) in B - not a terribly impressive time, but given that I've not trained at all, and I was spinning madly on 86", to record a faster time than the first round last year, and only a couple of tenths slower than my 'normal' times at BBN (best was 13.5 on a perfect day for Round 2 last year, warm, no wind, etc.) is... interesting. It should also be interesting to see what I record next round, given a month of decent training!

My races... well, I won't bother with dissecting them particularly. Each round I was following, and each round I tried something slightly different, without doing any of them very well. My favourite was the last one against Kallum, where as expected he jumped straight from crossing the line, I caught up to him, had a few high(ish)-speed feints and swerves (not actually very dramatic) before jumping with him in turn 1. Unfortunately as I jumped my back wheel skipped quite a way (or it felt like it, will be interesting to see if it's on the video) and it felt like it was running rough - perhaps rubbing a little, though it turned out it wasn't. I'd already sat up though, wasn't much point chasing back by that stage.

So overall it was a great day, and I'm really feeling that excitement for racing and, yes, training again! Training on the track is difficult - I almost always either have my daughter, or I don't have the car, but hopefully I'll work a way around that.

SSS Round 4

For once this is going to be a fairly short post I think. Not too much to say! The day was blustery and southerly, so times were slow - I took up my traditional post at the rear of B-Grade - seriously, I was the slowest of the 'fast' riders, with over a second between me and the next fastest rider. The only point of note about my flying 200 was that I was weirdly aware of the fence - perhaps a bodily cue as the wind was pushing up towards the fence at the point which I jumped? I'm not sure, but I must admit I shied away from it a little.

B-Grade was an aboc affair - Me, Carl, Nic and Dino. I knew it was going to be tough, and probably carried too much of that attitude with me - not that I couldn't win, but that it was going to be difficult to do so, and I raced too conservatively as a result, coupled with wanting to keep out of the wind down the back straight and so not being keen on the break and run idea.

And that's how the first two races went, firstly against Nic and then against Carl. Against Nic, I did it fairly well, kinda similar to my last race against him at Blackburn, jumping behind him and trying to come around. He's quicker now than he was then though, and I finished a bike length or so back. I needed to keep closer on the jump (or, you know, take the initiative!) and then break and run, using the bank for the extra speed.

Carl, again I was too timid, and didn't draw quite far enough forward of him. He gave me a mini-hook coming in to turn one, and rather than continuing up the bank I came straight down, hard on his wheel. I should have taken a break through turn two, but I was too afraid of losing any speed I gained in the wind, and so stayed behind him. I took a bit of a run, but Carl just kicked again and kept me off his hip, and again, I finished... a bit more than a bike length back.

So to Dino, who is that much faster again. I took the advice and played this one much more aggressively from behind, ducking and diving, making him watch me, knowing that he doesn't like that. Coming out of turn 4, I got him looking the wrong way and got the jump on him, diving for the lane and getting it. I knew though that he'd just grab my wheel, and then either break and run or (more likely) just steam past, so I backed off a little through turn 1/2, hoping to kick again in to the back straight. And I kinda did, but I didn't have much in me, and Dino rolled past and took the win by a few lengths. Still, it was a better race.

After Nic had a mechanical in his final race against Carl, I ended up facing him in the 3v4 final, rather than the rematch with Carl I had expected. I drew the lead and just tried to wind the pace up and up, but didn't quite commit enough and again I was looking to react rather than dictating the race and again he jumped past me. This time I had no legs left for a second dig so sat up by turn three.

So goals for this season are not looking too shiny at the minute. But there's one round to go, and 6 weeks or so to prepare - so long as I can get there. I've got an activity scheduled for my course that day, but SSS round 5 is now an afternoon start again, so I just might be able to get there. And hopefully I'll be able to have one last shot at glory... or at least decency!

See, told you it'd be a short post!

Analytical redux

I don't know that this really deserves its own post, but:

Pic of the finish of the first race against Craig is here. About a wheel rim. Important thing to note though - Craig has straight arms, and is back on the saddle. My arms are still a bit bent, and I'm over the bike. Which means? I lost it on the throw. Either incomplete, or slightly late.

Second race: And again. Though in this instance it was more like half a wheel it turns out, so not so relevant. Something that I need to practice more though, obviously!

Vic Masters 2011

A Numby's tale, or a discourse on the peregrinations of Jonas Tuck, Esquire (or is that eSquire? Or iSquire?) on the first day of Holy rest in the second month of the year 2012 after the passing of our Lord, the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Skipeth thee to the end if ye be of impatient temperament or if ye be on yonder Eastlink tollway and unable to pause for an hour.

I arrived at DISC feeling relatively confident despite how little time I've had on the track lately. My training hasn't been great, but I've still been working and hoped that I would at least be a chance at a bronze, or maybe even a silver if everything went really really well - that is, I qualified non-dead-last so I didn't have to race Neil, and managed to beat whoever else qualified 2-3. But my goal was basically simply to post a satisfactory time in the flying 200, and race as well as I could against whoever I ended up against.

