Well, an interestingly mixed session tonight. Two mechanical annoyances in the powerjumps - pulled a wheel (again!) in the first warmup, fixed it, and went back out and did it solo before doing a flying entry with Neil and Nic. Then after a tricky three-way-react-to-the-last-rider powerjump where I was in the middle (and finished last, though right on Nic's wheel, and hit about 50km/hr) I was leading out the second powerjump (need to work on watching/reacting, after all) when I pulled my foot out of the pedal - fortunately my automatic systems knew how to handle it because I don't think my pre-frontal cortex knew what had happened until I got down on to the duckboard, one leg flapping in the wind. Looking at the pedal/cleat afterwards, it really doesn't look that worn, but I'm going to put keos and straps on, see how they go. It's a shame, because I quite like the speedplays otherwise - at some point I'll probably fork out the $100-odd to rebuild them with track bodies.
Rest of the night was two MACs and a windout. No surprise I enjoy these more, because they involve going fast, and perhaps don't require as much work as my powerjumps! Though everything still needs work. The MACs I did on 99.7", and hit just over 60km/hr/130RPM for the first, and 59/125 for the second with only about 7 minutes rest between the two. On both I hit the roller a few times going around, and in the final hundred metres or so was actively avoiding the back of the bike - both times ending up around the blue line. Given that, quite happy with the numbers, though I'm hoping (wanting needing!) to go faster still.
Finished with a 500m windout from the blue line (no entry off the banking for this one) and again was sitting close to the roller though not to the extent of slowing me down - can't remember if I actually hit it again, though I think I did. 58km/hr at 142 (back to 86" for this one) is not bad, though I felt like I possibly cheated myself a little in effort. After that just doodled around a little trying to trackstand and then rolled as slowly as possible back to the racks. It didn't feel terribly elegant, but then, that's what practice is for!
Showing posts with label Revout. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Revout. Show all posts
24 July 2011
26 June 2011
DISC Session #10 with ABOC
Tonight was fun! And tough. I was still a little sore from yesterday, and tired thanks to catching up on sleep, but that only really affected me when I was sitting around and warming up.
We started off with Flying 100s, which I did on 99" and then 92", to get an idea for the difference. And the difference? Well, not much. Maximums of 56.3 at 120 on 99, 56.1 at 129 on 92. On first blush, looking at the shape of the graphs (by distance, not time) it might appear that the peak is rather more vertiginous for the 99" effort than for the 92" effort, but that's just an artefact of the total distance travelled - the actual entry plus 100m follows a very similar profile - peak speed just coming out of the first bend, speed drop of about 2km/hr for a sustained speed along the straight of about 54km/hr, and then the effort ends coming in to the next bend.
Even if you compare those two to my flying 200 of a bit over a week ago (which was on 92") the profile is similar (though top speed was a bit higher at 57.1) including the speed drop in the last 100m! Still, I don't feel like I'm jumping quite hard enough, even though I'm not trying to give it 100% at that point, because I have to last the distance. Say, maybe 95% for a F100, 90% for a F200. Not sure if that's what I should actually be doing though! Top speed of 56ish km/hr is too low though - even if I was not hitting the entry as hard so as to maintain speed, an average of 56km/hr only gives me a F200 time of 12.85s or so. Still getting tyre slip too - I've got some new tyres to put on which should hopefully be grippier, and just keep trying to get my position right accelerating out of the saddle.
I was pretty tired after that, and a bit concerned about the MACs and windout to come, but I was right when I said that I actually enjoy them - I was tired, but they didn't destroy me. I didn't do any of them perfectly though - I hit the roller on all of them, which may be okay, but it disrupts the rhythm. Especially coming around the bend to the point where the motorbike jumps and you have to respond to catch it. So I was a little slow there, though not too bad, but I did the same thing again coming around to the same point, where the bike accelerates again - except this time, I simply forgot that it was going to happen so I actually had to jump again rather than just accelerate in the slipstream. Which left me a little exposed. Not too bad, but stuff I need to work on. 62.2/143 and ?/141 (on 92") are reasonable results though - a good 4-5km/hr more than 3 weeks ago.
The windout was supposed to be on 82", but although I now have a 16T, my chain wasn't long enough to get it on, so I had to go for 86" on the 15T. Although again my form wasn't that great - touching the roller, not maintaining a very smooth line - I can't complain too much. I let the motorbike get away on the last straight, but I still managed a top of 60.5/149 and held my speed down the straight pretty well. Again, a good 5km/hr and 11RPM higher than 3 weeks ago.
So actually, now that I look properly at the stats and graphs and comparisons and so on, I'm quite happy with how things are going. It's a bit like losing weight, I guess, in that random variation (a brush of the roller, moment's inattention, whatever) can easily account for 2-3km/hr difference, and the improvement is incremental - and lower than the random variation. So you really need to step back a bit and say - hey, look, that's 5km/hr faster than only three weeks ago! Which is significant (though not as significant as it appears - 5 weeks ago I hit 59.1, only 1.4km/hr slower) as it confirms that yes, improvement is being made. Slowly, but it's real. The problem is that now I want to take all of my data, put it in a table and do actual statistical analysis of it. But I'm going to resist that because it's not even remotely worthwhile. This blog is already excessive analysis! Just so long as I record the information, reflect upon what I'm doing and use it for motivation. And let Carl know what I'm doing and how I feel about it, so that he can masterfully coach me towards perfection. Or, erm, something.
