That’s a great race face Dave! I’ll join next time 

You look badass !

Third’d, the bikes are awesome but your vibe is awesomer

I'm planning to go to the track this Wednesday. 7/24/24

If you want to race it, we can get you a loaner bike.  

https://www.bikereg.com/twilight-kissena-day-4-2024

I'll see if I can find out what the planned program is.

BTW, here's the progrm for this wednesday, assuming its not rained out.

NYS Track Omnium Championship this Sunday, Aug 25th!

https://www.bikereg.com/kissena-elite-track-championship-2024

I can't race the entire event, but join me! If you're new to the discipline, you can register as a novice/first-time racer and I'm sure there will be a loaner bike available. If you just want to spectate, ride over on your cross/gravel bike and hit the Cunningham trails nearby.

David Yang said:

NYS Track Omnium Championship this Sunday, Aug 25th!

https://www.bikereg.com/kissena-elite-track-championship-2024

I can't race the entire event, but join me! If you're new to the discipline, you can register as a novice/first-time racer and I'm sure there will be a loaner bike available. If you just want to spectate, ride over on your cross/gravel bike and hit the Cunningham trails nearby.

I'll be there.

According to the promoter, turnout has been pretty good this summer, so expect decent fields and fast racing.

Raced the track last night with @DavidVibert .  Good times.

With sunset coming ever quicker, they did manage to start on time, get in three races for everyone, plus a "feature" (everyone can race it).

Still don't have the snap necessary to go with the big surges, but my road fitness seems to mean I can sustain pretty well--there was a good bit of someone attacking, me getting tailed off, then coming back.

What I need to really figure out by Sunday is gearing.  People seem to ride bigger gears than they did a decade ago.  Maybe it's that we're going faster.  I was using a 49x14 and it didn't seem to be quite enough.  Will dig in to my WKO to see how fast I was pedalling during race efforts, and try to figure out something probably a little bigger.  

https://www.strava.com/activities/12213867596

JP I have a 13 in case you want to make a big jump though the trend these days seems to be big chainring + big cog combo.

David Yang said:

JP I have a 13 in case you want to make a big jump though the trend these days seems to be big chainring + big cog combo.

Thanks.  Hmmmn.  My guess is probably not.  I"m going to spend some time looking at my WKO+ data to see what kind of cadence I was hitting at the highs--which might have been limiting me, possibly.  

I'll let you know.

I think some of the faster A field guys are using gearing approaching 100 gear inches, at least when they race at TTown where it’s a faster surface. Though you’ve got a 14 cog in the back, giving you a high gear ratio, 49 on the front feels low in comparison to what I see on others in the As. I think you’d probably wanna move up into the 50s in the front and see how it feels and then adjust the cog size. Like Dave Y was saying, the move seems to be big x big. I started racing at 52x15 cause that’s what everyone else was using, but moved back down in the front to work on my cadence.

The VeloBike ratio calculator is very handy: https://www.velobike.co.nz/blogs/training-materials/gear-calculator

@DavidVibert

Thanks for the link.  I am amused by a company calling themselves "velobike" and had been intending to track them down, so it's good to get the reminder and go.

They have a good gear calculator.  However, having one where you can see multiple ratios at once also has value.  The one at https://www.bikecalc.com/archives/speeds-at-cadence.html does just that.

Looking at the chart below, the 49x14 I was running on Wednesday was probably only an ok choice.  I averaged 28.5mph or so in the races, and I had been tailed off by attacks.  That's should have been an average of around 105rpm, which seems ok, but I had to respond to attacks.  Considering my max speed was around 33mph when I was trying to keep up to hard accelerations, I was close to 130rpm (my computer tells me my max rpm was 135, but I was doubting that number), I probably needed a slightly higher gear.

Too bad you're not joining us on Sunday.  It's going to be a party.

I'll probably have enough time to do the first scratch race and then need to bounce to prep for the family trip. Will bring the 13t in case you want to try it out JP.

David Yang said:

I'll probably have enough time to do the first scratch race and then need to bounce to prep for the family trip. Will bring the 13t in case you want to try it out JP.

Great.

Picked up JP at the train station, picked up some bagels and headed to Kissena Track where we met up with Dave V. in his Pink Rhino kit. I managed to fit in the Scratch and Elimination races before leaving early to help pack for the family trip.

Scratch race: I felt pretty good on the warmups and jumped on a move that looked promising. Unfortunately after about a lap the real move flew by us just before the bell lap and I blew up mentally watching the group speed off.

Elimination: I've always been terrible in this format, but today Dave V gave me a few tips that helped me understand the strategic positions. Off the line I was determined to not be the first one out for once and moved to the front to pull. I figured people would be happy to draft for a lap and I would be safe for at least the first lap or so. I looked under my arm after the first lap and wondered what the hell was going on, I didn't see anyone behind me. It took me a second but realized the field was about a quarter lap behind and they were hidden behind the tents as I rounded turn 2. Exciting! I put my head down and went for it, ITT style. I couldn't remember how many laps I ended up doing, but toward the end I could feel my quads fading as my track position didn't let me use my glutes to push against the pedal like on a road bike. I kept telling myself just one more lap for one less competitor. As I was collapsing in on myself I heard the official call out to the field behind me, "No pull!" - meaning they couldn't determine who was last and out and it got in my head thinking the last 400m was all for naught. The field came rushing by and I sprinted to the 200m mark to catch the back of the field. I gave it an honest try to stay alive one more lap, but got picked at the line. Fun times!

