March 13, 2005, Track Racing
San Diego, CA

(All pictures can be clicked to go to a different page of more details)

The closest track to Tucson AZ is in San Diego, a 6 hour drive not including rest stops. It's a 333 meter track with 25 degree banking. The surface is fairly smooth, white concrete and is in fair shape. Fencing and boards define the outside perimeter. There is a wide, black asphalt inside apron and a concrete circle in the infield for warming up. The track is not considered fast when compared to tracks with much smoother surfaces, which affects the results of timed events.


The temperatures were in the mid 60's and the humidity around 75%. Cloud cover would cause the temperature to shift throughout the day, but it was generally cool enough to warrant wearing arm and leg warmers.

This day was organized by the Saguaro Velo Cycling Club of Tucson AZ for assisting all Arizona riders in developing their track skills. Saturday afternoon was also available for practice. The racing was open to anyone who wanted to participate. About 2 dozen riders were entered in the various events. Although we were registered by categories of class and age, we generally were all racing as one group.

My previous track racing was in 1981. Some of the events did not exist back then and others were different distances now that I am in the Masters class. Over the years I had disposed of my track equipment and over the last 5 months had started gathering up my collection again. The frame was a custom made aluminum beauty from Andy Gilmour of Tucson which I received on the Tuesday prior to this weekend. It tracks straight for the time trial events, is quick handling for the sprint events, is very stiff for the quick accelerations, and feels just right.


Track races are generally short and there are various events that each racer can choose to participate in. Some are championship events, such as would be found at the Olympics, and others are various mass start events for interesting variety. I entered all the events I could to get as much experience as possible. Since the racing starts about 9 am and ends about 2 pm, there's consideration for having energy left at the end of the day. This means that I probably won't put out 100% in the timed events, but I still want to give a good performance. Clothing choices, gearing choices, and what and when to eat also play a part. In addition to the gear selection, I have 3 different kinds of handlebars for the various events, so one plays a lot with the equipment. There is not much free time to just relax, having to include warm ups and warm downs and visits to the restroom as well.

This particular day started off with a timed Flying 200 meter Time Trial (TT). These are used to seed everyone in the upcoming Sprint matches and thus riders use regular drop handlebars. This was my first ever 200 and technique is part of the event, using the banks to maximize the potential energy to drop you down as you are already at full speed. I had chosen to use a 50 x 14 gear, probably a bit large, but there's only so much time to change gears between events and I wanted a 50 x 15 in the following event. I only managed a 13.1 second time, 6th fastest of the 20 in this event. So now I have a goal to get under 13. National Championship time for my age group is 11.52. The gear didn't feel overly large, but was probably not optimum.
Results


My next event was the 500 meter TT. This is a standing start race of 1.5 laps around the track. I have one set of handlebars just for this event, that has drop bars for the initial acceleration and aerobars for the faster last half. Since I had been practicing long sprints for the road races, I was thinking this might be my best event. I selected a 50 x 15 gear. I felt pretty good, but again it was my first time doing this event. I managed 39.6 seconds, 6th fastest of the 15 who participated at this distance. National Championship time for my age group is 35.3, so I have quite a way to go.
Results


The next event was the first round of the match sprints. These are races of 2 or more riders, 2 laps around, and whoever crosses the line first is the winner. The first lap is generally at a walking pace as the riders size each other up and determine if they want to lead or follow in the final rush and possibly try to force a different position if they are not where they want to be. We had 18 riders that wanted to participate in the match sprints, so they took the fastest 6 200m times for Class A, the next fastest 6 for Class B, and the rest in Class C. I was in the second heat of Class A, having the 6th fastest time in the 200m, but the very fastest rider did not participate in the sprints. I chose to use a 50 x 15 for this race, since 3 up races generally have more speed than acceleration as compared to a 2 up race. In my heat was a friend of mine, Matt Runquist, who was able to consistently beat me in sprints during training a year ago. He had done a 12.8 in the 200m (compared to my 13.1) and Chris was the third man who had done a 12.6. Even though these races are very short, strategy and tactics are a large part, although acceleration and top end are also extremely important. I had positioned myself in second spot and Matt seemed content to stay at the back. This meant that I had to watch both riders at the same time to ensure that neither got a surprise jump. This requires positioning your vision between the two and watching both with your peripheral vision (if you switch your head back and forth, a rider may attack just as you move your head away from them). We were all riding at the top of the track, which gives one the advantage of diving down the track for a quicker acceleration. With 1.25 laps to go, Chris did a feint drop down the track to try to get me to get out front, but I just stayed at the top and he came back up. But with about 1.1 laps to go, he must have panicked, as he jumped at this early stage. I jumped also, but I didn't want to give it 110% and waste myself for the rest of the day, so he got about 3.5 lengths on me as we approached the 200 m to go line, which concerned me a little bit. He looked over his shoulder at this point to see how successful he was and inadvertently slowed down about 1 mph. This allowed me to start to move up through his draft and by the time we had 110 m to go, I was starting to pass him and was easily going to beat him to the line. However, my big concern at this point was having Matt going flying around me. As it turned out, he was not able to, although he did beat Chris to the line. So a surprise for me and a big smile to Noel for this fun win.