We started off with Flying 100s, which I did on 99" and then 92", to get an idea for the difference. And the difference? Well, not much. Maximums of 56.3 at 120 on 99, 56.1 at 129 on 92. On first blush, looking at the shape of the graphs (by distance, not time) it might appear that the peak is rather more vertiginous for the 99" effort than for the 92" effort, but that's just an artefact of the total distance travelled - the actual entry plus 100m follows a very similar profile - peak speed just coming out of the first bend, speed drop of about 2km/hr for a sustained speed along the straight of about 54km/hr, and then the effort ends coming in to the next bend.
Even if you compare those two to my flying 200 of a bit over a week ago (which was on 92") the profile is similar (though top speed was a bit higher at 57.1) including the speed drop in the last 100m! Still, I don't feel like I'm jumping quite hard enough, even though I'm not trying to give it 100% at that point, because I have to last the distance. Say, maybe 95% for a F100, 90% for a F200. Not sure if that's what I should actually be doing though! Top speed of 56ish km/hr is too low though - even if I was not hitting the entry as hard so as to maintain speed, an average of 56km/hr only gives me a F200 time of 12.85s or so. Still getting tyre slip too - I've got some new tyres to put on which should hopefully be grippier, and just keep trying to get my position right accelerating out of the saddle.
I was pretty tired after that, and a bit concerned about the MACs and windout to come, but I was right when I said that I actually enjoy them - I was tired, but they didn't destroy me. I didn't do any of them perfectly though - I hit the roller on all of them, which may be okay, but it disrupts the rhythm. Especially coming around the bend to the point where the motorbike jumps and you have to respond to catch it. So I was a little slow there, though not too bad, but I did the same thing again coming around to the same point, where the bike accelerates again - except this time, I simply forgot that it was going to happen so I actually had to jump again rather than just accelerate in the slipstream. Which left me a little exposed. Not too bad, but stuff I need to work on. 62.2/143 and ?/141 (on 92") are reasonable results though - a good 4-5km/hr more than 3 weeks ago.
The windout was supposed to be on 82", but although I now have a 16T, my chain wasn't long enough to get it on, so I had to go for 86" on the 15T. Although again my form wasn't that great - touching the roller, not maintaining a very smooth line - I can't complain too much. I let the motorbike get away on the last straight, but I still managed a top of 60.5/149 and held my speed down the straight pretty well. Again, a good 5km/hr and 11RPM higher than 3 weeks ago.
So actually, now that I look properly at the stats and graphs and comparisons and so on, I'm quite happy with how things are going. It's a bit like losing weight, I guess, in that random variation (a brush of the roller, moment's inattention, whatever) can easily account for 2-3km/hr difference, and the improvement is incremental - and lower than the random variation. So you really need to step back a bit and say - hey, look, that's 5km/hr faster than only three weeks ago! Which is significant (though not as significant as it appears - 5 weeks ago I hit 59.1, only 1.4km/hr slower) as it confirms that yes, improvement is being made. Slowly, but it's real. The problem is that now I want to take all of my data, put it in a table and do actual statistical analysis of it. But I'm going to resist that because it's not even remotely worthwhile. This blog is already excessive analysis! Just so long as I record the information, reflect upon what I'm doing and use it for motivation. And let Carl know what I'm doing and how I feel about it, so that he can masterfully coach me towards perfection. Or, erm, something.
05 June 2011
DISC Session #7 with ABOC
So the plan for tonight was for a solid session, with 3 x powerjumps and 2 x 375m MACs, with a 100m rider-only sprint at the end. Solid, but doable.
So what happens? 3 x powerjumps, 3 x MACs and a lazy 500m windout as a 'warmdown'. Bugger. By the third MAC I just felt that I couldn't go on, and trundled around at what felt like 80%.
Funny thing is, looking at my stats, though I was down it wasn't by much - top speeds of 58.6, 56.5 and 56.5. Lower than last week, true, but I also hit the roller - the entry speed was lower. I'm not quite sure what to make of that yet! I didn't think I'd be able to last the 500m windout, but it was fine - and again, hit the roller on the back of the motorbike, this time on the finishing straight! Maybe it means that I'm getting better at putting in maximum effort, even when I think I'm done like a roast chook.
Mind you, looking at the video (which is the last two MACs and the windout) the acceleration on the second MAC was definitely worse - it's just that I managed to catch up to the same speed as on the second effort (first on the video.)
Nothing much to report from the powerjumps, first two against Dave, hit a top speed of 51.6. Third against Wayne, he was jumping from behind but he went so late (I was already entering the bend!) that I'd stopped looking, thinking that he was going on the next lap. He came up on my outside and I tried to jump and go with him, but couldn't catch him - only 3/4 of a bike length or so in it though.
Finished up by going to Nandos and eating half a chooken. Reward for effort!
Brief stats here. Oh, I should mention, in case anyone cares, that the first lap should be the warmup, and then each lap after that should be one effort each. Sometimes I forget to hit the lap button, but that's the general idea.
So what happens? 3 x powerjumps, 3 x MACs and a lazy 500m windout as a 'warmdown'. Bugger. By the third MAC I just felt that I couldn't go on, and trundled around at what felt like 80%.
Funny thing is, looking at my stats, though I was down it wasn't by much - top speeds of 58.6, 56.5 and 56.5. Lower than last week, true, but I also hit the roller - the entry speed was lower. I'm not quite sure what to make of that yet! I didn't think I'd be able to last the 500m windout, but it was fine - and again, hit the roller on the back of the motorbike, this time on the finishing straight! Maybe it means that I'm getting better at putting in maximum effort, even when I think I'm done like a roast chook.
