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.
Showing posts with label DISC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DISC. Show all posts
05 February 2012
13 November 2011
DISC #3 for Summer
Oh, the glories of a strength session! Let me see. Race Gear + 4? No worries, call it 99". Race Gear? No worries, call it 99". At least for the 82" match sprints I went back to 86". Hopefully I'll be getting a new chain ring, chain and cleats this week sometime...
So 99" 1/4, 1/4, 1/2 powerjumps from 10km/hrish, nothing terribly exciting. The two half-lap seated powerjumps from 25ish were slightly more interesting, got up to 53.2 on the first one after making more of a conscious effort to accelerate through the middle of the range.
But it was with the motorbike efforts that the fun really began. A 250m MACC on 99" was always going to lead to tears of joy. My jump, as always, was a bit suspect, but I worked to try to continue pushing through to get back on the roller and push the speed up as high as I could. And it worked reasonably, steadily accelerating for the first ~150m, hitting a top of just over 63 and maintaining over 60 almost to the line, probably back to 58 as I crossed. Not quite up to my goals yet, but progressing.
The 500m windout didn't quite go to plan - again on 99", this time no jump just a steady acceleration. And that went fine until turn 2, ~300m in, where I came too far forward on the saddle, had too much weight on the bars and started weaving all over the place, wobbling for King and Country. So instead of hooning down the back straight at 62/63, I dropped back to 58/59 and more or less sat there through the last 100m on my own to the line. Opportunity missed, though I still hit nearly 63.
That was originally supposed to be it, but we lined up for some more match sprint practice instead. I was paired with Nic, who was talking the whole way around about how he had nothing left. I didn't bother letting him know that I had nothing either! We had a bit of bumping practice through turn 1/2 as Nic tried to push me up the track and I decided that actually no, I like it here just fine thank you! So I was actually in a good position coming out of turn 2, right next to him with a bit more height and run off the bank. Trouble was, I couldn't jump! I just kinda rolled down and tried to accelerate in the saddle. I saw Nic get out and thought... nup. Not gonna happen. It was basically a race to turn three, see who could claim the lane, and I was never in danger of getting there. I'm frankly astounded that my garmin shows a max speed of 53-odd - I would have guessed I hit mid-40s at most! A good little bit of extra tactical experience though.
So 99" 1/4, 1/4, 1/2 powerjumps from 10km/hrish, nothing terribly exciting. The two half-lap seated powerjumps from 25ish were slightly more interesting, got up to 53.2 on the first one after making more of a conscious effort to accelerate through the middle of the range.
But it was with the motorbike efforts that the fun really began. A 250m MACC on 99" was always going to lead to tears of joy. My jump, as always, was a bit suspect, but I worked to try to continue pushing through to get back on the roller and push the speed up as high as I could. And it worked reasonably, steadily accelerating for the first ~150m, hitting a top of just over 63 and maintaining over 60 almost to the line, probably back to 58 as I crossed. Not quite up to my goals yet, but progressing.
The 500m windout didn't quite go to plan - again on 99", this time no jump just a steady acceleration. And that went fine until turn 2, ~300m in, where I came too far forward on the saddle, had too much weight on the bars and started weaving all over the place, wobbling for King and Country. So instead of hooning down the back straight at 62/63, I dropped back to 58/59 and more or less sat there through the last 100m on my own to the line. Opportunity missed, though I still hit nearly 63.
That was originally supposed to be it, but we lined up for some more match sprint practice instead. I was paired with Nic, who was talking the whole way around about how he had nothing left. I didn't bother letting him know that I had nothing either! We had a bit of bumping practice through turn 1/2 as Nic tried to push me up the track and I decided that actually no, I like it here just fine thank you! So I was actually in a good position coming out of turn 2, right next to him with a bit more height and run off the bank. Trouble was, I couldn't jump! I just kinda rolled down and tried to accelerate in the saddle. I saw Nic get out and thought... nup. Not gonna happen. It was basically a race to turn three, see who could claim the lane, and I was never in danger of getting there. I'm frankly astounded that my garmin shows a max speed of 53-odd - I would have guessed I hit mid-40s at most! A good little bit of extra tactical experience though.
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.
11 September 2011
DISC Session #21 with ABOC
Whoops! Bit late for this one, and full of lunch still. Ah well, never mind. Powerjumps and flying 200s with an attempt to pass the leading rider. Powerjumps were fine, very jumpy, marginally powerful. Got up to 4km/hr on the second one on 92", good result.