After a bit of a roll around and a jump, I decided on 102" for the 200. Neil kindly offered to lend me his spare rear wheel, but I declined because, well, how much difference would it really make? And, again well, I don't really feel like I can justify using anything performance-enhancing, as it were. I'm just too far off my capacity. So anyway, I rolled off just after Nic Marc had set a 12.119 and thought: Hmm. He's gotten a lot faster! But maybe that's an indication that I can set a good time, too? So I wound it up, trying to keep the speed high without wearing myself out, and keeping focussed on what I needed to do. My jump was solid if not quite explosive, but I felt like I was carrying okay speed. I slipped low coming through turn 4 and very nearly went on to the duckboards. That may have cost me a tenth, perhaps, but generally my line felt fairly smooth. I crossed the finish, looked up... 13.04. Fuck. Okay, it's a PB, but Fuck. The rest of the times come through and in a field of four, I'm the slowest by 7 tenths of a second. 1.4 seconds slower than the Neil I'm going to have to race in the first round. Fuck.

So I was a bit despondent. I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to beat Neil, but at least since there were only 4 riders, I'd be in the bronze medal final. Still, I decided to be aggressive in my races against Neil, knowing that he wouldn't have to (and I'd be beaten by half a lap if he were) and my only chance to finish on the same straight was to catch him in the middle of a giggling fit. So the first race, he led, I sat behind by a few lengths, figuring I'd try the old accelerate in the saddle in to space and then get out of the saddle to pass trick. And, for a given definition of 'work', it worked - I got past him with 1.5 to go and stayed there for 3/4 of a lap. Then he passed me, probably still giggling, and won by 20 metres or so. Second race, I led, he took height, I let him have it while keeping the pace up-ish (but not really enough) then gave him a mini-hook coming in to turn three and dove for the lane. Second verse, same as the first, except this time I sat up more and he won by about 30 metres.

Nothing surprising in all that, but I was still feeling kinda low. But Nic put in an awesome effort to beat Craig Arnel (who qualified in 12.327) in three and I figured - well, this is where my race day restarts, effectively. So while trying to keep cool, I thought about how to race Craig, got some tips from Nic, and basically tried to get myself in a headspace to be able to win/come out of the day with some jewellery.

I drew the high spot for the first race in the best-of-three, and asked Carl to give me a hold. I'm not very used to starting held, and every time it's happened, each person has done it slightly differently. I was a bit nervy, focussed on what I was doing, and in the process managed to kick Carl in the knee while setting my pedals. He didn't come back to hold me for the next race, believe it or not. Anyway, I rolled off, deciding to stay on the bank while Craig went down on to the boards. We rolled around, pace not too fast, Craig trying to keep me on his hip and pushing me up. I saw a chance for an opening though, because he was too far forward, and coming around to turn three with just over a lap to go as we started up the incline through the turn, I let my speed wash ever so slightly, enough to open the gap behind him and allow me to dive for the lane. I pushed, then pushed again, then pushed again, and coming through turn 4 just before the final straight I pushed so far forward I came off the front of the saddle, losing a bit of power and momentum. I had no idea where Craig was - until about 20 metres from the line I felt/heard him on my outside, and 10 metres to go I could see him. I pushed again, threw for the line... but he came over the top of me, by about a wheel rim. Bugger.

So if I was going to come away with a bronze, it was going to be three races, and I was feeling pretty shattered, but in a way which almost made me feel more energetic, and I knew he was feeling much the same. So I tried to cool myself down, and thought about how I could ride the race from the front this time. I considered going up and down the bank, keep him guessing, but decided that that was a bit too risky. In the end I went with the plan of winding the pace up and up, keeping a close eye on him, not letting him jump off the bank (or at least not with height) and trying to hold him out of the lane. Which is how it went - except that down the front straight with a lap to go, he just managed to get far enough in front of me to drop in to the lane. I hesitated a moment - or, crucially, two moments - before running up the bank and down again to take a run at him. But because I'd left it slightly late, I didn't take enough height - mainly because it was the exit of turn 2 and there wasn't enough of it left. But I got the run, came round him in turn three, and tried to chase him down as he'd done me. And I pushed and I pushed and I huffed and I puffed... but I missed him. By about a wheel rim. Damn.

And, well, that was it. Back in the pits I could hardly walk properly; my quads were so sore/tired I couldn't lock my legs straight for a couple of minutes. Neil took out the gold over Nic, giving them a repeat Gold/Silver from the Kilo the day before. And I packed up and went home.