Mind you, looking at the video (which is the last two MACs and the windout) the acceleration on the second MAC was definitely worse - it's just that I managed to catch up to the same speed as on the second effort (first on the video.)
Nothing much to report from the powerjumps, first two against Dave, hit a top speed of 51.6. Third against Wayne, he was jumping from behind but he went so late (I was already entering the bend!) that I'd stopped looking, thinking that he was going on the next lap. He came up on my outside and I tried to jump and go with him, but couldn't catch him - only 3/4 of a bike length or so in it though.
Finished up by going to Nandos and eating half a chooken. Reward for effort!
Brief stats here. Oh, I should mention, in case anyone cares, that the first lap should be the warmup, and then each lap after that should be one effort each. Sometimes I forget to hit the lap button, but that's the general idea.
22 May 2011
DISC Session #5 with ABOC
The program for this week was a bit of a variation on the last couple of weeks, but not much. I was uncertain about attending this one - I'd had the runs all day and wasn't sure if a) I'd be able to sit in the car long enough and b) not embarrass myself during a hard effort! I ended up deciding to give it a try anyway, but I didn't feel well-prepared; though I wasn't as off as for session 3, mentally I had trouble getting in to the right mindset. I think that (specific issues like diarrhoea aside!) I need to make sure I get there at something more like 4pm, to give myself enough time to settle in to the training.
All that is to say that the first set of efforts, 30km/hr reaction powerjumps, didn't go that well. Certainly the first one was quite poor - I was in front, and felt like I was keeping an eye on Wayne okay, but when I jumped I didn't really go hard enough - though ironically my rear wheel was slipping for the first 2 or 3 pedal strokes, which did detract a little from what little power I was able to put down!
The next two efforts felt better, and I was closer than I had been - I actually had his wheel and pulled out to pass by the line on one effort, though I still finished a bike length back - but it wasn't until the windouts that I really clicked in. Because, I guess, one doesn't have much choice!
The windouts this week were a little different - rather than staying behind the bike, it pulled up the bank on the last turn to give us a 100m sprint to the line. So the numbers may not be absolutely comparable, but close enough.
The first effort, behind Carl, felt fairly good. Not 100%, and I still need to work on my skills at sitting behind the bike, but it certainly woke me up and got me more focussed. 58.9 @ 145 is a good result, though I don't know whether that was behind the bike, or if I held the speed, or how long for, or that sort of thing - garmin connect just doesn't give enough resolution, especially without GPS on.
The next effort behind Nathan wasn't so good - again I was finding it very difficult to sit the right distance behind the bike. Probably 5 times in the 4 laps behind the bike I nearly hit the roller. Yes, it's possible to hit the roller, and I wasn't so concerned about falling as simply about losing momentum! To that end, I tried to make sure I swung out rather than backpedalling too much. Still, I ended up spending too much time chasing rather than drafting and the max of 55.3 @ 135 tells the story there.
The third effort was better except for 1/100 of a second. I felt more comfortable behind Nathan this time, and we were down in the sprinters lane coming around turn three one lap before I was to be launched on the sprint, when in the blink of an eye I lost a moment of focus, swung up above the red and dropped the wheel. Gah! I was 2 metres back before I even noticed. I chased back on, and managed to be there to be launched away a lap later, but again the extra time in the wind told - 56.9 @ 140.
For the final effort of the evening I was determined to get everything right - focus, hanging on the wheel without losing any momentum, and launching my sprint at the right moment (watching the others helped with realising that the sprint should start before the motorbike peels away, not afterwards!) And I managed it I felt - though I was getting tired by that point. I threw everything in to the sprint that I could though, trying to hit that 60km/hr mark - 59.1 @ 145. Precisely the same as last week! Okay, one extra RPM. And rabbit tells me that the difference between 48x15 and 48x13 at 60km/hr is 20RPM. But history tells me that the difference for me between 48x15 and 48x13 might be closer to 30RPM - though there's not yet much evidence to go on.
Hmm. I feel like I'm getting stronger, bit by bit. But I feel like if anything I'm getting fatter - have to work on mental issues around diet and getting focussed. Getting that sprinter mindset. And, apparently, I'm stomping too much, not smooth enough in my pedalling. So rollers might be a good idea, though they're not cheap. Hmm. On the other hand, it's only a few weeks in, not quite yet time for too too much reflection because there's so little to go on yet.
Brief stats here.
All that is to say that the first set of efforts, 30km/hr reaction powerjumps, didn't go that well. Certainly the first one was quite poor - I was in front, and felt like I was keeping an eye on Wayne okay, but when I jumped I didn't really go hard enough - though ironically my rear wheel was slipping for the first 2 or 3 pedal strokes, which did detract a little from what little power I was able to put down!
The next two efforts felt better, and I was closer than I had been - I actually had his wheel and pulled out to pass by the line on one effort, though I still finished a bike length back - but it wasn't until the windouts that I really clicked in. Because, I guess, one doesn't have much choice!
The windouts this week were a little different - rather than staying behind the bike, it pulled up the bank on the last turn to give us a 100m sprint to the line. So the numbers may not be absolutely comparable, but close enough.