Edit: 45km/hr! Not 4km/hr. That was not, in fact, an effort to disguise my abilities so as to lull my SSS opponents in to a false sense of security. I'm not that clever. Just typlexic.
Flying 200s the idea was that the following rider laid off, built speed and blasted past the lead rider to take the victory on the line. I was with Carl, and for the first effort the plan didn't quite work, as the trailing rider mistimed his effort and didn't quite get past the lead rider. In the second effort, the trailing rider rode perfectly, passing the lead rider about 10m before the line.
I'll leave it up to the imagination of the reader to determine who was which when!
End of the night, I was rooted. Still rooted from spin on Friday, actually. And, as predicted, this week's spin is even harder. Sigh. I'm sure it'll pay off...
Edit: 45km/hr! Not 4km/hr. That was not, in fact, an effort to disguise my abilities so as to lull my SSS opponents in to a false sense of security. I'm not that clever. Just typlexic.
Flying 200s the idea was that the following rider laid off, built speed and blasted past the lead rider to take the victory on the line. I was with Carl, and for the first effort the plan didn't quite work, as the trailing rider mistimed his effort and didn't quite get past the lead rider. In the second effort, the trailing rider rode perfectly, passing the lead rider about 10m before the line.
I'll leave it up to the imagination of the reader to determine who was which when!
End of the night, I was rooted. Still rooted from spin on Friday, actually. And, as predicted, this week's spin is even harder. Sigh. I'm sure it'll pay off...
04 September 2011
DISC Session #20 with ABOC
Gods. Tonight was meant to look like this. Instead, it was windout after MAC after MAC after MAC after powerjump after powerjump after powerjump with about 10 minutes between each. Madness! And I suspect it's only going to get worse over the next few weeks...
But it went okay. I started off feeling fairly tired and stiff after yesterday, but the numbers held up - 43.9 in the 1/4 lap powerjumps, 52 in the half lap on 99". The first couple of pedal strokes felt pretty glacial though.
2x250m MACs and 1x375m MAC... tough. Still feeling tired, and I got quite a bit of slipping on the first MAC, but recorded 62.7km/hr, which I was happy with. Well, until I discovered that Neil hit over 71km/hr. So I've... got a ways to go. But we knows this. I was still accelerating throughout and hitting top speed around about the line in the first two, and in the final MAC added another couple of km/hr after coming out from behind the bike for the last 100m, accelerating to the line, so there's definite improvement noticeable. I'm just not going to win A-Grade next month! But that's okay. No, really.
Finished off the evening with a nice lazy (!) windout back on 86", up to 57.8/143 for what was essentially a warmdown, drafting the whole way. I was even able to pedal back in - after the MACs, I coasted (not free-wheeling, obviously, but you get the idea...), taking two or three laps to slow down because I didn't have the energy required to put backward pressure on the pedals, and considered running in to a foam-covered pole so that I could just fall off rather than having to unclip and step over the bars!
But it went okay. I started off feeling fairly tired and stiff after yesterday, but the numbers held up - 43.9 in the 1/4 lap powerjumps, 52 in the half lap on 99". The first couple of pedal strokes felt pretty glacial though.
2x250m MACs and 1x375m MAC... tough. Still feeling tired, and I got quite a bit of slipping on the first MAC, but recorded 62.7km/hr, which I was happy with. Well, until I discovered that Neil hit over 71km/hr. So I've... got a ways to go. But we knows this. I was still accelerating throughout and hitting top speed around about the line in the first two, and in the final MAC added another couple of km/hr after coming out from behind the bike for the last 100m, accelerating to the line, so there's definite improvement noticeable. I'm just not going to win A-Grade next month! But that's okay. No, really.
Finished off the evening with a nice lazy (!) windout back on 86", up to 57.8/143 for what was essentially a warmdown, drafting the whole way. I was even able to pedal back in - after the MACs, I coasted (not free-wheeling, obviously, but you get the idea...), taking two or three laps to slow down because I didn't have the energy required to put backward pressure on the pedals, and considered running in to a foam-covered pole so that I could just fall off rather than having to unclip and step over the bars!
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.
21 August 2011
DISC Session #18 with ABOC
Fun night tonight at DISC - overgeared powerjumps, overgeared MACs, and some duckin' and divin'!
Well, over-geared-ish. I only go up to 99", which is perhaps a little overgeared for racing at DISC, but not by much these days, as I get stronger. I really needed something more like 107" to make it a real strength effort! Anyway, no dramas this week, everything stayed nice and solid for a change.
Powerjumps felt fairly good, possibly held back a little in the first one for fear of something going wrong, but not too much. The MACs were fun as always, though again I felt like I didn't push quite as hard as I might have done. Managed a top of 61.7/132 on 99" though, which is okay. Need to go faster!
