Great session, enjoyable, informative and exhausting. Thanks Andrew. I know most people paid last night but if you didnt you need to transfer £20 per person to the club account, 20 41 12, 20382167. use VELO and your surname as a reference. Thanks
Andrew R thanks for organising, hope the kayaking was fun. Everyone last night was up for more if we can get future sessions.
What happened Andy? I was a bit sad not to see you joining in. Might be good to give some specific feedback, if you have any for the rest of us? I know I'd welcome it (- pls whisper though, cos I'm not especially thick-skinned!)
That's the first time 'track' has been a really good workout for me - must be making some progress. Not sure my body copes v well with evening workouts though ... I was still wired at midnight and when I did get to sleep, the dreams were just as energetic. Slightly disappointed when I woke up this morning to find that I hadn't really morphed into Laura Trott during the night
No you guys were all fine, it was a joy to ride with the club.
I'm only now just realising how much my crash in June has affected me. I'm slowly getting over it, but I'm much more nervous on the bike since then. I don't trust cars or other cyclists, as my inner chimp now fully comprehends the consequences of a mistake on their part or mine. I've never been a risk-taker on the bike at the best of times, and the crash has made me even less of one.
I had on a slightly higher gear than everyone else (except the Oxford boys who had on race gears), which meant that I had a slower cadence in the recovery group than eveyrone else. This meant I struggled to go as slow in the banking as the recovery group and still maintain the 'stickiness' of bike's (brand new) tyres on the track. This was especially noticeable during the slower 'pair riding' exercise when I almost got blocked in and had to kick back, which meant I lost traction and nearly slipped off. Thankfully some (very) old instincts kicked in and I was able to turn up the track and pedal out of it. But I would have felt awful if I'd slipped off and taken anyone out. Lesson learnt! Will have an 84" on next time.
Oh, and I only skipped the final pace line exercise (it looked like fun and was nice and fast!), because I didn't want to hold up James D when heading home. To fit my bike in his fab posh car I needed to get the wheels and seat pillar off. Sorry to have missed that bit!
In the realm of 'helpful refinements' rather than criticism of anyone, a few things that people might find helpful are:
Modulating effort between bank and straight to help keep a steady speed. What this means is that you put a bit of pressure on as you go into and through the banking (as you go slightly uphill when you are on the blue line), then let it off a bit as you enter the straight (slightly down hill into the straight). This helps keep speed fairly constant, which in turn helps keep pacelines more cohesive. Some people knew this trick and some didn't, which caused some raggedness here and there, but it's a refinement rather than a big problem.
When the coach says 'on the blue line', they really mean to stay ABOVE the blue, not ride 'on' the line itself (as a few people were doing). Staying above the blue is an important habit to cultivate. The area below the blue is for riders going fast (on the black) and riders passing over the top of them (going faster). If you wander below the blue in an an open training session, or on a crowded track during a race warm up, you can end up blocking that overtaking space (between red and blue) and cause a spill. Should anyone ever ride a Madison, the 'recovering' rider should never ride below the blue for this very reason (until they move down to get slung in). A few people were wandering below the blue on the banking in order to avoid riding up/down hill in and out of the banking. Coaches will often say to think of the blue as a 'fence', not be be ridden below during recovery. It wasn't a big deal on Sunday, but might be in an open training session or a race warm up.
Hope that doesn't come across to anyone as criticism or me being a know-it-all; just hoping to help everyone get better and have more fun!
Andy thanks for that info.
I certainly was trying to keep on the blue line & due to my lack of skill/experience meant I was going below it. Knowing it means keep above the blue line is very different & will help me next time.
When at the head of a recovery line in the types of exercises we were doing how far up from the line should I be aiming for?
Experienced trackies tend to be nailed right at 6 inches above the blue. Before they cleaned Manchester it used to have a black stripe right around that spot above the blue. I noticed that it's been cleaned up these days -- a lot more £££ floating around!
The confusion is perfectly understable because coaches say "on the blue line" as short-hand. Even I did it in my post above! Whups.
Thanks everyone for a great session. I have done this a few times but still get an amazing feeling entering such an arena and riding on these boards. The best Sunday evening ever? It has to come close as I would normally be at home objecting to what's on the TV and getting ready for work in the morning.
Apart from a couple wobbles everyone's riding was pretty tidy and I think this was reflected in our coach suggesting we have a go at a Keirin and then team pursuit. It's the most advanced stuff I have done in one of these bookings and am chuffed to have progressed technically at the same time as getting a good workout.
