Tag: Training

Team Wheeltags Training Camp

I had the privilege of hosting Matt and Kevin from Wheeltags for an impromptu training camp in Canton, GA, a few weeks ago.  They wanted to escape the near horizontal elevation of Carmel, Indiana, and try out some hills for a few days.  I was happy to oblige.

The first few days, I gave them some good rides to do on their own, allowing them to explore some of my favorite routes in northern Cherokee County.  On the Monday of their trip, I took them up to Dahlonega/Lumpkin County to check out the “Front Three” Gaps (Neel Gap, Wolf Pen Gap, and Woody Gap).

For some flat-landers, they didn’t do half bad on the hills I threw at them.  They also had some pretty sick examples of Wheeltags on their personal rides (gotta love eye candy!).

We had a great couple of days of riding down here.  Next time, I get to make the trip north to visit them for some good-old flatland riding.  Hopefully, they won’t put me in the “hurt locker…”  Thanks for the visit, guys.  See you soon!

My New Addiction – Track Racing

This weekend, I had the privilege of attending the Beginner Track Class at the Dick Lane Velodrome in East Point, GA.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been wanting to attend this class and get started racing for quite some time, but things never lined up for me to be able to do it… until Saturday.

Upon arrival, we signed a liability waiver and got ready for the class.  If you didn’t have a bike, one was provided for you.  I brought my new Jamis Sonik, which got a lot of looks and comments.  Afterwards, we gathered in the stands and waited for Brian Sullivan (lead instructor) and Jeff Hopkins (Director of Operations/former pro roadie/former World Junior Track Champion) to kick off the class.

We had around 30 beginners that were ready to get on the track.  Before riding on the track, we discussed the basic safety rules at the velodrome, basics about Dick Lane Velodrome, and details about track markings.  It was good to get all of those pertinent bits of information out of the way before taking the bikes down for some practice laps.

There were two distinct groups of riders in the class; those who had ridden a fixed gear bike before, and those who hadn’t.  The instructors did a great job by splitting us up and allowing the fixed gear newbies a little extra time to learn how to handle the bike. The riders that had ridden fixed before were allowed to get a few laps on the track to accustom themselves with riding on the banking of the track.  It was definitely different than cruising on the road… that’s for sure!

After everyone was used to the bikes, we did some drills to get used to riding around others on the track.  We practiced pacelining first, taking turns at the front, then pulling up higher on the track, allowing the rest of the paceline to pass you before jumping onto the tail of the group.

The second drill we did was side-by-sides.  We rode with a partner, one on the red line, one on the black line, and had to stay right next to our partner, regulating our speed all the way around the track.  That drill got us used to riding very close to another rider, and also to get used to how much extra energy we had to use to stay next to our partner when riding around the upper line.  It’s a longer distance around the track, so you have to pedal more/faster to stay close to your partner.

After the first two drills were done and we were moderately comfortable with riding on the track, we practiced the flying 200m sprint.  I was first, and really decided to let it go.  The feeling of dropping off Turn 2, down the back straight, then diving into Turns 3 and 4 in the pole lane was EXHILARATING!!!  The first time barreling through those turns was such a killer feeling!  I feel I put in a pretty respectable time (even though we didn’t clock it…) for my first try at the 200.

After the class concluded, Brian wished us well and asked those that had time to stick around if they wanted to do some racing.  My response was an immediate “OH HECK YES I DO!”  We lined up on the boards on the front straight for a 5-lap Scratch Race, my first race on the track.

The pace started out pretty quick.  One guy in our race decided to make a quick acceleration right off the bat.  Myself and a few others matched his accelerations, but shortly afterwards, a female that was racing with us and another guy (that had a pretty little gear on his bike) fell off the pace, leaving three of us out front, battling it out for the next few laps.

With two laps to go, I was drafting along in third position when I decided to make a move around the outside.  I jumped around and dropped into the pole lane, then accelerated to see how much distance I could put into the other two riders.  I looked back, had a pretty good gap, but still had a lap to go.  When the bell rang, I just gave it a little more juice and maintained the pace to lead the others to the line.  I WON MY FIRST TRACK RACE!