So what's left then? Well for the moment, Summer Sprint Series Round 4 next weekend. But otherwise? Well, a couple of things. Firstly, who am I? Not in a metaphysical sense, but simply - who am I riding with? I'm not really part of a team - I had to wear a plain black jersey yesterday, which at least (along with my bandana and generally piratish appearance) made me a favourite with Brendan, the commentator. But I don't have any aboc kit - partly because I didn't have any money when the order was done. I train (when I train) with them, I'm (nominally) coached by Carl, and generally I do the things they do (only slower.) But I don't really feel a part of the squad. And perhaps that's partly because I'm (nominally) a part of Team Splat! - at least, I wear the jersey. But I don't train with them. I don't get racing tips from them. Apart from the SSS rounds, when I normally sit with them (because I've been friends with them a while, they got me started and because I've usually got my daughter) I barely see them. I don't come down and race with them on Saturdays at Blackburn. So I'm kind of part of both teams/squads/groups/whatever, but not properly part of either.

Secondly, it's time to change my focus around again. For a period I was getting stronger, then I was losing weight, then I was getting stronger again. It's time to focus again on losing weight and just slowly increasing strength. In the gym, I'm as strong as (or stronger than) Neil. On the bike, I'm much slower. And I'm roughly 15-17kg heavier. Now, it's not exactly a direct correspondence, certainly, and you could argue that he's relatively stronger (because he's lighter, and a bit taller) but I'm not proposing a scientific study. Simply noting that the gains to be made, at least on the bike, by getting stronger at this point are vanishingly small compared to the gains to be made by losing weight, even if I happen to get a bit weaker (though I don't intend for that to happen.)

In summary, for those of you who have skipped down from the top: I very slowly sucked big fat donkey balls.

Well well well...

I wasn't going to bother posting, but decided that I might as well - just had a quick spin session today, nothing too exciting (it may be apparent that I'm far over posting about spin sessions) though I hit over 80km/hr twice, which is fun at least. No, really it's just a note that it's a smidgen over a week until the Vic Masters, and I've entered the sprint. So that should be fun. Neil and Nic, who are both Masters 1 also, have entered, so there are at least three of us there - there are another couple of 'elite' riders who I don't really know, and everyone else (so far) is in Masters 2 and above. Neil I know I can't beat in a straight-out race at least 99 times out of 100, so it would take a freak to beat him if we race, and Nic I haven't beaten outside of training as yet, though it's been close. Both are doing the Kilo the day before, though I doubt that will be enough to give me a sufficient edge in itself!

Hmm. Just looked up the other rider currently registered for the sprint who's not >MMAS2 - Brett Rollinson. Turns out he's a bit of a star! And a Masters 1 rider - or at least, he was last year. Rode a 12.224 qualifier at the Country Track champs in November, and went on to win Gold. He's also done all sorts of enduro stuff to great acclaim. So. Given that I'll be happy to break 13s for the 200 (though I'm aiming, perhaps wildly optimistically, for something closer to 12.5) perhaps I need to make sure that I approach this with the right attitude! Not, mind you, that I'm just there for the experience (though I am) let alone make up numbers, but that I'm going to have to race smart and push to my utmost to garner a result, 'cause wishin' and hopin' ain't gunna get me nowhere!

Oh, and I don't know what to wear - anyone know if my Team Splat! jersey would be okay? Given that CA couldn't confirm for me if a Masters licence (as opposed to an Elite licence) would even allow me to race in the Vic Masters, and their website info is confusing (and sometimes contradictory!) I feel like I should take three different jerseys, including a commuter yellow one, just in case...

SSS Round 2

I have almost no idea what to say about Round 2 at this point. On the one hand, I managed a PB at BBN of 13.567 for the Flying 200 - almost precisely what I managed a couple of days after Round 1, and half a second faster than my previous best. I'd forgotten to turn my Garmin on (hooray! shout all those who think I over-analyse)  but presumably the pattern was similar to that run. My jump was okay, though the transition down the track was a little shaky and probably cost me a tenth or so. I didn't feel like my general sickness/fatigue/listlessness affected me too much, though my 'resting' heart rate (not straight out of bed, but just sitting around) was around 100 and I was very strained afterwards. Still, a good ride and room for improvement. Not sub-13 though (not that I was actually expecting that, but) so I BLAME COACH. Still owe him a porsche though, apparently.

So this time I was 5th out of 7 in B, rather than 6th out of 6, and 25 100ths faster than the slowest time in B, rather than 3 10ths slower than the second-slowest. I was (un?)lucky enough to get a bye, which meant that I only had two races in the heats. First up I was against Chris Dann, and he had the lead. I've trained a bit with him, including a couple of weeks ago at this very velodrome, and I thought I had an idea of what I needed to do to beat him, knowing full well that he was good enough to beat me if I did it poorly, or if he did something else. I was basically hoping to get to about 250m out and jump from there, from as near to next to him as I could manage.