Every time I do a track event I end up with a wicked cough and today was no exception. I've never got one from a road race or crit and I know I've gone very hard in a few races.

I'll let JP and Dave V give their reports, but they looked good out there.

If you like bikes and racing you really owe it to yourself to go out and do an entry level race or few!

Congrats to JP on his podium for New York State Track Championships in the Masters field!
First place finisher has been one of the best riders at Kissena this year, a tough person to beat.

This looks fun !

Mark Taylor said:

This looks fun !

Try it!

We can do another track clinic--starting with road bikes and then pulling out track bikes.  And there are loaner bikes to race as well.  

One more race this season I believe.  The Labor Day Track Meet.  

Some awesome shots of JP on his way to 2nd place for masters state champs this year.

https://www.facebook.com/100040318940856/posts/1244314940255792/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

My comments just got lost.

The race is here--https://www.strava.com/activities/12268015548

Max speed was 33.7mph and 127rpm.  the 50x14 was right for the 45+.  a 51x14 would have been better for the elite men. I also found I rode 42 miles during the track meet, with about 12 of that racing.  While turning left can get boring, staying loose was more important.  

Basically, I didn't realize there was a masters race until the night before.  When I confirmed I could ride the 45+, my thinking changed.  With the Elites, 3rd would have been incredible.  With the Masters, I had a decent chance of winning.

The event was an Omnium: Scratch race, snowball, and points.  Scratch should be my best event.  I figured Chris Dudko, the eventual winner, has a better jump than me, but I can outlast him.  I didn't play any of the races right, though I came close in boht the scratch and snowball.  With the scratch, I should have counter-attacked as a move was neutralized with four to go.  I waited, and if the race had been 50m longer, would have won.  With the snowball, I was aiming to win two of the later laps.  As the pace was high, I was starting to think laps 5 and 6 were the ones to win.  5 I came close, and six I won.  I allowed the points race to be intermittent, as I was unable to get away when I counter-attacked after the first and second sprint.  

I also did the elite men's points race.  This was fun and fast, but I was way bad on the snap department.  Probably didn't finish last.

And there was an open to everyone event, known as a Feature.  It was a miss-and-out at the back and a point-a-lap at the front.  I might ahve been fourth here--I got lapped by the winner on the last lap, and then unlapped myself on the line.  

It’s that time of year again! My track team (and Andrew’s) Pink Rhino Racing is hosting two intro to track racing clinics in two weeks. There’s loaner bikes! Sign up and more info here: https://bikereg.com/kissena-intro-to-track-racing-clinic

Looks like it's sold out!

David Yang said:

Looks like it's sold out!

We can theoretically borrow the track's bikes for our group.  

mugwump said:

David Yang said:

Looks like it's sold out!

We can theoretically borrow the track's bikes for our group.  

I'd be down for that!  I've been really having an itch this year to get better at riding a track bike and possibly give track racing a try, but won't be able to make it to the PR clinic.

Love it, we can do some track 101 riding if we can get a few bikes (can bring mine).

I have to verify if my key will work for the storage unit there to get to the loaner bikes. As of October it still did. I also have my old Giant Omnium for sale in size S ( figure about a 52cm ish...) 

FYI NYS championships this coming weekend! I'm out of town so sadly missing it, but hope to see some KCC representation out there.

https://www.bikereg.com/72025

I did the NYS Championships today.  Went with ex-Kissena Andy Da Silva, who is trying to find track legs after nearly seven years away from the oval.

I entered the Masters 45+, as there was a 47 year-old, the only sub 55+ in the field.  It was Jerry Kapko, who is hella strong.  The format was an omnium, four races with the best person on points winning a state champion's jersey as well as a gold medal.  I've wanted the jersey for the past several years, after last getting it probably a decade ago or so.  

First race was the 10-lap scratch.  Often a good event for me (roadies typically have better endurance)  There were a few attacks, but no one was going to make it or get away.  With a bit under two to go, I decided a long one was my best chance.  at the bell, it looked good, but I was dying.  Got caught at about 150 to go, and ended up fourth.

Second race was the tempo.  Made a poor decision at the start and regretted it teh whole way.  fifth.

Third was miss-and-out.  I got boxed in at the start.  And was out.

Fourth was the points race. Twelve laps, four sprints.  This is usually a good event for me, endurance as well as forced repeated efforts.  I quickly saw that the guys who were tied for the lead were watching each other, so I went out on the second lap.  Solo.  Took the first one, dialed it back for a moment to look around, saw I had a decent gap, so I rode a bit easier to recover for 15 seconds or so, and then picked up the pace to see if I could get the second set of points.  On the bell for the second sprint, it looked like I had a good enough gap, but I dug hard for it, and took it with lots of room.  Again, eased up for a moment to look back, and I still had a decent gap.  Eased for a few more seconds and picked up the pace.  The top guys caught me just before the bell for the third sprint.  On that, I just missed third place.  For the last, I got third.  

Won it.  I guess that makes me the 45+ points race champ for NY State.  

Great, JP! Congrats!!