Herne Hill Saturday Training

heal up soon Glen.

i really think that at this level the bike doesn't matter that much as long as you ride properly and follow the rules. I does take a bit of time to get used to this kind of riding and speed is not as important as awareness of what is going on around you. Today was pretty scary at times.

Of course, it is nice to have a nice bike but this is another matter

First time at HH and what a difference to the boards of Manchester. Very relaxed and very friendly - feels as though there's a lot more space, and lovely to be out in the sun.

Tommy Godwin was down there showing his medals, bike and wolly jumper from the '48 Olympics - he even when for a couple of laps - hope I'm that spritely when I'm 91!

I finished the novice session 15-minutes early (I'm riding at Manchester tomorrow...) - is that when the crash happened...?

What a week to miss! Would have loved to have seen tommy there.

Hope the crash didn't put too many people off HH...

I had my very own crash on Thursday evening so I couldn't make it today. Sorry to hear about Glen - broken collarbone is pretty bad.

nice to see you NG.

First time at HH and what a difference to the boards of Manchester. Very relaxed and very friendly - feels as though there's a lot more space, and lovely to be out in the sun.

Tommy Godwin was down there showing his medals, bike and wolly jumper from the '48 Olympics - he even when for a couple of laps - hope I'm that spritely when I'm 91!

I finished the novice session 15-minutes early (I'm riding at Manchester tomorrow...) - is that when the crash happened...?

Nice to chat to you, I was the guy in the white condor with a black DVD white Jersey, we did a few laps together.

Good to meet you all - perhaps all LFGSS people should have to wear badges identifying us...?

A lot of the excercises seemed to encourage kicking-back - don't know if its intentional or just a consequence of the induction being quite slow? On the wooden boards, you'd get a bollocking at best; sliding down the banking at worst! Will be back - need to figure the practicalities of bring my track-bike down to Euston and cycling across London (maybe a clip-on brake?)

i think that is the wind too. Sat was really windy

Windy? It was dead calm with just a little breeze down the back. At least for the beginner session.

"A lot of the excercises seemed to encourage kicking-back"

yes, I find the concertina-ing and subsequent sudden accelerations and decelerations really worrying when among riders who are often barely out of novice level. I end up keeping a few metres in front of me to smooth the pace which kinda defeats the object of some of the group riding.

Really need to underline the need for smooth pacing or for more experienced riders right the way through the pack to take responsibility and start talking a lot more about good practice / calling out bad habits. There were one or two people there on Saturday who were well out of their depth.

I always find the problem is with the novice session, it needs splitting so those that have some track experience can go ride and practice with others of the same skill-level while those that are still green can concentrate on remembering to keep pedaling and getting used to riding track. This can be done in a hare and hound type scenario without problem.

If this happened then the novices wouldn't feel the need to progress themselves up to intermediates too soon just to get some qualitative riding/racing. People should really be spending a season in the novices before going to the intermediates and at least a half season in the inters before hitting Monday night race training.

The Intermediate session on Saturdays is always a bit tricky for the coaches as there is, inevitably, a wide range of ability and fitness amongst riders. None of the exercises 'encourage' kicking back of course, but this is unfortunately inevitable when riders don't ride smoothly and often stretch themselves to stay in the group when they are tiring. We do try to control this and take riders out of an exercise if we feel that they present any risk or are just out of their depth - either lacking fitness or skill. We welcome the support of more experienced riders, so please talk to others and bring any 'issues' to our attention.

I'd be interested to know which exercises Northern Graeme thought worst for kicking back, so that people might be more aware of the risks.

I'd be interested to know which exercises Northern Graeme thought worst for kicking back, so that people might be more aware of the risks.

It was mostly the induction session - riders setting off going very slowly (maybe even slowing down). Next rider catches them up and has to kick-back, and it goes all the way down the train. Riding in the two-laps on the black/two-laps on the blue/two-laps at the top it happened too - really had to kick back and jink out to avoid slowing riders. Part of it was probably that I was riding reasonably close to the rider in front, and partly that only every having been on wood I was nervous about riding slowly at the top of the banking...

Its great to get riding in a line so early on track (at Manc there's never any organised nose-to-tail riding in taster sessions) but its also perhaps ingraining bad habits at an early stage...?

Just to say definately not critisising - its great to see so many new riders out on track. HH must do more than any other velodrome for getting novices out there.

You can definitely go as slow as you like around the bankings without any problem. (very experienced riders only, in any case you have no need to do this during group training. ed.)The only time I felt nervous about the steepness was many years ago when Dave Creasy had us going round cones, in the wrong direction. I swear the bankings are steeper going clockwise! :-)

Oh yeah, sorry, I just meant that it's physically possible to ride very slowly without any danger of your pedal hitting the banking. Definitely not a recommendation for actual riding practise.

How is rpm editing Philpub's posts?

he's the track forum moderator

And overlord

I was at Newport on Sunday with 28 other Dynamo's having a full day training on the boards with Dave LeGrys and his guys.

I wasn't even remotely aware of the steepness of the banking. When someone says 45degrees it doesn't sound that much. When your 5/6meters up in the air looking down to see the ground far enough away to cause some serious damage to you should you fall it hits you just how steep it is.

I was really impressed how quickly everyone took to the track. Approx 3/4 of the riders there hadn't ridden a track (let alone track bike) before. There was no 'adjustment period' for people to get used to riding fixed, it was straight on the track riding the lines. No one had any problems with this.

As the day progressed we raced a few 30-lap scratch races and some more serious training techniques and not a single crash was had that day. But it was great to see two of our elite riders take to the track and to watch their speed changes was incredible.

Anyway, after managing an astonishing 2nd place in one of the scratches I now am officially an amazing track rider (lol) and am seriously converted. I had no idea how much fun it is.

I will be seeing you on Saturday (for the novice induction).

Be sure to turn up in a Dynamo skinsuit. Anything less just won't do the job :)

Ha.

If the cold from the air resistance is anything to go by in Newport then I imagine outdoors this Saturday will be full winter gear round the track...

Skinsuit = glass-cutter nips.