Track Work

Made my first appearance at the track on Thursday. A 300metre concrete track that has pretty steep banking.

I've never ridden a fixed gear bike prior to this so I was pretty nervous to say the least.

Got a few good tips from some of the more experienced riders and was given the nod of approval at my 88inch gear.

After a few laps to get accustomed we started on a 100 lap training session. Starting off reasonably slow and rolling off the front of each lap the pace gradually picks up. Felt pretty good and comfortable for the first 60 laps, but as the pace started to increase with each of the remaining laps my legs were having a hard time responding to the surges in higher speeds until I finally got dropped.

Hard to explain the fatigue fixed gear riding generates in the legs, something that only lots of practice will get me used to. Needless to say I had a blast and am hungry for some more track time!!!

Heffron - again...

Rolled up for my first B grade start yesterday, wasn't feeling very spritely due to a lack of miles in the legs - and I had a bit of stomach troubles with two killer pythons not wanting to sit down and stay...

Lasted for 9 odd laps before I had to stop and let the pythons escape... Bit of a shame really, NP was only 309w.

Until next week....

Money bags

Heffron Park 1/11/08

(t) 52.15m
(np) 316W
(s) 36.2 km/hr
(c) 86 rpm

First Crit in 6 months and managed to pick up a second place.

There was a ferocious southerly blowing which made the main straight section very hard, and with no one wanting to work I decided that I wanted a good workout and wasn't really fussed about the results.

Drove the bunch for at least half of the race, occasionally retiring to the back of the bunch to rest. The last couple of laps were pretty hard going and the fatigue of working too hard was starting to take its toll. Thankfully the paced slowed down on the last lap and the fox and hound game began in earnest. Was sitting 4th wheel and feeling quite indifferent to any potential results. Got on a good wheel for the sprint, but didn't have the strength to get out of the saddle and power away - managed to hold second place.

Quite surprised by the WKO+ data. 316w NP is my best ever effort at Heffron Park. Managed a 1333W 5second peak - but it wasn't on the final sprint - it was me playing silly buggers bridging to a break. My sprint was only 900w - which just goes to show the fatigue I had in my legs by that stage.

All in all a good result - and a great training session - rode my bike to the race and back all in for a TSS of 192 in 76km. I think i'll force myself to ride B grade next week and really put myself in the hurt box.