Less is More - 2017 NY Track State

I would never have expected to win anything this year at the NY States Track Cycling event. All my training was done on a Saris Cyclops 300PT spin bicycle and I lifted weights in my living room. I went to the track two times this year, it was what I called the lazy form of training. I was so lazy that I did not even bother to change gears during the two days of racing. I took the bicycle to the track with a 50x14 = 96 inch gear to do my events, even the warm up. I was entered in the Master’s 40 plus Sprint Omnium. I figured the 96 inch gear was a good compromise for the three events which I entered based on my PERT estimate in post below.

·        Keirin – gear used 96 inch – result 1^st place

·        Flying 200 Meter – gear used 96 inch – result 2^nd place – time 13.94 seconds

·        500 Meter – gear used 96 inch – result 3^rd place – time 41.56 seconds

·        Sprint Ominium – 1^st place in Masters 40 plus category.

I definitely did not have the snap in my legs which can only come from training at the track and Motorpacing. The Wheels I used were a Zipp rear tubular disk with a Mavic Ellipse front clincher wheel. I'm starting to think disk wheels are overrated for certain events. 

Comparison of times:

·        2015 Flying 200 Meter – 13.06 seconds with 52 x 13 = 108 inch gear and Mavic Ellipse Spoked wheels (2^nd place)

·        2015   500 Meter – 40. 91 seconds with a 50 x 15 = 90 inch gear and Mavic Ellipse Spoked wheels (3^rd place)

·        2017 Flying 200 Meter  -  13.94 seconds with 50 x 14 = 96 inch gear and Zipp rear disk with Ellipse front spoked wheel (2^nd place)

·        2017  500 Meter – 41.61 seconds with a 50 x 14 = 96 inch gear and Zipp rear disk with Ellipse front spoked wheel (3^rd place)

Analysis:

The weather was definitely colder this year since the States Championships were held after Labor Day, this resulted in denser air and possibly less master riders attending due to other commitments. I find the Mavic Ellipse spoked wheels are easier to control at Kissena and also the rolling inertia of these heavier wheels result in faster times for me. The lighter Zipp disk would be more appropriate for the Kilo, Pursuit and Endurance events, I never found a disk wheel to be advantageous for me at Kissena in the flying 200, 500 meter and Match Sprints. I have ridden consistently faster flying 200 meter times (12.50 to 12.70) in training in a 108 inch gear at Kissena with the heavier Mavic Ellipse clincher wheels. 

In the 500 meter time trial, I messed up the startl, I was not accustomed to the electronic timing and I got the rhythm wrong on the start. In retrospect I should have had someone hold me so I could practice a few standing starts 15 minutes before my event. Instead I choose to do a few rolling starts which are not quite the same. Standing starts require the body to be primed and in a state of arousal, in synch with the timing mechanism. Time trials on the track are won by fractions of a second. The potential to lose time in the 500 meter and Kilo events is in the standing starts, especially with bigger gears. 

9/10/2017 Weather Conditions at about 9:00am

Density Altitude = minus 403 feet (more aerodynamic resistance to overcome)

Dew point = 44.7 degrees F

Pressure = 30.27

Temperature = 57.2 degrees F

Humidity = 63%

Conditions were pretty much similar for 9/92017 and 9/10/2017.

Hot and humid conditions will result in a higher density altitude which could result in faster times if you can deal with the heat. So even though Kissena Velodrome might be at about 50 feet above sea level the density altitude could be at 1,000 feet on hot and humid days which means less dense air for the body and bicycle to overcome.