The first effort, behind Carl, felt fairly good. Not 100%, and I still need to work on my skills at sitting behind the bike, but it certainly woke me up and got me more focussed. 58.9 @ 145 is a good result, though I don't know whether that was behind the bike, or if I held the speed, or how long for, or that sort of thing - garmin connect just doesn't give enough resolution, especially without GPS on.
The next effort behind Nathan wasn't so good - again I was finding it very difficult to sit the right distance behind the bike. Probably 5 times in the 4 laps behind the bike I nearly hit the roller. Yes, it's possible to hit the roller, and I wasn't so concerned about falling as simply about losing momentum! To that end, I tried to make sure I swung out rather than backpedalling too much. Still, I ended up spending too much time chasing rather than drafting and the max of 55.3 @ 135 tells the story there.
The third effort was better except for 1/100 of a second. I felt more comfortable behind Nathan this time, and we were down in the sprinters lane coming around turn three one lap before I was to be launched on the sprint, when in the blink of an eye I lost a moment of focus, swung up above the red and dropped the wheel. Gah! I was 2 metres back before I even noticed. I chased back on, and managed to be there to be launched away a lap later, but again the extra time in the wind told - 56.9 @ 140.
For the final effort of the evening I was determined to get everything right - focus, hanging on the wheel without losing any momentum, and launching my sprint at the right moment (watching the others helped with realising that the sprint should start before the motorbike peels away, not afterwards!) And I managed it I felt - though I was getting tired by that point. I threw everything in to the sprint that I could though, trying to hit that 60km/hr mark - 59.1 @ 145. Precisely the same as last week! Okay, one extra RPM. And rabbit tells me that the difference between 48x15 and 48x13 at 60km/hr is 20RPM. But history tells me that the difference for me between 48x15 and 48x13 might be closer to 30RPM - though there's not yet much evidence to go on.
Hmm. I feel like I'm getting stronger, bit by bit. But I feel like if anything I'm getting fatter - have to work on mental issues around diet and getting focussed. Getting that sprinter mindset. And, apparently, I'm stomping too much, not smooth enough in my pedalling. So rollers might be a good idea, though they're not cheap. Hmm. On the other hand, it's only a few weeks in, not quite yet time for too too much reflection because there's so little to go on yet.
Brief stats here.
15 May 2011
DISC Session #4 with ABOC
Well the program for this week was almost identical to last week, with the exception that this week I ran my 86" gear all night as I was paired up with Dino, who's just coming back from injury and is restricted in his gearing for the moment.
I felt much more present this week, like I had more energy and, especially, focus. Even in the warmup I was hitting it better, with a top speed about 3km/hr more than last week on the flying entry.
Statistically, the powerjump efforts are hard to compare because they're much more tactical than all-out efforts. This week Dino and I didn't do the ducking and diving, continuing instead with the powerjumps for the second set, and I led out each one so as to save Dino having to look over his shoulder, and also to give me more practice at it.
The last two efforts we did were a little muted, as Dino was about spent by that point and so didn't really seriously challenge me. Now, I should push just as hard anyway, and the top speed was similar to last week so I didn't slack off too much, but the competition does help really get the most out of the efforts. The first 4 efforts, though, were much better if still not quite fully committed.
Dino and Carl both commented that my second kick was quite good - but that that meant that I wasn't putting my all in to the first kick! Which is true. One matchup in particular - I think it was the second - Dino came around on the outside and was actually half a wheel in front of me coming out of the turn. Theoretically he should have beaten me from that point, as he was going faster (since he was going further around the bend) and had a slight run off the bank, but I kicked again and beat him. Which is great, but I should have had him beaten before that! He did just pip me on the line in another of our matchups, but overall I was happy with my work in those two sets.
We finished off with revouts again, and I held my position much better this week. In the first one particularly I was having trouble holding a terribly straight line, but at least I wasn't dropping off too far, nor having to back or softpedal too much; hopefully, this all means that my skills are improving! I had a pretty good go on the first attempt, hitting 57.3kmh/141RPM. This was already better than my best last week, but I felt like I had a bit more in me, and rather than cruising back to rest I continued to slowly pedal around the infield - so slowly that often the cadence registered as 0! It seems to get bored of waiting once you drop below 18RPM or so.
Anyway, my second revout I was really focussing on going as hard as I could, even though on the entry and halfway through the first lap I already felt like I wasn't going to make it! I stuck at it though, and once the first lap was over knowing that I only had two accelerations to go helped me to focus down again and I dug in as hard as I could, staring at the numberplate on the back of the bike. As I peeled off up the bank I was absolutely done, and I'm glad I was on a track bike because if I'd stopped pedalling from the fatigue I'm not sure I wouldn't have fallen off! When I finally rolled off the track and checked the stats, I was happy - 59.1 at 144RPM. Time to aim for 60km/hr!
Brief stats here.
I felt much more present this week, like I had more energy and, especially, focus. Even in the warmup I was hitting it better, with a top speed about 3km/hr more than last week on the flying entry.
Statistically, the powerjump efforts are hard to compare because they're much more tactical than all-out efforts. This week Dino and I didn't do the ducking and diving, continuing instead with the powerjumps for the second set, and I led out each one so as to save Dino having to look over his shoulder, and also to give me more practice at it.
The last two efforts we did were a little muted, as Dino was about spent by that point and so didn't really seriously challenge me. Now, I should push just as hard anyway, and the top speed was similar to last week so I didn't slack off too much, but the competition does help really get the most out of the efforts. The first 4 efforts, though, were much better if still not quite fully committed.