Even though it was unofficial, with no money or points being awarded, it was still a win to me.  It’s just what I needed to get me 100% jazzed on heading down to the track a few times a month to stretch my legs a little bit.  Even my boss has said, “It’s good to see that you’re excited about racing again!”

If you’ve got time, it would be worth your while to give velodrome racing a shot.  Take the next beginner’s class that you can make it to, then come join me on the track.  If you don’t want to do that, then at least come spectate and “beat the boards” a little.

For more information on track racing, see http://raceatra.com or also http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com.

Winter Training and Testing?

I don’t know what in the heck has gotten into me lately.  I’ve ridden my bike several times in the last few weeks… If you recall, one of my earlier posts was all about how I hate winter riding and training in the garage on the rollers and such.  I still haven’t done that.  I’m actually braving the cold and getting out there and doing it.

I posted some snow pictures from the last few days, too.  Our weather has been extremely weird lately.  This does not make for good training weather, however… that is what I need to motivate me sometimes.  I won’t ride in the partially-miserable stuff, but when it snows or gets stupid-cold is when I like to get out there.  Sometimes I do it, if for nothing else, than just to say I did it.

This feels a lot like unintentional training.  I really haven’t made an effort to officially “train” for anything over the past few years, primarily because I have been busy with work and family, and can rarely make it to the races on weekends.  Most of my riding has consisted of leading group rides.  I think I only did around 5 “fast” rides in 2009, and the Roswell Criterium counted as two fast rides, since I raced two different categories.  So, more and more riding is creeping in, including some fixed-gear stuff to get my spin back before the season starts.

I got involved with Andrew Smith, an endurance coach from Lifetime Fitness in Woodstock, GA, a few weeks ago.  He came into the shop to pick up a few things and to tell us about the Team Kenda Pro Cycling p/b GearGrinder event at Lifetime on the 28th (which we have since gotten involved with).  We talked a bit about the training and the facilities that are available at Lifetime, and our conversation progressed to the point where he invited me to do some VO2 Max Testing this Thursday at the gym.  Now, it’s definitely sounding  a lot more like training…

I don’t know what to expect, in regards to this testing.  I think it will be good to have the test performed, just to see where I’m at, physically, before the season starts.  Later in the season, I’ll go back and have the test done again, and see where my levels are at.  I think that testing like this, and developing that referral system between the gym and us, will be good for our customers.  Together, we will have a much wider range of services to offer our customers/clients, which is yet another extension of how our shop’s customer service level eclipses so many other bike shops in the Metro Atlanta area.  Can’t hurt, right?

I’ll post pictures and a report of the testing after I finish it on Thursday.  Can’t wait!  The coffee pot is almost empty, so I’m going to bed.  Thanks for reading.

Bahati: Out of Compton TV Trailer

National Champion cyclist Rahsaan Bahati, has formed a foundation to help underprivileged youth the opportunity to chase their dreams and follow his footsteps.  Here’s an excerpt from http://www.bahatifoundation.org:

“The Bahati Foundation works with local communities to provide inspiration, insight and opportunities for underprivileged youth through the sport of cycling. In conjunction with The Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling Team, Rahsaan Bahati presents his motivating story to youth and offers access to the team through structured fieldtrips. Each aspect of a professional cycling team is highlighted, explained and demonstrated to provide exposure into the world of cycling.”

Here’s a trailer for Bahati: Out of Compton, Season One (Rahsaan and the Bahati Foundation are doing a 3 season production deal to highlight the Foundation and Bahati Racing).  It’s really inspiring to see Rahsaan visiting his alma mater, Crenshaw High, and helping the kids who are pretty much written off by that neighborhood’s reputation and how society sees them.  Take a look:

To find the Bahati Foundation online, go to http://www.bahatifoundation.org.

To follow Bahati Racing, go to http://www.bahatiracing.com

Focus in Philly

My buddy, Adam, has a cross race near Philadelphia tomorrow. The weather may or may not change his plans. Regardless, that’s a pretty tight Focus cross bike he’s got.