We finished with a bit of ducking and diving as a skills drill, no sprinting, which was a more relaxed way of finishing off. The first set around I was a bit wobbly for some reason, not holding a good line while leading and having trouble keeping my eyes back. The second set was better - and faster, which probably helped. I don't think I'm quite up to A-grade level just yet, but perhaps by the end of the season, with continued training (and racing!) combined with losing more weight, I just might be competitive! It's something to aim for, anyway...
Well, over-geared-ish. I only go up to 99", which is perhaps a little overgeared for racing at DISC, but not by much these days, as I get stronger. I really needed something more like 107" to make it a real strength effort! Anyway, no dramas this week, everything stayed nice and solid for a change.
Powerjumps felt fairly good, possibly held back a little in the first one for fear of something going wrong, but not too much. The MACs were fun as always, though again I felt like I didn't push quite as hard as I might have done. Managed a top of 61.7/132 on 99" though, which is okay. Need to go faster!
We finished with a bit of ducking and diving as a skills drill, no sprinting, which was a more relaxed way of finishing off. The first set around I was a bit wobbly for some reason, not holding a good line while leading and having trouble keeping my eyes back. The second set was better - and faster, which probably helped. I don't think I'm quite up to A-grade level just yet, but perhaps by the end of the season, with continued training (and racing!) combined with losing more weight, I just might be competitive! It's something to aim for, anyway...
20 August 2011
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!
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!
07 August 2011
DISC Session #16 with ABOC
"make sure that my bike is absolutely tip-top hunky-dory super-duper ridgey-didge before tomorrow's DISC session"
Ahahahahaha. Hahahaha. Hahaha. Haha. Ha.
But wait, let's start at the beginning, shall we? First up, powerjumps on 99" - three out of the saddle (including one warmup) and one in the saddle. Two 41km/hrs and one 44km/hr (91RPM) not bad from ~10-15km/hr. Seated was harder, of course, and didn't quite get on top of the gear by the 1/4 lap, finishing at 38/82.
Next drill was powerjumps from behind the motorbike on 92", jumping out of the draft at about 35km/hr and going for a half lap. Well, I made it about 50 metres (depends how much of the slide you count, really!) before ending up on the infield on my arse. Not entirely sure what happened yet, except that something seemed to slip in my drivetrain somewhere - the cog is the chief suspect here. Up until now I've always saved such a situation, but not this time - down I went. Nothing too bad - little bit of grazing, small hole in the knicks, but nothing worse than that. I've managed to find a video of the incident:
Well, it was something like that. Except for the staying upright bit and the lack of being run into by someone else. And the... everything, really!
Anyway, I checked the bike out and nothing seemed to be wrong - wheel was still centred (slightly out of true, but not much) and the cog was on tight. So I put stuff back together again, tightened everything, and went back out for some ducking and diving!
This time we did one lap over, one lap under, one lap ducking and diving and then on the final lap, at some point the rear rider jumped and raced to the line. I took the lead for the first one, and was quite happy with the way I managed to ride while looking backwards - I didn't look forwards at all for the entire time, and while I won't claim I maintained a dead-straight line, I was fairly smooth at least. In both efforts I lifted my front wheel slightly off the ground a couple of times in the sprint, possibly because of the smaller gear (back to 86" I think it was) but only very slightly.
We finished with a 500m windout behind the motorbike, with a last 100m sprint. Nothing too exciting to report there, only hit a top of 58.9/144 on 86". Always a nice way to finish the evening though.
Brief stats here.
Ahahahahaha. Hahahaha. Hahaha. Haha. Ha.
But wait, let's start at the beginning, shall we? First up, powerjumps on 99" - three out of the saddle (including one warmup) and one in the saddle. Two 41km/hrs and one 44km/hr (91RPM) not bad from ~10-15km/hr. Seated was harder, of course, and didn't quite get on top of the gear by the 1/4 lap, finishing at 38/82.
Next drill was powerjumps from behind the motorbike on 92", jumping out of the draft at about 35km/hr and going for a half lap. Well, I made it about 50 metres (depends how much of the slide you count, really!) before ending up on the infield on my arse. Not entirely sure what happened yet, except that something seemed to slip in my drivetrain somewhere - the cog is the chief suspect here. Up until now I've always saved such a situation, but not this time - down I went. Nothing too bad - little bit of grazing, small hole in the knicks, but nothing worse than that. I've managed to find a video of the incident:
Well, it was something like that. Except for the staying upright bit and the lack of being run into by someone else. And the... everything, really!
