You can spend your time, waste your time, or invest your time. It's your choice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday March 8th ~ The Next Ladies Only Track Session (LOTS) will be held at the LA Velodrome on Saturday March 8th. Please Note: The March 8th LOTS will be sandwiched in between LAVRA’s morning Time Trials which are expected to end between 12-12:15pm and the afternoon Omnium which opens for warmup at 2pm. Time will be tight so arrive early!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Track cycling is an exciting cycling discipline with a long rich history. In the Roaring 20’s track racing was one of the most popular sports in America with crowd sizes equivalent to those of modern day soccer games. VIP’s filled the infield eating treats, drinking champagne and putting money on the line (primes) to entice the racers. Back then, many tracks were designed to be portable not unlike a circus tent. The track and the racers would come to town, set up in a few days and provide high speed action, big money prizes and spectacular crashes. When the racing ended, the track would be taken down and moved on to the next town. Today, there are approximately two dozen permanent outdoor tracks in the US and one indoor track.
Each track is managed differently; many are run by the city or county while others are run by volunteer organizations. For this reason, training, racing opportunities and funding can vary greatly from one track to another.
While bicycle tracks are built to many different specifications, Olympic Standard velodromes are required to be 250m in length, made of wood and are completely covered facilities. Non-Olympic standard velodromes are the most prevalent as they can be nearly any length with no specific banking requirements. Some are converted asphalt car race tracks and are as long as 500 meters with turns as shallow as 8° like the Mellowdrome in Asheville, NC. Others are made of wood and are as short as 138 meters with steep 50° banked turns like the Forest City Velodrome in London, Ontario. The LA Velodrome in Carson , CA is 250m with 45° banked turns.
In the early days of track cycling the tracks were made of dirt, but today they are generally made of wood, cement or asphalt. Most tracks in the US are outdoor facilities that are either 250 meters or 333 meters in length and are made of cement. As previously mentioned, the degree of banking can vary greatly depending on the track surface and the size of the track. Generally the shorter the track distance, the steeper the banking; while concrete tracks tend to have shallow banking, the wooden tracks tend to have steeper banking. Regardless of the track construction, the turns are the most steeply banked section of any track while the straight sections are the least banked.
Velodromes are generally oval shaped and the turns are identified by number. Some tracks, like ADT, are more oval with long straight sections and short turns that are identified simply as “turn 1” and “turn 2”. Other tracks, like San Diego, have shorter straight sections and longer turns that are generally identified as “turn 1”, “turn 2”, “turn 3” and “turn 4”. Regardless of the track location, size and design riding is done in a counter clockwise direction and the first turn all riders will approach from the home or front straight is “turn 1”.
Perpendicular to the riding lanes, a number of additional lines can be identified on the track.
1) The start/finish Line ~ is always located on the home or front straight as you approach turn 1. It is the heavy black line centered on a 72cm wide white band which extends from the apron all the way up to the balustrade.
2) The 200m Line ~ On a 250m track like ADT this line is located just past the center of turn 1. On a 333m track riders will cross this line as they exit the turn just at the beginning of the back straight. For all track lengths, this line is located 200m behind the start/finish line.
3) The back straight Pursuit Line ~ is one of two Pursuit lines. These lines are always directly across from each other dividing the track in half. These lines are located in the middle of the home and back straight. The back straight Pursuit line is the start line for the Individual Pursuit and Team Pursuit events. Pursuiting events are typically held with 2 riders starting simultaneously with each rider starting and finishing on opposing lines. The Pursuit lines are also used to determine riders’ half lap split times.
4) The 100m Line ~ On a 250m track this will be located on the track just as you exit the back stretch when entering turn 2. On a 333m track this line will be located deeper into the turn between turns 3-4. On all tracks, this line is set 100m behind the black and white start/finish line.
5) The Home Straight Pursuit Line ~ is located midway along the home straight well before the start/finish line. The home straight Pursuit line is the start line for the Keiren and is the Start and finish line for the Individual Pursuit, Team Pursuit and the 500m TT on a 250 meter and 333 meter track. Just remember ~ on a 250 meter track 500 meters is 2 laps on a 333 meter track it is 1 ½ laps.
