LOTS of news from around the SCNCA

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Saturday Feb 9th ~ The Next Ladies Only Track Session (LOTS) will be held at the LA Velodrome this coming Saturday Feb 9th from 12-2pm.

Please Note: The March 8th LOTS will be sandwiched in between LAVRA’s morning Time Trials and the afternoon Omnium. Time will be tight so arrive early and plan to be done on time promptly at 2PM!!

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It is exciting to see so many familiar faces from the road at the track recently! It seems that the rainy winter we have had this year is bringing plenty of cycling enthusiasts indoors to the LA Velodrome for warm dry training sessions. The LA Velodrome is a 250 meter indoor wooden track that is banked more steeply than most other tracks in North America. Here are a few tips to help refresh your memory and to keep you safe.

To get on the track, riders should start from the black safety rail located on the flat wooden “apron”. As you leave the safety rail and begin to gently roll around the apron for a lap or two, make the effort to survey the track taking notice of the location and number of athletes that are already on the track. Try to identify their training patterns to help you time your entrance more safely. As you gradually build up speed on the apron, you should begin to move toward the wide blue band (the "Cote d'Azur"). When traffic allows, you should enter the track at a very gentle angle either on the back straight as you exit turn 1 or on the home stretch as you exit turn 2. Either way, plan your entry. Know where everyone is on the track and anticipate where they are heading and their relative speed to you. Look well behind you before going up onto the track to avoid becoming an obstacle to an oncoming rider. As with any track, riders will approach you very quickly.

The wide Blue Band at the bottom of the track is not a riding lane and should be considered an “entrance” and/or “exit” ramp. Riders should not ride on the Blue Band for any longer than is necessary to either access the track from the infield or vice versa. Specifically, do not warm up/cool down on the Blue Band. It is the separator or transition lane between the apron and the track surface.

Up from the Blue Band is the first riding lane located at the bottom of the track. Known as the “pole lane” it is the horizontal black line from which the 250m track distance is measured. The upper boundary of the pole lane is the “red line”. Riders intending to ride in the pole lane should attempt to ride directly on the black line and should avoid making contact with the red line.

Half way up the track from the Pole Lane is the second riding lane known as the Stayers’ Line or the ‘blue line’. Generally, pace lines will form both at the bottom of the track in the "pole lane", and on the (thin) Blue (Stayers’) line. Approaching the Stayers' line, either from above or below, requires the same level of awareness and care as entering the bottom of the track from the Blue Band. The area between the red and blue lines should be used only for passing slower riders who are in the pole lane or for transitioning up to or down from the Stayers’ line. Riders should avoid training in the area between the red and blue lines. When approaching slower riders on the blue line with the intention of passing them, as you say “STAY” you should begin to gently move up the track and pass cleanly over the top of the rider(s). When your rear wheel has completely cleared their front wheel, gently move back down track as you reenter the racing lane. Passing “under” another rider either in the Pole Lane or on the Blue Line is unacceptable and should be avoided at all times.

Not only is the Blue line longer than the 250m black line, but it actually brings you uphill as you enter each turn and drops you downhill as you exit each turn. As you approach the turns on the blue line you will need to ‘power up into’ the turn by applying more pressure to the pedals to maintain your speed through the uphill. Likewise, as you exit the turns you may want to reduce the pressure you apply to the pedals allowing you to maintain your speed by “floating out” of the turn.

The third and final riding lane is located at the top of the track near the balustrade. Riding in this lane is generally reserved for the advanced rider who is able to correctly interpret the intentions of the other riders and make safe navigational decisions. Due to the steepness of the track and the increased uphill line into each turn at the balustrade, it is imperative that riders apply sufficient pressure onto the pedals to maintain/increase their speed into the turns to avoid sliding down the track. When passing slower riders who are also on the balustrade, great care should be taken as you will need to pass them on their down track side. Whenever you are attempting to pass a slower rider, it is always recommended that the first and last rider in a pace line (or the only rider if riding solo) yell “STAY” loud and clear as you approach from behind.

When riding more slowly than a pace line in any of the three racing lanes, make every effort to stay directly on your line. Drifting around above or below the lines causes confusion to the riders approaching from behind. Maintaining a straight line on the line will allow other riders and pace groups to continue around you unimpeded.

Do not ride too slowly on the track! Any rider who loses grip and slides down the track will cause major havoc and will have ended their training session for the day.

Whenever you are on the track and especially when it is crowded, be very aware of everything and everyone in the 50 meter area of the track directly in front of and behind you. Continuously plan your escape route should problems arise.

More later....

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Sunday February 10th ~ The Roger Millikan Memorial St Valentine’s Day Criterium in Brea is back again. The event schedule has the WCat 3-4 racing at 9:55am followed a bit later by the WCat 1-3 at 11:30am. This is a great opportunity for WCat 3’s to race either up or down or both! Please see the event flyer for more details.

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Saturday February 16th, March 8th, & September 27th ~ The LAVRA will be hosting the first of 3 combo Track TT’s & Omniums at the LA Velodrome on Feb 16th. Similar to last year, the morning race session will host Time Trials & Pursuits (including Team Pursuit!!) while the afternoon race session hosts an Omnium. LAVRA is looking forward to an exciting racing season. Ladies this is a great opportunity for us to work on Team Pursuits! If you are interested in training for this event, please contact me!!

For all the details of each race session please see the event flyer at the LAVelodrome’s website.

New for LAVRA events for 2008 – ON LINE PRE-REGISTRATION

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Sunday February 17th ~ Tom’s Farm Time Trial ~ These TT’s are a great way to develop & fine tune your TT skills. Pacific Sunset Velo hosts these TT’s throughout the year. For a complete calendar of events, please see their event flyer.

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Saturday February 23rd ~ The Santa Clarita Women’s Only Grand Prix. ~ has been cancelled and will NOT be happening.

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Sunday February 24th ~ The first race of the 2008 Ontario Crit Series will be happening sooner than you think! And the trend in event line ups continues with both a WCat 3-4 race and a WCat 1-3 race being offered. For more info, please see the event flyer.

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The entire 2008 SCNCA Racing Calendar is available.

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The Next 2 Ladies Only Track Session (LOTS) date will be held on Saturday Feb 9th and Saturday March 8th.

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Have a super week Ladies!!
Julia