Anyway, I checked the bike out and nothing seemed to be wrong - wheel was still centred (slightly out of true, but not much) and the cog was on tight. So I put stuff back together again, tightened everything, and went back out for some ducking and diving!
This time we did one lap over, one lap under, one lap ducking and diving and then on the final lap, at some point the rear rider jumped and raced to the line. I took the lead for the first one, and was quite happy with the way I managed to ride while looking backwards - I didn't look forwards at all for the entire time, and while I won't claim I maintained a dead-straight line, I was fairly smooth at least. In both efforts I lifted my front wheel slightly off the ground a couple of times in the sprint, possibly because of the smaller gear (back to 86" I think it was) but only very slightly.
We finished with a 500m windout behind the motorbike, with a last 100m sprint. Nothing too exciting to report there, only hit a top of 58.9/144 on 86". Always a nice way to finish the evening though.
Brief stats here.
31 July 2011
DISC Session #15 with ABOC
Powerjumps and MACs... nothing too complicated tonight! The powerjumps were 1/4 lap, react to the lead rider, three thereof with three of us in the group so we each got a turn in each position. Nobody overtook anyone else, top speeds for me after 62.5m from ~15km/hr were all about 42-44 km/hr (on 86"), and the new Look Keos were fine - which is to say, I was fine in them!
MACs were also good - 250 followed by 375. The 250 I hit the roller 3 times in the windup, and again had to avoid the back of the bike on the catch, for a top of 59.8 on 99". The 375 was better, in that I only hit the roller the once in the windup, and the bike was going faster - which meant more chasing/less drafting, and more effort. So even though it was a longer effort, I still hit a higher top speed of 61.0/131RPM. Not so satisfying those numbers though, must get them higher.
At the end of the session I decided to join in the 'extra' gate starts - and promptly pulled a wheel. Annoying. It'd been fine all night, so the only thing I can think of is that it was fine for lower-power efforts like the MACs, or it wasn't quite in straight and so as I rode it worked itself ever so slightly loose. Should've checked it before I did them, but I'd done it up as tightly as I possibly could in the first place. Sigh. I keep on missing bits in this sort of way. Not that gate starts are essential, but they're useful additions and good for working strength on the bike rather than in the gym. Ah well. Not like I'm aiming for the Olympics I guess, but still, I'm not just here for shits and giggles!
Brief stats here.
MACs were also good - 250 followed by 375. The 250 I hit the roller 3 times in the windup, and again had to avoid the back of the bike on the catch, for a top of 59.8 on 99". The 375 was better, in that I only hit the roller the once in the windup, and the bike was going faster - which meant more chasing/less drafting, and more effort. So even though it was a longer effort, I still hit a higher top speed of 61.0/131RPM. Not so satisfying those numbers though, must get them higher.
At the end of the session I decided to join in the 'extra' gate starts - and promptly pulled a wheel. Annoying. It'd been fine all night, so the only thing I can think of is that it was fine for lower-power efforts like the MACs, or it wasn't quite in straight and so as I rode it worked itself ever so slightly loose. Should've checked it before I did them, but I'd done it up as tightly as I possibly could in the first place. Sigh. I keep on missing bits in this sort of way. Not that gate starts are essential, but they're useful additions and good for working strength on the bike rather than in the gym. Ah well. Not like I'm aiming for the Olympics I guess, but still, I'm not just here for shits and giggles!
Brief stats here.
24 July 2011
DISC Session #14 with ABOC
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!
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!
10 July 2011
No Electronica!
That's right, I was completely naked for tonight's ABOC DISC session - I left my Garmin at home. As such, I am entirely confused about how I went this evening and know nothing about anything.
Well, perhaps not quite. New tyres tonight, so I was a bit concerned about the potential for slipping, but the sanding and vinegaring I did seemed to work and I had no problems on that score. I did still have slipping under acceleration but that's probably positional - though I hope that these tyres will help a bit. I was trying to focus on keeping my arms straight (I've been tending to hunch over the front with bent arms, especially in the powerjumps) but I'm not sure if it helped much or not! My main focus for the moment is transferring increased strength to the track, and slipping (sometimes for a good 50 metres) under acceleration isn't helping that.
Otherwise I was fairly happy with my efforts, the jumps did feel a bit stronger, and I was absolutely rooted after the 2 x 250m MACs, which is the way it should be. Interestingly I recovered better from the final 375m MAC than the 250s, which might have to do with the effort, or simply that there was just one of them. Hard to say. I also had a bit of a play on some rollers, which will take a bit of getting used to!