6) The final line riders will cross ~ is the same start/finish line we started on.
More next week…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now thru Sunday February 24th ~ The Amgen Tour of California. The official website of the ToC is full of fun stuff including email updates, Live Internet Race Coverage and a complete TV schedule.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday Night February 20th ~ A Lunar Eclipse is expected over the southland.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday February 24th ~ The first race of the 2008 Ontario Crit Series will be held this weekend! And the newest trend in event line ups continues for the Ladies with both a WCat 3-4 race and a WCat 1-3 race being offered. For more info, please see the event flyer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday February 16th (done), March 8th, & September 27th ~ The LAVRA will be hosting the 2nd of 3 combo Track TT’s & Omniums at the LA Velodrome on March 8th. Division winners (1st-3rd) will be awarded cumulative points for a BAR Omnium Winner. Similar to last year, the morning race session will host Time Trials & Pursuits (including Team Pursuit!!) while the afternoon race session will host an Omnium. LAVRA is looking forward to an exciting racing season. Thank you to the SCNCA for paying for the Jr’s LAVRA race fees!!
We were all excited to see that a Dozen Ladies came out to race the TT’s! Many were first time track racers and everyone did exceptionally well!
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday Nights at ADT ~ Attn Ladies the TT’s at ADT and at Encino (see below) are fantastic opportunities for beginners to race your first track race and for more experienced Ladies to fine tune their IP and put together a Sprint or Pursuit Team or two! Masters States, Elite States, Masters Natz & Elite Natz are all located in California and not very far away! If you are interested in training for these events and more, please plan to join me at ADT each Friday evening from 6-9PM. I will be there to help you discover & develop your track racing potential!
Please send me an RSVP email so I know who to expect this week. Normal track fees apply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday March 22 ~ The Encino Velodrome presents “Low Key Time Trials” a USAC Non-Competitive Event. The TRACK & REGISTRATION Opens at 8:15am & Closes at 9:15 am. RACING starts at 9:30am. Entry $10, One entry free gets you into as many events as you like. No Pre-Reg; Race day entries only.
All athletes must provide a signed 2008 USAC Athlete Release form (see below). RULES: Must have track experience. All 2008 USCF rules apply. Helmets must be worn at all times while on the bike.
Individual Time Trial Events Include ~ 500m, 1000m, 2000m, 3000m, & 4000m
Team TT Events Include ~ 3000m & 4000m. Teams must provide your own holders!
Team Sprints (2 women) & Olympic Sprints (3 men) included.
Please note: Rental bikes ARE available for all races at Encino.
For additional Race information, please email: Trattenero@hotmail.com
LOCATION: Encino Velodrome17301 Oxnard St, .Encino, CA. 91416
Please visit the Encino Velodrome’s website
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 2008 USAC Athlete Waiver ~ is available on-line. I highly recommend completing a waiver on-line with all of the basic info that does not change from race-to-race. Then name & save the partially completed waiver to your computer as a “PDF” file. On race day (or the night before), all you have to do is complete the Event Specifics, print it, sign it and stick it in your gear bag. This is super helpful when 4 or members of your family (or team) all race together!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 2008 SCNCA Racing Calendar is available.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 2008 USAC Rule book is available on-line.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What word in 'bike lane' don't drivers understand? Vehicles illegally in bike lanes kill, maim, and terrify cyclists. Nearly 30 cyclists have been killed in Orange County during the past two years, according to Orange County Register databases. At least two, David "Cat" Pullen and Christy Kirkwood, were killed by cars swerving into bike lanes….
The complete story was written by David Whiting and can be read in its entirety in the OC Register on February 14, 2008
DAVID WHITING Register columnist dwhiting@ocregister.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday March 8th ~ The Next Ladies Only Track Session (LOTS) will be held at the LA Velodrome on Saturday March 8th.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have a super week Ladies!!
Julia
Monday, February 18, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment