Lee Valley SQT Sessions

I rode the Vets session on 31st Oct.

Are they strict about the over 40's rule? I am 38, and up until June this year, hadnt been on a velodrome for 5 years. With resulting physical changes. I'd prefer to train with the vets group I think, rather than the youngsters.

I also have a young kid so planning my life exactly the way I want it doesnt always work out.

This! (also the reason I couldn't take the session)
For example, I just got in from work tonight to find the boys had just broken the door handle to their bedroom. A "sorry, love, I've got to head straight out to Stratford to ride in circles, the boys can sleep on the rug tonight" wouldn't go down well.

As such I'll be watching the F1, not watching track league tonight.

I rode the Vets session

I am close to completing the accreditation and interested in the veterans sessions. Does anyone know what time they are held? Are they in a normal/predictable rota? (Since I haven't yet been accredited they are not showing as a bookable session on my dashboard.)

@pharoahsanders these are the vets/womens sessions for 2015 I can see when logged in. The 2014 are all booked up.

Monday 5 Jan
Wednesday 7 Jan
Monday 12 Jan
Wednesday 14 Jan
Monday 19 Jan
Wednesday 21 Jan
Monday 26 Jan
Wednesday 28 Jan
Monday 2 Feb
Wednesday 4 Feb

They're all at 3pm

Thanks @dubkev Workdays at 3pm not ideal for me sadly. Guess I will have to find another session that works.

@pharoahsanders Would you be interested in going on some of the 'intermediate' SQT sessions? They are on Tuesdays at 6pm, starting in the new year. I'm going to ask my boss if I can work 8am until 4pm for a few Tuesdays so I can get out to Stratford in time. I've booked two already (Jan 6th and 13th) and am probably going to book all of them until the end of February.

(my girlfriend / mother of my child doesnt know that yet though... :-))

That might be a decent time, I have some flexibility in my schedule. I wish they had a calendar where you could see which sessions are offered when (though to be fair I haven't looked for one).

Level 4 passed. Perfect day for riding indoors. Now to see if there are any sessions actually available..

Congrats!

Loads of spaces on the 'intermediate' SQT sessions (Tuesdays 6pm) atm...

Been lurking on here for a while but only posted once. I passed level 4 today as well and have booked up a couple of sqt's and some intermediate ones as well. Any recommendations on gearing? I have been looking at the chart from velodromeshop.net and a couple of apps and they all show different inches. I am currently riding 48/15 which i think is around 86in depending on where yo look. Apologies for the long post.

I ride 88 inches and it's about right for me, but it depends more on what you're comfortable with...

Did a devil for the first time at the end of tonight's SQT. I must say that that is much harder than any scratch race I've done as it seems to need constantly good positioning - just hiding in the bunch doesn't work as the bunch is constantly coming over the top of you!

Litespeed were you in the 12:30 session? Which rider were you?

48 x 15 should be fine for general training, if you are racing most will be on a bigger gear

@SCS was the Devil in one of the endurance SQT sessions?

Hi @pharoahsanders, yes I was in the 12.30 session. I was on the black Hoy, wearing black kit as well. So maybe I'll stick with the 48 x 15 for the moment until I get stronger. From what I can see the way to get to 88 is 49 x 15 would that be about right if I ever go beyond the SQT's?

I would have thought 90 inches would be about right at 50 x 15 but try a few out and you will figure what works for you.

(I was also in the 12.30 session, on the red Robin Mather in the Friends of Herne Hill jersey).

@SCS was the Devil in one of the endurance SQT sessions?

@dubkev yeah it was, we did the usual warmup, rolling half lap sprints, a drill practising moving from the back to the front of the bunch, and finished with the devil.

Sounds like fun, I think I would prefer an endurance one to a sprint one... although I am sure I am fit for neither.

Out of curiousity - was anyone on a hire bike for your session?

Looks like other than a Friday afternoon in early January your next opportunity for an endurance SQT is March!

Yeah, there was one guy on a hire bike I think. There's usually one or two people who are.

Cheers. I think I am going to try and buy my own one anyway... I'll see if I can get something with the cycle to work scheme, save a few quid.

If you're going down the cycle to work scheme path. Then try and get something like a moda forte. They're good OTP frames with good components. The American Classic wheels are great.

50 x 15 is the only gear you need for training/track league

What utter nonsense. The gear you choose should be based on you riding style and the events you are competing in. Generally training is done on a lower gear than racing and you'll often have a lower gear on for warm-ups.

As an example I ride:
48x15 (86.4") - warm up and some training
49x15 (88.2") - track league, training
50x15 (90") - track league
51x15 (91.8") - sprint, kilo (done a 1:08 kilo on that gear)
48x14 (92.6") - sprint, pursuit
47x14 (90.6") - track league / scratch race

There is no one gear fits all.

In the spirit of track league you're not supposed to be swapping gear ratios for different races. This doesn't really apply at LV as they are all endurance events.

I think quite a few riders, overgear on the track, simply because they have not trained their cardio system and / or used to riding at higher cadences of say 120+. There's video of a rider on Youtube riding with a headcam in a madison, on his efforts I've estimated his cadence to be up around 140RPM between changes.

I see they have added "Intermediate" SQT sessions for accredited riders and they have two Saturday sessions, 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. They are showing +/- 30 places available each. Does anyone know, given the rider count, I guess they are two hour sessions taken in shifts so you ride for an hour and rest for an hour?