Well, perhaps not quite. New tyres tonight, so I was a bit concerned about the potential for slipping, but the sanding and vinegaring I did seemed to work and I had no problems on that score. I did still have slipping under acceleration but that's probably positional - though I hope that these tyres will help a bit. I was trying to focus on keeping my arms straight (I've been tending to hunch over the front with bent arms, especially in the powerjumps) but I'm not sure if it helped much or not! My main focus for the moment is transferring increased strength to the track, and slipping (sometimes for a good 50 metres) under acceleration isn't helping that.
Otherwise I was fairly happy with my efforts, the jumps did feel a bit stronger, and I was absolutely rooted after the 2 x 250m MACs, which is the way it should be. Interestingly I recovered better from the final 375m MAC than the 250s, which might have to do with the effort, or simply that there was just one of them. Hard to say. I also had a bit of a play on some rollers, which will take a bit of getting used to!
03 July 2011
DISC Session #11 with ABOC
Powerjumps, powerjumps, and then some powerjumps. Just for variety! 2x 1/2-lap on 86" from ~30, then 2x 1/2-lap on 93" from ~30, then instead of doing Flying 100s the 4 of us (only 4!) decided to do... race training, essentially. Work up to 40ish, then rider on the front does a flying lap, rider behind sits on the wheel and tries to time the sprint to the line.
I don't have anything much interesting to say, and the stats don't provide anything very interesting either. Top speed/cadence came in the warmup! For powerjumps the main interest is in the jump, the acceleration, and I don't have a useful way yet of analysing that. I tried to try hard, but I still need to work harder at my jump - and I need to get my new tyres on to, hopefully, help with slipping. I also need to work on my form - one of the sprints I felt like I was really crouching down over the front end rather than standing up a bit more, and so probably robbing myself of a lot of power.
But that's about all. I need to find some better free software for the making of the analyses. Because, clearly, I don't spend enough time on analysis!
I don't have anything much interesting to say, and the stats don't provide anything very interesting either. Top speed/cadence came in the warmup! For powerjumps the main interest is in the jump, the acceleration, and I don't have a useful way yet of analysing that. I tried to try hard, but I still need to work harder at my jump - and I need to get my new tyres on to, hopefully, help with slipping. I also need to work on my form - one of the sprints I felt like I was really crouching down over the front end rather than standing up a bit more, and so probably robbing myself of a lot of power.
But that's about all. I need to find some better free software for the making of the analyses. Because, clearly, I don't spend enough time on analysis!
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.
18 June 2011
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:
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:
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.
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.
12 June 2011
Keirins!
Well, that was a fun sort of a DISC session! Hard, but fun...
Warmup: 1/2lap powerjump, Entry + 1/4 lap: 57.3/140
Happy with the entry speed, 140RPM is good, only on 86" though. Do that on 99" and I'll be cranking!
The first of the 'work' exercises were a pair of 3/4 lap powerjumps, with the rider in front jumping first. This started around the F200 line, from ~10km/hr and hence down on the blue. I was a bit tentative accelerating on the first one, starting behind Dino, and I never closed on him after his initial jump. Got up to 52.1/128, so not too bad I guess though I don't have anything else to compare it to yet! The second effort, starting from in front, was similar - 51.3/126 from about 15m shorter.
Then we got a bit scarier! Well, not too too much scarier, but a bit at least. I borrowed a 14T from Carl since mine still hasn't arrived, which put me on about 92" for some gate starts - this time standing. I started off by not tightening the cog enough, so that when I stood on the left pedal to clip in, I actually unwound it! So back out of the gate, fix that, and try to slot back in to the lineup.
Eventually I got going, and the first effort actually felt pretty good - I'd been watching the others, working on the countdown in my head, and it went off without a hitch. I'm not sure on the numbers - garmin tells me I hit 53.8/106, but that doesn't quite seem likely. On the other hand, strava tells me ~45/~90, which doesn't seem quite right either.
The next two efforts were 1/4 laps, and while the first of those felt pretty good (probably could have gone a bit harder out of the gate though) and gave 41.7/92, the second was off - I lost confidence in the count (though it turned out I was right!) and so was quite tentative out of the gate. Not only did that affect power, but balance, and I was all over the shop heading through the bend, and only managed 39.5/90.