Dino and Carl both commented that my second kick was quite good - but that that meant that I wasn't putting my all in to the first kick! Which is true. One matchup in particular - I think it was the second - Dino came around on the outside and was actually half a wheel in front of me coming out of the turn. Theoretically he should have beaten me from that point, as he was going faster (since he was going further around the bend) and had a slight run off the bank, but I kicked again and beat him. Which is great, but I should have had him beaten before that! He did just pip me on the line in another of our matchups, but overall I was happy with my work in those two sets.
We finished off with revouts again, and I held my position much better this week. In the first one particularly I was having trouble holding a terribly straight line, but at least I wasn't dropping off too far, nor having to back or softpedal too much; hopefully, this all means that my skills are improving! I had a pretty good go on the first attempt, hitting 57.3kmh/141RPM. This was already better than my best last week, but I felt like I had a bit more in me, and rather than cruising back to rest I continued to slowly pedal around the infield - so slowly that often the cadence registered as 0! It seems to get bored of waiting once you drop below 18RPM or so.
Anyway, my second revout I was really focussing on going as hard as I could, even though on the entry and halfway through the first lap I already felt like I wasn't going to make it! I stuck at it though, and once the first lap was over knowing that I only had two accelerations to go helped me to focus down again and I dug in as hard as I could, staring at the numberplate on the back of the bike. As I peeled off up the bank I was absolutely done, and I'm glad I was on a track bike because if I'd stopped pedalling from the fatigue I'm not sure I wouldn't have fallen off! When I finally rolled off the track and checked the stats, I was happy - 59.1 at 144RPM. Time to aim for 60km/hr!
Brief stats here.
08 May 2011
DISC Session #3 with ABOC
Well, that was all a bit... tiring. I went in to the evening not really feeling very focussed, and low on energy. I joked to Wayne, my partner for the evening, that I'd probably begin focussing about when I got tired, and the reality wasn't far off that.
We started with 3 x 30km/hr 1/2 lap powerjumps, reaction drills - Wayne led out two, and I took the front for the middle drill. Each time I was beaten, and I didn't feel much more focussed by the end than I had at the start.
The second set of drills was 4 x 3 laps over/under/D&D 1/2 lap sprints, which means that for one lap the following rider rides a metre or so above and 10 metres behind the lead rider, then a metre below, then weaves up and down. The whole time (or as much as possible) the lead rider watches the trailing rider, maintaining position on the track by peripheral vision.
These were a bit of a mixed bag - my reaction time when Wayne was attacking on the sprint lap was quite ordinary, and my acceleration needs a lot of work. I was mostly happy with my ability to watch over my shoulder while riding around the velo, though I wasn't perfect in holding my line by any means. It's harder than doing it at Blackburn, and it's harder doing it at 30km/hr than at 10, but it felt pretty good considering I find it difficult to ride in a straight line on the road while looking over my shoulder for any length of time.
On the third drill I was sprinting from in front, and thought I had the sprinters lane, when Wayne came underneath me down on to the duckboard. I swung up and pulled out of the sprint, with Wayne saying afterwards that I was just out of the lane so he went underneath. I've no idea of the precise position, but it was probably a bit touch and go either way. The important thing, from the perspective of the drill, is that he was going past me at a decent rate - partly because he had the run down the bank, but partly also because I just wasn't accelerating hard enough.
I think partly it's a matter of gearing (I'll stick with 99.7" for now, because we're doing strength work anyway, but 94" or so might be a better race gear for me - at the moment) and partly a matter of experience/technique (I'm still working on my out-of-the-saddle position to avoid slipping, and being confident to be out of the saddle on the bends) but mostly it's my strength, my weight, and insufficient aggression/focus. Especially last night.
The last drill we had the option of doing 3 x flying 100s or 2 x 500m revouts. I chose the revouts partly to work on legspeed, and partly because one just doesn't get many opportunities to sit behind the motorbike. The first one was a bit uneven - Carl rode up to the fence and brought us down on a flying entry line to start the effort, which was quite different to when I did it last time - I found it quite difficult to maintain position behind the bike, either having to backpedal a bit to avoid running in to it coming down the bank, or dropping off the back by 5 metres going up it. Something to work on, but it was only my first time. I only managed 1.5 laps on the first go, but still got up to 54 km/hr/133RPM on 86".
The second attempt I did better, still not maintaining my place behind the bike terribly well, but better than the first attempt which meant I did less chasing. I think Carl also started at a slightly lower speed to make sure I got 2 laps - he said something like that, but it's bloody hard to hear sitting behind the motorbike! At any rate, I felt a bit more focussed by this time, and was able to stick to the wheel for the entire 2 laps with a top of 56.1/138. Bloody tired, but felt a bit better afterwards. Wasn't the most successful session, but I got something out of it and was happy with my last revout at least, and the rest will all add to fitness/experience in some general way.
Brief stats here.
We started with 3 x 30km/hr 1/2 lap powerjumps, reaction drills - Wayne led out two, and I took the front for the middle drill. Each time I was beaten, and I didn't feel much more focussed by the end than I had at the start.
The second set of drills was 4 x 3 laps over/under/D&D 1/2 lap sprints, which means that for one lap the following rider rides a metre or so above and 10 metres behind the lead rider, then a metre below, then weaves up and down. The whole time (or as much as possible) the lead rider watches the trailing rider, maintaining position on the track by peripheral vision.
