July 14-15, 2012, AZ State Track Championships
Encino CA
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ
Many thanks to my wife Noel for the photography.
(Images can be clicked on for a larger version)
The AZ state track championships are held in California, due to there being no track in Arizona.
There are 3 velodromes in Southern California and this year's events were all held in Encino.
It's an OK facility with a nice infield, a warm-up circle, and spectator stands.
It is a 252 meter track with 30 degree maximum banking which is an odd-ball length and an inadequate bank angle for the tightness of the turns.
It was built in 1961 and has been active during all that time.
The banking has seen some repairs which gave the track some non-standard character, such as level areas at the top of the bankings.
It's a bit of a drive for most AZ riders, being about 6.5 hours from Phoenix and 8 hours from Tucson, so gas and motel costs reduce the active participants that would otherwise enjoy this activity.
Noel and Gea Johnson came with me, which made the drive much more tolerable.
Most championships are not very entertaining to watch as a spectator, being individual timed events.
They can be interesting if the times of each finish are immediately announced or posted on a spectator board so that comparisons can be made from the viewing experience with the results, such as one would see at the Olympics.
Most other tracks I've participated at will do this to enhance spectator appeal, including the interest of the racers themselves.
Unfortunately all of the AZ races are run in secret, with the final results kept from all people until after the event has concluded and the awards are presented.
So there is no learning of what techniques are most effective unless one uses their own stopwatch and keeps track.
Imagine the excitement of a basketball game where the scoreboard only posts the results 15 minutes after the fourth quarter ends.
Although we've asked to get this changed in the past, the standard response is always "This is how we've always done it".
So this is another reason why racers would not want to make the trek to participate due to the boredom of mostly sitting around to see what happened after events have finished.
Thus it was no surprise that the turnout was even less this year than last year, which was also lower than the previous year, with around 50 total racers competing.
At least I had 3 other competitors in my 55-59 age class for the timed events and one of those in the sprint event.
For the Category 1,2,3 events that I entered, I had no competitors and thus no racing (and a waste of entry fees).
I'm sure a track in Arizona with decent management would make a huge difference to increase popularity.
Just like the Jamaican bobsleigh team, Gea and I feel like we are the Phoenix Velodrome team, lacking the facilities to prepare for the sport we love.
Saturday
Flying 200 meter
The racing started at 10:00 am on Saturday with flying 200 meter time trials.
I had come to Encino on 5/26 and 6/23 and had difficulty figuring out how to properly take the shallow banking at speed.
It tends to throw one up the track and requires determination to keep the wheels down near the bottom.
Then the transition coming out of the final turn is too quick and one tends to overshoot and has to forcefully straighten out again to ride straight to the finish.
The local track guru who I had met in June, Henry Shibata, had given me some motor pacing time in the morning and this greatly helped me get familiarity with taking the turns at speed.
I was then able to post a 12.8 second 200 meter time, which was much better than my 13.5 and 13.1 from May and June respectively, but still not up to my personal best of 12.6.
It was the only time faster than 13.0 seconds of all the other competitors, which goes to show that there was poor turnout to this year's event.
Results
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| Accelerating for 200 |
Out of the saddle |
Diving down turn 1 |
Home stretch |
Finish |
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| Gea Johnson at turn 1 |
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Finish |
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| A new friend from Tucson, Jarreau Jones, doing a flying 200 |
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500 meter
The next event on schedule was the standing start 500 meter, just 2 laps around the track.
This event is short enough that an all out effort is given and the start is very crucial.
I decided to go with my aero bars this time, instead of the drop bars that I tried at the last 2 AZ events.
This was the event I was trying to excel at for the Nationals this year and hoped that I could post a time that would justify going to Colorado the following week.
I had been working with Gea every week for the last 9 months on her 500 and we were able to help each other's development.
I felt fairly good on my performance and posted a time of 37.4 seconds.
Although this was faster than anyone else this day (only Gea was also able to beat 40 seconds), it was a half second slower than my personal best and only would have placed me 7th at last year's Nationals which was 2 seconds faster.
Results
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| 500 m Zero time |
One and a half strokes |
Turn 1 |
Lap 1 finish |
Turn 1 |
Finish |
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| 500 m Zero time |
Zero time |
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Lap 1 finish |
Turn 1 |
Finish |
Jarreau did a 1000 m (4 laps) and although I gave him good advice as to how to pace himself, he ended up over-taxing himself anyway and suffered a horrible last lap.
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| 1000 m Start |
One and a half strokes |
Turn 1 |
Lap 1 done |
One more lap of hell |
Finish |
2000 meter
My last event on Saturday was a 2000 m (8 laps).
I had done a 2:37.2 last June and a slow 2:43.0 in May.
I needed to try to get this closer to 2:30 to feel satisfied.
I had expected to pass the competitor that started on the other side (Dale) in 3.5 laps, but took 4.5 laps to do so, so I knew I was not on a good schedule.
My breathing was not taxed afterwards and I was not exhausted, so I failed to fully push myself and only pulled off a 2:37.4, slower than my personal best of 2:30.9.
This would have placed me 5th at last years Nationals and 12 seconds off of a gold medal time there.
Nobody else broke 2:40.
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| 2000 m start |
One stroke done |
Turn 1 |
Tongue out for better breathing :-) |
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| Dale Crockatt |
Lap 1 done |
Final lap |
Finish |
Sunday
Match Sprint
Although I had entered three events for Sunday, I only had a competitor in one of them, so the others were automatic wins with no riding (bummer).
Dale Crockatt wanted to do a match sprint and I had hoped I could make it close as I knew I could distance him at any time.
I started in front, which required me to keep a walking pace for the first half lap of our three lap race to the line.
After three quarters of a lap, I slowed enough that Dale was forced to take the lead.
This gave me the advantage to be able to watch him and look for surprise opportunities.
I then gave Dale a big gap, hoping he might go early, but surprisingly he had not made a move by the 200 m to go line.
As we started to exit turn 2, I couldn't chance something going wrong, so I dove down and opened up about 8 lengths on him for an easy win.
Results
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| 1/4 lap, watching Dale and ahead |
One lap, Dale in front |
1.25 laps to go |
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| Turn 4 and Dale out of contention |
Looking for Dale |
Finishing |
Since I had no other competitions to do, I had the opportunity to ride a match sprint against local California rider Henry Shibata.
In the past AZ meets, he and I had been pretty close in the 200 and 500 times, with me usually being just a bit faster.
His intimate familiarity with the track and specializing in the match sprint would give him some advantage, so we would have a close match, although he is 5 years older as well.
I started in the front position, but he took the lead before half a lap was up.
Although I was riding a 94.5 inch gear and he was on a 90, I was confident I could beat any jump he had.
He is fairly good in a 500, so I knew he could do a long sprint effort without fading, so this would be to my disadvantage, but I still gave him a big gap hoping he would go early and allow me to rest in his draft.
To my surprise, while we were on the second of three laps, he dove down turn 2 and put in his bid.
I was quick to follow and kept about a length and a half gap behind him for the next lap.
As we headed down the back stretch, I was calculating when to make my move and jumped just as we hit turn 3, coming up his draft, and started to come around.
However, I was not diligent enough and ended up drifting way too high above the red line due to the shallow banking as I hit 38 mph and lost about half a bike length in the process.
I persevered, trying to make it up; and was even with his back wheel with 40 m to go.
I was slowly passing him, but the line came too soon and he won by about a wheel.
Even though I lost, it was the most racing fun of the weekend.
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| 1 1/4 laps to go |
1 lap to go; I am calm |
Final turn, I'm too high |
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| Back down, trying to make it up |
Starting to catch up |
5 m to go, still half a length behind |
Although I had the fastest times of anyone in the events I entered, it was mostly a case of big fish in a little pond.
My times did not indicate to me that I would have a chance to win a National Championship that are coming up in a week and a half, although I could certainly have a good chance to medal.
I could probably fair well in the points race or scratch race, but with very limited mass start track racing over the last two years, it would be a shot in the dark.
So although I've targeted my peak for the season for the upcoming Nationals, I can't really justify the expense and have decided to not participate this year.
Thus my racing season is essentially over, due to the majority of the remaining local races being hill climbs and time trials; perhaps a small criterium in Tucson will be available in September.
I was fortunate that my wife Noel was able to come with me to this event.
We enjoyed a nice Japanese dinner on Friday night, very close to the motel and
Saturday night was spent at the Santa Monica pier, where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner outside at the best table for watching the sun set just as we finished eating.
She did all the driving as usual, which is a real treat.
And I also appreciate her photography skills that enhance my reports immensely.
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