Then it was time for keirins! Other than watching a few youtube videos, I'd never done these before so I was excited and a bit nervous. I went back to 86" for these, since I couldn't get 82". The first one was with Carl and Emily, and I slotted straight in to third position so as to keep an eye on what was going on and not have to worry about people coming from behind. As we approached the point where the motorbike pulled off, Carl had been laying back off Emily and went wide through a bend so, taking advantage of what he'd told me in the warmup, I moved up behind Emily so as to keep him up the track, in the wind, riding the greater distance. As we passed one lap to go, Carl pulled forward around Emily and I waited back, not wanting to take the long line through the bend and wanting to hide in the slipstream that little bit longer. By the time I pulled out heading in to the back straight, Carl had a good 15 metres on me and I thought I'd left things too late, but I kept on pulling him back and was in his draft coming out on to the final straight. I pulled out, pushed pushed pushed and... no idea. Call it a dead-heat! I hit 55.7/138, which is right in a good sort of a range.
The second keirin was all six of us, and once again I pulled in to third spot behind the bike. This time though, Carl swung off to drop back, hoping to ride for Emily. That left me in second spot, behind Neil, which wasn't where I wanted to be! I didn't want to swing up and drop all the way back though, and I was hoping that as we came up to time for the motorbike to pull off, one or two of those behind would come over the top and I could slot in. Carl did do that, but couldn't pull all the way through and, as the bike pulled off, Neil jumped straight off, as I suspected he might. I wasn't going to try to stick with him for 2.5 laps, so I hoped that someone else would come around. But no. Or, rather, not for another lap, by which time Neil was well away. Eventually Dino and Nic came around and I grabbed a wheel, but with just under a lap to go it fell apart a bit - Nic swung up, thinking it was over, I went past Dino and heard him asking if it was over or if we were still going, Neil was 60-odd metres in front... I crossed in second, but by that point it was all a bit confusing and academic, and there was no real sprint, reflected in the top of 51.3/126.
I was pretty spent by the end of all that! I'm glad to have had the practice at the keirin, as Carl has lined me up to race on Friday with the BBN sprint night, featuring keirins at the end, so perhaps I'll have a chance to know what I'm doing! I'll also ride a F200, which will be a chance to see how my speed compares to the only other F200 I've done at DISC, 13.34s. We shall see!
Brief stats here.
Warmup: 1/2lap powerjump, Entry + 1/4 lap: 57.3/140
Happy with the entry speed, 140RPM is good, only on 86" though. Do that on 99" and I'll be cranking!
The first of the 'work' exercises were a pair of 3/4 lap powerjumps, with the rider in front jumping first. This started around the F200 line, from ~10km/hr and hence down on the blue. I was a bit tentative accelerating on the first one, starting behind Dino, and I never closed on him after his initial jump. Got up to 52.1/128, so not too bad I guess though I don't have anything else to compare it to yet! The second effort, starting from in front, was similar - 51.3/126 from about 15m shorter.
Then we got a bit scarier! Well, not too too much scarier, but a bit at least. I borrowed a 14T from Carl since mine still hasn't arrived, which put me on about 92" for some gate starts - this time standing. I started off by not tightening the cog enough, so that when I stood on the left pedal to clip in, I actually unwound it! So back out of the gate, fix that, and try to slot back in to the lineup.
Eventually I got going, and the first effort actually felt pretty good - I'd been watching the others, working on the countdown in my head, and it went off without a hitch. I'm not sure on the numbers - garmin tells me I hit 53.8/106, but that doesn't quite seem likely. On the other hand, strava tells me ~45/~90, which doesn't seem quite right either.
The next two efforts were 1/4 laps, and while the first of those felt pretty good (probably could have gone a bit harder out of the gate though) and gave 41.7/92, the second was off - I lost confidence in the count (though it turned out I was right!) and so was quite tentative out of the gate. Not only did that affect power, but balance, and I was all over the shop heading through the bend, and only managed 39.5/90.
Then it was time for keirins! Other than watching a few youtube videos, I'd never done these before so I was excited and a bit nervous. I went back to 86" for these, since I couldn't get 82". The first one was with Carl and Emily, and I slotted straight in to third position so as to keep an eye on what was going on and not have to worry about people coming from behind. As we approached the point where the motorbike pulled off, Carl had been laying back off Emily and went wide through a bend so, taking advantage of what he'd told me in the warmup, I moved up behind Emily so as to keep him up the track, in the wind, riding the greater distance. As we passed one lap to go, Carl pulled forward around Emily and I waited back, not wanting to take the long line through the bend and wanting to hide in the slipstream that little bit longer. By the time I pulled out heading in to the back straight, Carl had a good 15 metres on me and I thought I'd left things too late, but I kept on pulling him back and was in his draft coming out on to the final straight. I pulled out, pushed pushed pushed and... no idea. Call it a dead-heat! I hit 55.7/138, which is right in a good sort of a range.