These were a bit of a mixed bag - my reaction time when Wayne was attacking on the sprint lap was quite ordinary, and my acceleration needs a lot of work. I was mostly happy with my ability to watch over my shoulder while riding around the velo, though I wasn't perfect in holding my line by any means. It's harder than doing it at Blackburn, and it's harder doing it at 30km/hr than at 10, but it felt pretty good considering I find it difficult to ride in a straight line on the road while looking over my shoulder for any length of time.
On the third drill I was sprinting from in front, and thought I had the sprinters lane, when Wayne came underneath me down on to the duckboard. I swung up and pulled out of the sprint, with Wayne saying afterwards that I was just out of the lane so he went underneath. I've no idea of the precise position, but it was probably a bit touch and go either way. The important thing, from the perspective of the drill, is that he was going past me at a decent rate - partly because he had the run down the bank, but partly also because I just wasn't accelerating hard enough.
I think partly it's a matter of gearing (I'll stick with 99.7" for now, because we're doing strength work anyway, but 94" or so might be a better race gear for me - at the moment) and partly a matter of experience/technique (I'm still working on my out-of-the-saddle position to avoid slipping, and being confident to be out of the saddle on the bends) but mostly it's my strength, my weight, and insufficient aggression/focus. Especially last night.
The last drill we had the option of doing 3 x flying 100s or 2 x 500m revouts. I chose the revouts partly to work on legspeed, and partly because one just doesn't get many opportunities to sit behind the motorbike. The first one was a bit uneven - Carl rode up to the fence and brought us down on a flying entry line to start the effort, which was quite different to when I did it last time - I found it quite difficult to maintain position behind the bike, either having to backpedal a bit to avoid running in to it coming down the bank, or dropping off the back by 5 metres going up it. Something to work on, but it was only my first time. I only managed 1.5 laps on the first go, but still got up to 54 km/hr/133RPM on 86".
The second attempt I did better, still not maintaining my place behind the bike terribly well, but better than the first attempt which meant I did less chasing. I think Carl also started at a slightly lower speed to make sure I got 2 laps - he said something like that, but it's bloody hard to hear sitting behind the motorbike! At any rate, I felt a bit more focussed by this time, and was able to stick to the wheel for the entire 2 laps with a top of 56.1/138. Bloody tired, but felt a bit better afterwards. Wasn't the most successful session, but I got something out of it and was happy with my last revout at least, and the rest will all add to fitness/experience in some general way.
Brief stats here.
29 April 2011
Blackburn Velo 29/04
One training session every 8 days, that should be enough to bring me to peak fitness in 7 decades, no? A combination of Easter camping and anus horribilis meant that I didn't even touch my bike for over a week.
So today's outing was a bit gentle, and only 35 minutes total of riding - and that mostly warmup/recovery time! I did two powerjump-style efforts from 30km/hr over 200m and then did a 2-lap revout which wasn't entirely a revout as such (and wouldn't ever be probably, without a motorbike to draft behind, but anyway) because I ran out of steam long before I ran out of spin!
And that was it. Not much in the way of serious training, but enough to wake the body up a bit without overstressing it while still attempting to keep to the sprinter's 100% credo. I managed a max of 51.7km/hr on my 86.4" on the second powerjump, not bad (for me!) considering I was sticking to the black line. And I should still recover fine for Sunday's session at DISC. No worries.
On another note, in looking up some times to keep in mind for future targets, I happened upon the 'best times' (because they're not allowed to be 'records' for Masters) for a Flying 200 in each age category. Now, the current world record is apparently 9.572 seconds. In Masters 1 (my age group, 30-35) it's 10.333 seconds. I won't go through the whole progression, but guess what it is for someone over 70 years old? Nope. Nope, not that either. It's 12.636 seconds. That's about 0.7 seconds faster than I've already gone, and it was ridden by someone over 70.
Now I didn't bring that up for the point of comparison, but more to observe that even though elite sprinting might be a young man's game, and I'm already too old for it (at least for starting out in it, as opposed to reaching the end of my career) there's still decades of time for me to enjoy the sport in a pointy fashion, should I choose. And that's an interesting thought.
Brief Stats here.
So today's outing was a bit gentle, and only 35 minutes total of riding - and that mostly warmup/recovery time! I did two powerjump-style efforts from 30km/hr over 200m and then did a 2-lap revout which wasn't entirely a revout as such (and wouldn't ever be probably, without a motorbike to draft behind, but anyway) because I ran out of steam long before I ran out of spin!
And that was it. Not much in the way of serious training, but enough to wake the body up a bit without overstressing it while still attempting to keep to the sprinter's 100% credo. I managed a max of 51.7km/hr on my 86.4" on the second powerjump, not bad (for me!) considering I was sticking to the black line. And I should still recover fine for Sunday's session at DISC. No worries.
On another note, in looking up some times to keep in mind for future targets, I happened upon the 'best times' (because they're not allowed to be 'records' for Masters) for a Flying 200 in each age category. Now, the current world record is apparently 9.572 seconds. In Masters 1 (my age group, 30-35) it's 10.333 seconds. I won't go through the whole progression, but guess what it is for someone over 70 years old? Nope. Nope, not that either. It's 12.636 seconds. That's about 0.7 seconds faster than I've already gone, and it was ridden by someone over 70.
Now I didn't bring that up for the point of comparison, but more to observe that even though elite sprinting might be a young man's game, and I'm already too old for it (at least for starting out in it, as opposed to reaching the end of my career) there's still decades of time for me to enjoy the sport in a pointy fashion, should I choose. And that's an interesting thought.
Brief Stats here.
17 April 2011
DISC Session #1 with ABOC
This evening was the first of the ABOC winter training sessions at DISC. But why was I there? Lovely of you to ask!
At 33, I only took up track sprint 2 months ago on a borrowed bike affectionately nicknamed 'The beer can.' Despite getting roundly thumped in my two races in my first meet, I somehow felt that my enjoyment of the racing was sufficient to justify the purchase of my very own brand new second-hand track bike, so that's what I did! And so yet another bike was added to the collection, this one a 2009 Felt TK2. Another couple of rounds of the sprint series later, including a third place in C-Grade and then racing in B, plus a go at a DISC 'Come 'n Try' day where I did a Flying 200 time of 13.34sec (hardly world-class, but not bad for a first attempt!) I decided that I might as well give this track sprinting business a decent crack. So I enlisted the support of a coach, Carl Brewer of ABOC, and here we go...
So here be, more or less, a training diary!
The session started with a roller warmup - well, I don't have rollers, so a 'normal' trainer would have to do! After that I rolled out with Nic Marc to guide me through most of the rest of the session - there were only 6 of us there, so we paired up for each exercise with someone similar. Ish.
The warmup was done ostensibly on something like 82", but being somewhat new I only have the chainring and two sprockets which came with the bike, which put me on 86.4". Not a great problem though at this stage. We then switched to 'race gear', which for me by default became 99.7", for the first set of exercises - 3 x v.slow start rolling K1 1/4. Which basically means that you come as close to stopped as you can on the bike, the person on the outside accelerates and the person on the inside responds and each tries to make it to the 1/4 lap point (at DISC, that's 62.5 metres) first. Simple, eh?
Unfortunately somehow between my tightening and someone else checking, the rear wheel wasn't quite secured tightly enough and when I tried to power away from the start, I pulled the wheel forward in the dropouts, jamming the tyre in to the seat stay and almost making me fall. Fortunately I stayed up, managing not to crash in to Nic either!
The second attempt passed without particular incident, and I tried to concentrate on the "giving it 100%" attitude of a sprinter. It's just not something that feels very natural, either in cycling (where it's usually more about who can stay at 83% for longest, or who can put in more bursts of 92% up climbs, or who can sprint as close to 100% as possible after riding at 83% for 6 hours) or in life more generally. Sprint training for cycling looks ridiculously easy at first glance compared to a 'standard' program - 3 efforts with 5ish minutes rest between each followed by a 20 minute break, then another round of 3 efforts with a break, then a final couple or so efforts and it's time to go home. And each of those efforts are often 10-30 seconds each. But sprint training is absolutely 100% - or should be, at least. Better to fall over somewhere in the middle of your second effort than to keep something back to make sure you get through all three! I think I've a little way to go yet.
The third attempt I revisited something I'd hoped I'd mostly eradicated in my own self-directed training at Blackburn, where I'd been trying a few of these K1-type efforts. What happens is that it can be awful hard to ride in a straight line in the first few pedal strokes, and so there can be a tendency to swerve - often in a general downward direction, given that even the straights at DISC are banked at 12°. I suspect that what happened is that I forgot about trying to keep the chest straight and pointed forward, possibly because I started with my front wheel turned because I was going too slowly. At any rate, after a couple of pedal strokes I ducked down in to Nic's lane, wobbled back up, backed off, tried to straighten up, and eventually switched off so as to safely negotiate the 42° banking of the corner without wobbling all over the boards, and possibly sliding down them!
The next section involved my first experience with riding behind a motorbike, which was... not very scary at all, actually! I was a little skittish sitting behind Nic sitting behind the motorcycle (which isn't actually a derny, but which has a roll-bar on the back making it perfectly (relatively!) safe to bump in to) during our first of three 30km/h powerjumps (where you draft behind the motorbike, it pulls up and you both jump, the second rider trying to overtake the lead rider within half a lap) than when it was my turn to sit behind the derny (it's just shorter, okay?) on the next go around.
The idea, as the following rider, was to 'lay off' the lead rider coming through the last bend before the derny swung up by moving up the track but travelling at the same speed - so not losing any momentum - then diving back down, into and through the draft of the lead rider, and catapaulting your way past and on to glory. Or something like that. Important race tactic. I've got a lot to learn! Not least of which is positioning on the bike - when I was the lead rider, getting out of the saddle to accelerate as the derny swung up I had the rear wheel slipping for a good two or three pedal strokes before I got it under control, which apparently is likely due to being too far forward. Not something I've noticed at Blackburn on the outdoor, concrete velo, but much more apparent on the slippery boards!
Okay. Nearly the end of the epic. I don't know why I'm explaining so much, since anyone likely to read this probably knows all about it anyway. It's only a training diary! Maybe it's because I don't know what I'm talking about yet.
The last section was supposed to involve 2x500m revouts at 82" (86.4" for me), where you sit behind the derny and in each corner it accelerates and you just stay with it as long as you can - or as long as it lets you! We ended up just doing the one though, for which I was very thankful; shattered, was I. But I felt comfortable sitting behind the derny (no idea how close, really, but probably not close enough since I didn't hit it!) and accelerated pretty well. But I've nothing to compare it to, and not even any Garmin stats because my speed sensor wasn't properly lined up for the revout - the perils of flipping the wheel around.
