A Trip to the Rainy Season
Well I have finally found time and energy to update the blog. The part time job at USA Cycling has turned into more work than originally planed. But at least it is a desk job in the sport I love.
The weekend excursion to the Southern most islands in the Caribbean was a nice getaway. I would like to say that it was great racing but we were only able to race two events out of the scheduled seven. The rainy season started a week before we arrived and it confirmed itself to us about 48 out of the 72 hours we were there. It rained on Saturday morning, all morning. Then it stopped just enough so we could see the track but not ride it in the afternoon. Then the rain held off Sunday morning so the Palo Seco Games, track and field and track cycling, could go off as planned.
We ended up meeting Pablo, a fashion photographer from NY, down there. So our team was made up of Emil, a local Colorado racer, Pablo, and I, along with our coach Des Dickie. Des is from Trinidad, and has ten siblings, most of which still live on the island. So almost everyone we ran into knew Des, which was interesting to watch the whole weekend.
When the time finally came around to go to the games, I was excited to finally get a chance to ride outside after being stuck inside on the rollers the whole day before. Our competition at the games started off with a 500m, or one lap, race. Standing start, all out effort. Now keep in mind that this track is a stretched 250, so the corners are 45degrees, but unlike a 250 where the corner is over just after it starts, these corners go on for probably close to 100m as compared to, maybe, 50m on the 250. (So to put it in physics terms, you have to have a greater velocity so that your change in acceleration, as your velocity vector turns through the corner, is high enough that your normal force from the track is enough to keep you on the banking and not in the ditch.) Basically, you have to ride at race pace on this track to stay on the banking. There is no “warming-up” on the track. You can only ride hard so you don’t fall off, as Emil will tell you.
Anyway, as for the racing, the gun went off for our one lap race. I ended up getting a good start for an endurance rider and was sitting forth going into the first turn. Then the star sprinter from Trinidad and Tobago, who started behind the field, came flying over the top of all of us. So flying down the back straight I was sitting in fifth. As we entered turn three, Pablo was in forth and riding hard. I knew that the top four went into the sprint competition so I decided just to block for Pablo. It all worked out great, Pablo made it in and I ended up fifth.
The second race was a 5000m scratch, 10 laps racing.
Des told Emil and I to use a little team tactics in this one since it was us three vs. six Trinidad riders. So Emil followed suit and attacked a half lap in. It was a good attack, another Trini got away with him and they were off for about 3 laps. Then Emil finally dropped the Trini and the rest of their team chased down Emil. I was just sitting in waiting to make the counter move. After we were all back together, another Trini ended up attacking before I could get the chance, but I chased on, he let me pull through, and then I buried it. He held onto my wheel and I pulled us a good half lap up on the field. In the end, I ended up sprinting to early and he took the win. But ending up in second was fine by me as I was planning on taking the podium in all the remaining races.
Unfortunately, the weather beat us and the racing was called. All in all, a good trip. And there is talk of going back in the next year. We’ll see, but I wouldn’t mind seeing more of the islands.
As for racing in the near future, we are starting the local Tuesday/Thursday race series here in the Springs tomorrow night. There is a ton of Madisons planned for the season, and I can’t wait to create some exciting racing at the track. It should be lots of fun, so if your in the Springs or nearby you should stop by and give a shout! 6:30 til 9:30 T/Th every week until September
Check out all the pictures from the trip here!
The weekend excursion to the Southern most islands in the Caribbean was a nice getaway. I would like to say that it was great racing but we were only able to race two events out of the scheduled seven. The rainy season started a week before we arrived and it confirmed itself to us about 48 out of the 72 hours we were there. It rained on Saturday morning, all morning. Then it stopped just enough so we could see the track but not ride it in the afternoon. Then the rain held off Sunday morning so the Palo Seco Games, track and field and track cycling, could go off as planned.
We ended up meeting Pablo, a fashion photographer from NY, down there. So our team was made up of Emil, a local Colorado racer, Pablo, and I, along with our coach Des Dickie. Des is from Trinidad, and has ten siblings, most of which still live on the island. So almost everyone we ran into knew Des, which was interesting to watch the whole weekend.
When the time finally came around to go to the games, I was excited to finally get a chance to ride outside after being stuck inside on the rollers the whole day before. Our competition at the games started off with a 500m, or one lap, race. Standing start, all out effort. Now keep in mind that this track is a stretched 250, so the corners are 45degrees, but unlike a 250 where the corner is over just after it starts, these corners go on for probably close to 100m as compared to, maybe, 50m on the 250. (So to put it in physics terms, you have to have a greater velocity so that your change in acceleration, as your velocity vector turns through the corner, is high enough that your normal force from the track is enough to keep you on the banking and not in the ditch.) Basically, you have to ride at race pace on this track to stay on the banking. There is no “warming-up” on the track. You can only ride hard so you don’t fall off, as Emil will tell you.
Anyway, as for the racing, the gun went off for our one lap race. I ended up getting a good start for an endurance rider and was sitting forth going into the first turn. Then the star sprinter from Trinidad and Tobago, who started behind the field, came flying over the top of all of us. So flying down the back straight I was sitting in fifth. As we entered turn three, Pablo was in forth and riding hard. I knew that the top four went into the sprint competition so I decided just to block for Pablo. It all worked out great, Pablo made it in and I ended up fifth.
The second race was a 5000m scratch, 10 laps racing.
Des told Emil and I to use a little team tactics in this one since it was us three vs. six Trinidad riders. So Emil followed suit and attacked a half lap in. It was a good attack, another Trini got away with him and they were off for about 3 laps. Then Emil finally dropped the Trini and the rest of their team chased down Emil. I was just sitting in waiting to make the counter move. After we were all back together, another Trini ended up attacking before I could get the chance, but I chased on, he let me pull through, and then I buried it. He held onto my wheel and I pulled us a good half lap up on the field. In the end, I ended up sprinting to early and he took the win. But ending up in second was fine by me as I was planning on taking the podium in all the remaining races.
Unfortunately, the weather beat us and the racing was called. All in all, a good trip. And there is talk of going back in the next year. We’ll see, but I wouldn’t mind seeing more of the islands.
As for racing in the near future, we are starting the local Tuesday/Thursday race series here in the Springs tomorrow night. There is a ton of Madisons planned for the season, and I can’t wait to create some exciting racing at the track. It should be lots of fun, so if your in the Springs or nearby you should stop by and give a shout! 6:30 til 9:30 T/Th every week until September
Check out all the pictures from the trip here!