Thanks Andy for your advice which all makes sense and I will remember for next time. Coach was getting us to stay above the blue whilst in pairs so this appears to have been practice for more advanced group riding in the future. I can appreciate your worry about sliding down the track after almost doing the same in Manchester when I forgot I was riding fixed gear and let up pedalling on the banking. The back wheel started to go and before I woke up and put some pressure on....
I hope we can do it again soon and thank you Andrew for being so vigilant and securing these slots for the club!
Comments
I know most people paid last night but if you didnt you need to transfer £20 per person to the club account, 20 41 12, 20382167.
use VELO and your surname as a reference. Thanks
Andrew R thanks for organising, hope the kayaking was fun. Everyone last night was up for more if we can get future sessions.
That's the first time 'track' has been a really good workout for me - must be making some progress. Not sure my body copes v well with evening workouts though ... I was still wired at midnight and when I did get to sleep, the dreams were just as energetic. Slightly disappointed when I woke up this morning to find that I hadn't really morphed into Laura Trott during the night
I'm only now just realising how much my crash in June has affected me. I'm slowly getting over it, but I'm much more nervous on the bike since then. I don't trust cars or other cyclists, as my inner chimp now fully comprehends the consequences of a mistake on their part or mine. I've never been a risk-taker on the bike at the best of times, and the crash has made me even less of one.
I had on a slightly higher gear than everyone else (except the Oxford boys who had on race gears), which meant that I had a slower cadence in the recovery group than eveyrone else. This meant I struggled to go as slow in the banking as the recovery group and still maintain the 'stickiness' of bike's (brand new) tyres on the track. This was especially noticeable during the slower 'pair riding' exercise when I almost got blocked in and had to kick back, which meant I lost traction and nearly slipped off. Thankfully some (very) old instincts kicked in and I was able to turn up the track and pedal out of it. But I would have felt awful if I'd slipped off and taken anyone out. Lesson learnt! Will have an 84" on next time.
Oh, and I only skipped the final pace line exercise (it looked like fun and was nice and fast!), because I didn't want to hold up James D when heading home. To fit my bike in his fab posh car I needed to get the wheels and seat pillar off. Sorry to have missed that bit!
Modulating effort between bank and straight to help keep a steady speed. What this means is that you put a bit of pressure on as you go into and through the banking (as you go slightly uphill when you are on the blue line), then let it off a bit as you enter the straight (slightly down hill into the straight). This helps keep speed fairly constant, which in turn helps keep pacelines more cohesive. Some people knew this trick and some didn't, which caused some raggedness here and there, but it's a refinement rather than a big problem.
When the coach says 'on the blue line', they really mean to stay ABOVE the blue, not ride 'on' the line itself (as a few people were doing). Staying above the blue is an important habit to cultivate. The area below the blue is for riders going fast (on the black) and riders passing over the top of them (going faster). If you wander below the blue in an an open training session, or on a crowded track during a race warm up, you can end up blocking that overtaking space (between red and blue) and cause a spill. Should anyone ever ride a Madison, the 'recovering' rider should never ride below the blue for this very reason (until they move down to get slung in). A few people were wandering below the blue on the banking in order to avoid riding up/down hill in and out of the banking. Coaches will often say to think of the blue as a 'fence', not be be ridden below during recovery. It wasn't a big deal on Sunday, but might be in an open training session or a race warm up.
Hope that doesn't come across to anyone as criticism or me being a know-it-all; just hoping to help everyone get better and have more fun!
I certainly was trying to keep on the blue line & due to my lack of skill/experience meant I was going below it. Knowing it means keep above the blue line is very different & will help me next time.
When at the head of a recovery line in the types of exercises we were doing how far up from the line should I be aiming for?
The confusion is perfectly understable because coaches say "on the blue line" as short-hand. Even I did it in my post above! Whups.
Apart from a couple wobbles everyone's riding was pretty tidy and I think this was reflected in our coach suggesting we have a go at a Keirin and then team pursuit. It's the most advanced stuff I have done in one of these bookings and am chuffed to have progressed technically at the same time as getting a good workout.
Thanks Andy for your advice which all makes sense and I will remember for next time. Coach was getting us to stay above the blue whilst in pairs so this appears to have been practice for more advanced group riding in the future. I can appreciate your worry about sliding down the track after almost doing the same in Manchester when I forgot I was riding fixed gear and let up pedalling on the banking. The back wheel started to go and before I woke up and put some pressure on....
I hope we can do it again soon and thank you Andrew for being so vigilant and securing these slots for the club!