So that was that! No Nandos afterwards with the rest of the squad, as family had arrived and I had to head home, but next time! I feel like I'm somewhere I oughta be...
Brief stats here (minus the revout).
At 33, I only took up track sprint 2 months ago on a borrowed bike affectionately nicknamed 'The beer can.' Despite getting roundly thumped in my two races in my first meet, I somehow felt that my enjoyment of the racing was sufficient to justify the purchase of my very own brand new second-hand track bike, so that's what I did! And so yet another bike was added to the collection, this one a 2009 Felt TK2. Another couple of rounds of the sprint series later, including a third place in C-Grade and then racing in B, plus a go at a DISC 'Come 'n Try' day where I did a Flying 200 time of 13.34sec (hardly world-class, but not bad for a first attempt!) I decided that I might as well give this track sprinting business a decent crack. So I enlisted the support of a coach, Carl Brewer of ABOC, and here we go...
So here be, more or less, a training diary!
The session started with a roller warmup - well, I don't have rollers, so a 'normal' trainer would have to do! After that I rolled out with Nic Marc to guide me through most of the rest of the session - there were only 6 of us there, so we paired up for each exercise with someone similar. Ish.
The warmup was done ostensibly on something like 82", but being somewhat new I only have the chainring and two sprockets which came with the bike, which put me on 86.4". Not a great problem though at this stage. We then switched to 'race gear', which for me by default became 99.7", for the first set of exercises - 3 x v.slow start rolling K1 1/4. Which basically means that you come as close to stopped as you can on the bike, the person on the outside accelerates and the person on the inside responds and each tries to make it to the 1/4 lap point (at DISC, that's 62.5 metres) first. Simple, eh?
Unfortunately somehow between my tightening and someone else checking, the rear wheel wasn't quite secured tightly enough and when I tried to power away from the start, I pulled the wheel forward in the dropouts, jamming the tyre in to the seat stay and almost making me fall. Fortunately I stayed up, managing not to crash in to Nic either!
The second attempt passed without particular incident, and I tried to concentrate on the "giving it 100%" attitude of a sprinter. It's just not something that feels very natural, either in cycling (where it's usually more about who can stay at 83% for longest, or who can put in more bursts of 92% up climbs, or who can sprint as close to 100% as possible after riding at 83% for 6 hours) or in life more generally. Sprint training for cycling looks ridiculously easy at first glance compared to a 'standard' program - 3 efforts with 5ish minutes rest between each followed by a 20 minute break, then another round of 3 efforts with a break, then a final couple or so efforts and it's time to go home. And each of those efforts are often 10-30 seconds each. But sprint training is absolutely 100% - or should be, at least. Better to fall over somewhere in the middle of your second effort than to keep something back to make sure you get through all three! I think I've a little way to go yet.
The third attempt I revisited something I'd hoped I'd mostly eradicated in my own self-directed training at Blackburn, where I'd been trying a few of these K1-type efforts. What happens is that it can be awful hard to ride in a straight line in the first few pedal strokes, and so there can be a tendency to swerve - often in a general downward direction, given that even the straights at DISC are banked at 12°. I suspect that what happened is that I forgot about trying to keep the chest straight and pointed forward, possibly because I started with my front wheel turned because I was going too slowly. At any rate, after a couple of pedal strokes I ducked down in to Nic's lane, wobbled back up, backed off, tried to straighten up, and eventually switched off so as to safely negotiate the 42° banking of the corner without wobbling all over the boards, and possibly sliding down them!
The next section involved my first experience with riding behind a motorbike, which was... not very scary at all, actually! I was a little skittish sitting behind Nic sitting behind the motorcycle (which isn't actually a derny, but which has a roll-bar on the back making it perfectly (relatively!) safe to bump in to) during our first of three 30km/h powerjumps (where you draft behind the motorbike, it pulls up and you both jump, the second rider trying to overtake the lead rider within half a lap) than when it was my turn to sit behind the derny (it's just shorter, okay?) on the next go around.
The idea, as the following rider, was to 'lay off' the lead rider coming through the last bend before the derny swung up by moving up the track but travelling at the same speed - so not losing any momentum - then diving back down, into and through the draft of the lead rider, and catapaulting your way past and on to glory. Or something like that. Important race tactic. I've got a lot to learn! Not least of which is positioning on the bike - when I was the lead rider, getting out of the saddle to accelerate as the derny swung up I had the rear wheel slipping for a good two or three pedal strokes before I got it under control, which apparently is likely due to being too far forward. Not something I've noticed at Blackburn on the outdoor, concrete velo, but much more apparent on the slippery boards!
Okay. Nearly the end of the epic. I don't know why I'm explaining so much, since anyone likely to read this probably knows all about it anyway. It's only a training diary! Maybe it's because I don't know what I'm talking about yet.
The last section was supposed to involve 2x500m revouts at 82" (86.4" for me), where you sit behind the derny and in each corner it accelerates and you just stay with it as long as you can - or as long as it lets you! We ended up just doing the one though, for which I was very thankful; shattered, was I. But I felt comfortable sitting behind the derny (no idea how close, really, but probably not close enough since I didn't hit it!) and accelerated pretty well. But I've nothing to compare it to, and not even any Garmin stats because my speed sensor wasn't properly lined up for the revout - the perils of flipping the wheel around.
So that was that! No Nandos afterwards with the rest of the squad, as family had arrived and I had to head home, but next time! I feel like I'm somewhere I oughta be...
Brief stats here (minus the revout).
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