The second keirin was all six of us, and once again I pulled in to third spot behind the bike. This time though, Carl swung off to drop back, hoping to ride for Emily. That left me in second spot, behind Neil, which wasn't where I wanted to be! I didn't want to swing up and drop all the way back though, and I was hoping that as we came up to time for the motorbike to pull off, one or two of those behind would come over the top and I could slot in. Carl did do that, but couldn't pull all the way through and, as the bike pulled off, Neil jumped straight off, as I suspected he might. I wasn't going to try to stick with him for 2.5 laps, so I hoped that someone else would come around. But no. Or, rather, not for another lap, by which time Neil was well away. Eventually Dino and Nic came around and I grabbed a wheel, but with just under a lap to go it fell apart a bit - Nic swung up, thinking it was over, I went past Dino and heard him asking if it was over or if we were still going, Neil was 60-odd metres in front... I crossed in second, but by that point it was all a bit confusing and academic, and there was no real sprint, reflected in the top of 51.3/126.
I was pretty spent by the end of all that! I'm glad to have had the practice at the keirin, as Carl has lined me up to race on Friday with the BBN sprint night, featuring keirins at the end, so perhaps I'll have a chance to know what I'm doing! I'll also ride a F200, which will be a chance to see how my speed compares to the only other F200 I've done at DISC, 13.34s. We shall see!
Brief stats here.
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.
29 May 2011
DISC Session #6 with ABOC
Well that was an interesting session! I got to DISC earlier than usual (though still not as early as most of the other sprinters) so as to do a proper sort of warmup without being too rushed. That started off fine, spinning on the trainer, before going out on to the track to do a couple of efforts. First powerjump and CRACK! Pull the wheel forward in the dropouts, but manage to roll back to the infield without drama. This after I specifically checked the tightness of the nuts or lugs or whatever the hell they're called.
So that was a little frustrating, but no great drama although I rubbed a bit of rubber off the tyre and paint off the frame. I headed out for the 1/4 lap powerjumps from ~10km/hr paired up with Nic again. First effort I was behind, too close and too wide so that when I jumped, he saw me easily and held me off without any problems. Second round, Nic behind, he sat much further back than I had, more directly behind and accelerated in the saddle to start with. He got the jump and went around me with ease.
Rolling around afterwards, he let me know how stupid I was - always something to appreciate in a training partner! He let me know exactly what he'd been doing in the second round, and why, and how he'd been able to hold me off in the first round, and why. Useful stuff!
So this should be the bit where I tell you I beat him next time? No. Not quite. I stayed further back, closer to his 6 o'clock, accelerated in the saddle, threw a feint, and finally went later than usual, but he still held me off. Was closer though. One thing I noticed was that he stayed down really low, and moved up the track a bit as I jumped, which forced me to go around, rather than in a straight line, and to think for a second - probably just about enough.
Last round I lead out again, staying down low and focussing more on keeping an eye on him than maintaining my line. Which meant that I was down on the blue a bit, and we got yelled at by Carl to get up on the track. So I did, still keeping an eye on Nic, and jumped at a point which was a combination of a) looking like Nic was accelerating (in the saddle) and b) getting too close to the turn to feel I'd be able to accelerate fast enough to stay on the track through the banking! I managed to take the win on that one, although I was unsure if I'd reacted to Nic jumping, or just jumped. I tend to have a sneaking suspicion in such cases that I've ended up jumping first rather than reacting. Given that I normally react too slowly, it could just be that I need to recalibrate my senses.
After that we were switching to 250m MACs. What are they? Well, they're kinda like windouts, except they're shorter and you roll around on the blue line before diving in to the lane behind the motorbike for a lap, accelerating at each corner so as to go really fast. Fun! But before I could get out there, first was the traditional mechanical problem - Nic loaned me a 51T chainring so that I could get ~92" (spares have been ordered and should hopefully get here for next week) rather than 86" or 99" which is all I've got otherwise. So I hurriedly got that on (as hurriedly as I could, having never done it before) just in time, only to realise - my chain was too short! I could just barely get it on, but it pulled my wheel too far forward so that it was rubbing on the frame. So bugger, had to take it all off again, swap back to the 48T, and rush out on to the track to do my first effort after everyone else had already come back for a rest! So I nipped out there, straight up to 40km/hr, dived behind the bike and went all-out for a lap. And was well rewarded - 62.9km/hr at 155RPM. Noice! As I said to Carl afterwards, stealing a phrase from Douglas Adams "Like an orgasm without the foreplay!" Probably describes all of track sprint, really.