The next event was one that would take the most energy, the 2000 meter TT, although 30 years ago my distance was 4000 m and was my strongest event. In a Championship event, this has a qualifying ride followed by a series of finals, but today we would do just one ride. I again had another set of handlebars for this event, as one spends the majority of the time in a low, aero position, rather than a power position. I also selected a 50 x 15 gearing. To expedite the process, 2 riders start simultaneously on opposite sides of the track. For the six lap event, I started fairly strongly. This is good for me, but at about 1.5 laps you get this big surge of lactic acid in your legs that you have to push through. In reviewing my performance graph, I gradually slowed down throughout the ride and need to keep my speed consistent and high. Again I did not want to give it my all, as there were still several races after this one. I was able to catch and pass my opposite rider with just under 2 to go, which meant passing him on the turn. My final time was 2:42.6, fastest of the 9 riders that did the 2000. National Championship time for my age group is 2:23.9, so now I have something to judge that against.
Results


After a bit of a rest, we had the Match Sprint semi-finals. The riders that had not won the first round were able to ride against each other (called a Repachage, French for second chance) to move into the semi-finals. Matt lost out and had been eliminated, but Chris had gotten back in. I would be riding against Tonatiuh Rodriguez, who was 3rd in his first round, but beat Matt in his Repachage. I changed the front chainring down to a 49 with a 15 on the rear. The slightly smaller gear should help with accelerations so that I don't get such a large gap on me if the other rider does a jump. We started with Tonatiuh in front and I was happy to stay at the back where I could easily watch everything. Again we had 2 laps total and with about 1.2 laps to go, Tonatiuh did a bit of a jump, but then immediately eased up. I countered on the outside with a feint of my own just as we hit the line with 1 lap to go and he took the bait. This time I maintain a 1.5 length gap, close it up with 100 m to go and pass him just before the line. Another fun win and another surprise for me.


After a short rest, the finals for the Match Sprint were next. Josh Ryan had the fastest 200 m time of all the participating sprinters and had also won both his heats. At 1.3 laps to go, Josh came to a crawl, trying to force me to advance in front of him, but I was able to match his slowness and maintain my rearward position. He was a bit more savvy and would not be easily fooled. As we hit 1 lap to go, he picked up the speed, but by 200 m to go, he still was not going 100%. This would allow him to have more kick at the end and it also meant I could not sit so far back to accelerate up in his draft. With about 120 me to go I only had a half length on him as we hit the final bank and I jumped with everything I had to try to catch him off guard before he gives it his all. Unfortunately he still had plenty of power in his legs and I lost by about a wheel length. However a very satisfying race as he had used good tactics and I still performed well. Results


The final event was to take everyone that wanted to participate in a Miss and Out race. I love these races and we had about 11 of us at the start. In a Miss and Out, there are selected laps as the race progresses where the last rider that crosses the line is eliminated until usually about 3 or so riders remain to fight it out for the win. If there is a large group, the pulled riders could be eliminated every lap, but we lost a rider every third lap. The considerations here are to not get boxed in at the inside or the middle while you still have plenty of energy, but nowhere to use it, but to also balance your energy expenditure of either having to sprint every time or work hard at the front. When it gets down to 15 or less, I like to play the back, so I played the back for the entire race, much to Noel's concern. Josh and Matt set the pace at the front as I made sure I could always get around to the outside on every elimination lap. To me this was ideal as Josh and Matt would probably be working harder than me. As expected, the final three consisted of Josh, Matt, and myself. We were given a few extra laps to rest, plan, and position. As we got the bell for the final lap, I was where I wanted to be, in second position behind Josh. However, we had not picked up speed yet and Matt jumped to the inside and Josh jumped enough to stay slightly ahead of him. As we hit the 200 m to go mark, Josh moved in front of Matt, and I was now in third. My plan at this point was thinking that Matt had enough energy to accelerate up on Josh as we go through the final bank and I'd follow him and use that to slingshot off and pass them both. To my surprise he began to falter at the point I expected him to accelerate and started to leave a gap on Josh. I now had to quickly get around Matt, get behind Josh, and try to accelerate past him before the line. I was moving pretty well, but ran out of distance to pass Josh and ended up second by about a wheel length. If the tactics had worked out differently I may have won, but that's part of the challenge.
Results


So a very enjoyable weekend. No accidents, some decent times to build upon, and some fun wins. I was glad to have Noel to help drive me home as I was a bit weary and six hours of interstate puts me to sleep pretty easily. Noel is also credited with taking the photos above.

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