Herne Hill Velodrome

A few of us over on the darkside that is Cycle Chat are off to Herne Hill Velodrome on Sunday for a 2 hour private session on the track. Which will consist of an induction for those that have not been before followed by various excersises to help learn how to ride the track better.
We have had a few people not able to make it this time so have some spaces to fill. If any of the lfgss crew want to join us follow the link and get your names down.

Herne Hill Velodrome Take 2 - Cycle Chat Cycling Forums

Clashes with the Football Stadium Ride. Sorry about that.

What kind of ratios do track bikes use?

The bikes at the track are 48-15

That's surprising. I'm 48-16 on the road and I find I'm just spinning out at speeds > 20mph. Maybe I miscounted the teeth...

You shouldn't be spinning out on that gearing at 20mph as you are doing less than 90RPM!
If so you need to work on your cadence by reducing your road gearing to low-mid 60s

You should hit at least 35 mph before spinning out on that gearing.

For the track, most people race the league with about 88-90 GI the sprinters will use 90+

I guess for these sessions Rob would probably want you all to be around the 84-86 mark. Though I may be wrong

http://software.bareknucklebrigade.com/rabbit.applet.html

We have a full 15 riders now. See you all later. 2:15 at the track please.

1 SteveVW
2 Simgsxr
3 Dirk Zodiac
4 Cayopro
5 Chris1
6 Redjedi
7 Redjedi+1
8 AndyB
9 simon_adams_uk
10 srocha
11 Watt-O
12 jimbobbin
13 Mr Moses
14 Brahan
14 Trevor

You shouldn't be spinning out on that gearing at 20mph as you are doing less than 90RPM!
If so you need to work on your cadence by reducing your road gearing to low-mid 60s

You should hit at least 35 mph before spinning out on that gearing.

For the track, most people race the league with about 88-90 GI the sprinters will use 90+

I guess for these sessions Rob would probably want you all to be around the 84-86 mark. Though I may be wrong

http://software.bareknucklebrigade.com/rabbit.applet.html

Sheldon Brown's GI calculator says I have a GI of 78.8 (turns out I didn't count wrong - I am on 48/16)

So if I'm spinning out at, maybe 25mph, what does that mean? I need to work on spinning my legs faster? It just feels uncomfortable, and if I'm going slightly downhill at the time I'll start bouncing around in my saddle.

Track gearing is calculated in the old 27" way, so 48/16 x 27, i.e. 81". If a coach says 84" he/she's talking about 48x15. You can still use Sheldon's calculator, but just pick the 27" nominal wheel size for track purposes.

Yes, you need to work on spinning your legs faster. It won't happen overnight, as it's predominantly a neuromuscular adaptation. 48/16 @ 25mph is 107rpm. To be able to respond to constant changes in pace, you should be able to turn at least 130rpm on the flat (48/16 = 30.5mph), and top 40mph downhill in your current gear (if you were inclined to try).

Riding a big gear on the road all year is the biggest barrier to developing souplesse. Like mikec said, spinning away on something in the 60-65" will work wonders, and is common practice in the winter for many racing cyclists.

Lowering your saddle 5mm may help. Having to overextend is like a cadence brake.

saw this on the Fixed Gear Athens blog,

At the Herne Hill Velodrome
(viewable in English using Google Chrome w/ the translate feature!)

nice pics for somebody like myself who is yet to actually visit...

{re-makes mental note to do this soon!!}