And... well, that's about precisely what happened. Except that I dropped a bike length behind him - which turned it in to something more like a flying 200 following rider tries to pass than a powerjump, and the result was the same - he beat me, and again I basically gave up by about turn 3. Except that I could almost swear by the Garmin record that I actually hit my top speed of over 57km/hr about the time I crossed the pursuit line, only 20m or so from the finish. Which seems bizarre. In fact, the whole thing is a little odd - after jumping from 39-49 in 3 seconds, I then added 1 km/hr per second for the next 8 seconds. With no appreciable difference around the time I felt that I'd given up and stopped controlling my line. Which makes it seem likely that my head had given up, I'd lost focus (partly... mostly? because of being sick and without pizzazz. Or something) without properly informing my body, which for wont of some more definitive direction just kept on pushing until it stopped. But I'm certainly not good enough to win races with that level of commitment, certainly not against someone like Chris Dann.

My second race was against Jonathon Dent, an U17 rider I've never seen before but who qualified as much faster than me as I was to Chris. I had the lead this time, and as last round my plan was to get the pace up, keep it high and have a more steadily-increasing speed drag race rather than a jump from slower speeds. And again, I managed to do that, I controlled the race fairly well. As expected he came past me towards the end of the back straight - but I was prepared for that, and increased my speed, trying to keep him on my hip. I reacted though, rather than just accelerating 20m or so before turn 3, so instead I more or less held him on my shoulder, and coming out of turn 4 we were basically side by side. Not surprisingly, from there he took the win by a wheel or so. At least in that race my focus was much better, and even though the time between races was much shorter than between the F200 and my first race, I felt better.

But that was it for me for the day - not even a free 'win' to boost my tally to 9 points could help, and I was well out of the finals. I had intended to stay to watch the rest of my Splat! and aboc sprint squad team mates race their finals, but I was suddenly overcome very dispirited and demoralised, and so unsociably departed to go home and curl up in bed.

Time to shake off this cold-y flu-y thing, get back on the keto, get back in the bluddy gym and perhaps spend more time on the velo than on the trainer, get more bike handling and power-transferring at speed training in. Just as I'm about to start work again and find my time disappearing. Ah well. Ain'tn't nobody gonna pay me to ride my bike!

Racing? What's that?

Tonight was my first race since the last round of the Summer Sprint Series, so I was just looking forward to remembering how to race (or, continuing to learn!) after a few months of just training. There were only two races - a 275m dash from a held start and a keirin - the dash had two heats, the keirin just a single heat/final.

Results-wise I did okay, but nothing special - 2nd in my dash heat, 3rd in the keirin, 3rd in the dash final, each time a bike-length or two back. I had a top speed of 56.5 in the dashes and 57.8 in the keirin, all on 92". I made a couple of minor mistakes - didn't grab a wheel aggressively when I should have, didn't leave a gap I should have, that sort of thing. I didn't do anything stupid though, and it woke some memories of the differences between training and racing!

Blackburn Sprint Night at DISC

Well, I intended to race, really I did, but... well, having been away from home all week, my heart just wasn't in it and though I showed up and did my Flying 200, I couldn't bear hanging around for another two hours when I just wanted to be home with my family.

Another part of it was that the Flying 200 felt awful. Really bad. I did it on 92", which didn't quite feel right, but mostly because I just wasn't focussed on it - and so my jump, my form, and my ability to push the whole way just weren't there. So I didn't feel I was going to get much of a training effect out of the evening. Because, well, I'm a sprinter; there's no point going out there at 60%. And as Craig Colduck said:

If you don't make the target times or loads on the first effort or set, you warm down and go home. You aren't fresh enough to train at a level that will make you improve.

I didn't check my time after the Flying 200, but I knew in myself that I wasn't on. My goal had been a sub-13 second. I felt like I'd just scraped in a sub-30 second!

Interestingly, I was right in a technical sense - I hadn't made my target. It may be argued that aiming for a 0.4second PB shouldn't be an initial training target in this sense, but no need to quibble. It turned out I rode 13.34 seconds - which is precisely (where 'precisely' in this, hand-timed, context means 'within 0.2s or so') what I rode at the come-n-try day 10 weeks or so ago. So I actually qualified to go home on the other half of Craig's advice:

If you do a PB, you warm down and go home.

So even if I'd wanted to, I couldn't possibly have stayed!

One interesting thing to note from the stats is that I started my jump for the F200 from ~42.4km/hr, hit the 200m line at about 54.7, hit my top of 57.1 (@131RPM) some 20m later, and then dribbled all the way back down to 54.9 over the next 60m, popped back up to 55.7 and held there for another 60m or so, and then plummeted away after coming out of the bend (in fact, I almost sat up in the straight) to cross the line at about 52.7km/hr. This is all slightly approximate, of course, as I'm inferring from the graph rather than correlating with a GPS plot, but it's probably about right.