After a short break, it was back up to the fence (last in line, thank you! Needed a bit of recovery time) to do it all again. This time I swapped to 99" to see what would happen. I felt good behind the bike, perhaps a bit slow in matching the acceleration on 99" (though again, lots of rear-wheel slip. Doesn't bother me now, but surely it's detracting from acceleration) but caught the bike fine and stayed with it. Looking at the max speed afterwards, I thought that the first effort was the fastest, but it turns out that I actually hit 62.2 and then 62.9 again in the other efforts, so I held on through the session well even though I felt like bursting. In my last effort in the last corner I actually backed off slightly (mentally at least, and maybe softpedalled a bit, it's hard to remember!) because I was going to hit the bike. I hear tell that perhaps you lose less momentum (unless you hit really hard) hitting the roller than you do soft pedalling, so perhaps next time I'll have to try that instead.
And now, video:
Brief stats here.
So that was a little frustrating, but no great drama although I rubbed a bit of rubber off the tyre and paint off the frame. I headed out for the 1/4 lap powerjumps from ~10km/hr paired up with Nic again. First effort I was behind, too close and too wide so that when I jumped, he saw me easily and held me off without any problems. Second round, Nic behind, he sat much further back than I had, more directly behind and accelerated in the saddle to start with. He got the jump and went around me with ease.
Rolling around afterwards, he let me know how stupid I was - always something to appreciate in a training partner! He let me know exactly what he'd been doing in the second round, and why, and how he'd been able to hold me off in the first round, and why. Useful stuff!
So this should be the bit where I tell you I beat him next time? No. Not quite. I stayed further back, closer to his 6 o'clock, accelerated in the saddle, threw a feint, and finally went later than usual, but he still held me off. Was closer though. One thing I noticed was that he stayed down really low, and moved up the track a bit as I jumped, which forced me to go around, rather than in a straight line, and to think for a second - probably just about enough.
Last round I lead out again, staying down low and focussing more on keeping an eye on him than maintaining my line. Which meant that I was down on the blue a bit, and we got yelled at by Carl to get up on the track. So I did, still keeping an eye on Nic, and jumped at a point which was a combination of a) looking like Nic was accelerating (in the saddle) and b) getting too close to the turn to feel I'd be able to accelerate fast enough to stay on the track through the banking! I managed to take the win on that one, although I was unsure if I'd reacted to Nic jumping, or just jumped. I tend to have a sneaking suspicion in such cases that I've ended up jumping first rather than reacting. Given that I normally react too slowly, it could just be that I need to recalibrate my senses.
After that we were switching to 250m MACs. What are they? Well, they're kinda like windouts, except they're shorter and you roll around on the blue line before diving in to the lane behind the motorbike for a lap, accelerating at each corner so as to go really fast. Fun! But before I could get out there, first was the traditional mechanical problem - Nic loaned me a 51T chainring so that I could get ~92" (spares have been ordered and should hopefully get here for next week) rather than 86" or 99" which is all I've got otherwise. So I hurriedly got that on (as hurriedly as I could, having never done it before) just in time, only to realise - my chain was too short! I could just barely get it on, but it pulled my wheel too far forward so that it was rubbing on the frame. So bugger, had to take it all off again, swap back to the 48T, and rush out on to the track to do my first effort after everyone else had already come back for a rest! So I nipped out there, straight up to 40km/hr, dived behind the bike and went all-out for a lap. And was well rewarded - 62.9km/hr at 155RPM. Noice! As I said to Carl afterwards, stealing a phrase from Douglas Adams "Like an orgasm without the foreplay!" Probably describes all of track sprint, really.
After a short break, it was back up to the fence (last in line, thank you! Needed a bit of recovery time) to do it all again. This time I swapped to 99" to see what would happen. I felt good behind the bike, perhaps a bit slow in matching the acceleration on 99" (though again, lots of rear-wheel slip. Doesn't bother me now, but surely it's detracting from acceleration) but caught the bike fine and stayed with it. Looking at the max speed afterwards, I thought that the first effort was the fastest, but it turns out that I actually hit 62.2 and then 62.9 again in the other efforts, so I held on through the session well even though I felt like bursting. In my last effort in the last corner I actually backed off slightly (mentally at least, and maybe softpedalled a bit, it's hard to remember!) because I was going to hit the bike. I hear tell that perhaps you lose less momentum (unless you hit really hard) hitting the roller than you do soft pedalling, so perhaps next time I'll have to try that instead.
And now, video:
Brief stats here.
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