Herne Hill Saturday Training

I've noticed a trend with people using bigger and bigger gears recently. Not sure why!?
Great way to train yourself to be slower though.

I've been using it for the track league and the open racing racing and it seems ok. You're right though i do need to learn to spin faster though

I've been using it for the track league and the open racing racing

But the discussion is about someone riding in basic and intermediate training.

box rim? I have a 25mm rear langster wheel in silver

Thanks for getting back dude but think its a good opportunity to upgrade the wheelset and sell on to a friend using either single speed or brakes to ride on the road.

Cheers though.

Basics is full of mad men who want to kill me, Intermediates will be too fast?

Basics is full of mad men who want to kill me, Intermediates will be too fast?

If the mad men cannot kill you because you are much faster than them, then you should be ok in the intermediates. If not then it seems that your destiny is death at the hands or wheels of mad men for the foreseeable future.

Hope this helps :)

Will give intermediates a go next week where I'll probably be seen as the crazy unpredictable one.

I hadn't seen the madmen at basics before. Perhaps it was their first session since the induction, but they seemed to think that every drill was a race and broke down several groups by barging their way past slower riders. Not cool. Will be looking forward to riding with some more experienced riders next weekend.

I skipped this morning because I felt shitty, hopefully I'll be there next week.

I was supposed to start intermediates today but I'm nursing a tight hamstring. Disappointed to miss out as my fitness was steadily improving. Hopefully back on track soon as...

God, there was so much kicking back going on yesterday, it was like a fucking forum ride.

I ran 84" for the basics yesterday - was fine for general riding (and with the amount of sketchy riding going on I was glad to be on lower gearing and be able to make smoother changes to pace) but ended up undergeared when I got in some faster groups at the end - which wasn't a problem for holding speed, but it did make closing gaps a bit exhausting at 100+ rpm. I spent a lot of time closing gaps and dragging people with me who weren't strong enough to come through - ended up being a reasonable workout. Nice weather too.

The pace of the session overall was probably the highest I can remember, which made everything a bit smoother for me, it was also good to do a session that was just group rotation and not have to do all the comedy "make an X!" stuff.

Determined to get out of basics, I've done SO many of these sessions over the last 3 years, but living north, I've never been able to get to the track frequently enough, or when I do, I never remember to get my card stamped!

Next week is the last one for me.. and then I move to HH in July so hopefully will be able to step up to Monday nights, and then some racing fairly quickly.

Hey Dan, I've always done basics on a low gear, I stepped up to intermediates last week and boy is it a big jump, I had to drop off a couple of times but I reckon soon enough I'll be able to hold the pace.

Hope to see you there, where you can do more speculating about what road I live on lo

Learn to spin. I was on 84 GI yesterday (as for all training ) and didn't feel under geared once.

Ha! It's one of three - I'll hold off from typing it here though :)

To be honest, doing all these basics over the last few years has actually been OK, I enjoy being on the track and any time on it (fast or slow) is good for your bike handling / communication skills.

I'm not that worried about the pace of inters to be honest, I've done plenty of fast road riding, and more recently TT stuff. I know it will be tough - but as you say it's just a matter of holding on for a bit longer each week.

The nice thing about track compared to road is that if you're having a bad day or you're not strong enough, you can just pull off and sit out for a couple of laps (turning it into a sort of interval session) - if you're riding hard on the road and you get dropped, that gap isn't closing itself!

^^ yeah I know, I'm happy sitting on 95/100rpm for TT's - but somehow my legs can't quite adapt to spinning higher cadences on short cranks.. Yet. I'm sure it will come in time.

Left the basic just after halfway through yesterday, found I was totally ragged and couldn't ride at all. First group off the front in 4s, rider in bexhill cc jersey just totally rinsing us from the start killed me, I could taste blood. Bit keen. Intermediates>>>>>

red and white? Legwarmers?

There was a guy I was doing group rotation with who had clearly come from rowing or something (huge, strong, no bike handling skills at all). Every time he got on the front; massive surge, trying to drop everyone, I ended up coming around people to close the gap, finally he checks his shoulder "yep, I'm still here." Told me to piss off when I told him to cool it off and keep it steady. Knob.

Forcing the selection in basics then giving other riders verbals? Maximum douche points.

I know - basic session heros are the worst. I told him he was a twat and moved back so I didn't have to ride with him again.

Btw, was there a guy on a Colnago Dream Pista in basics yesterday? Thought I saw one as I left the track.

@ dan - I did advanced sessions on 84" (47/15), and after three consecutive weeks felt fine, including being able to do pursuits with JC et al, plus 'win' a few scratch races by jumping away for a lap or two. It's much more important to get your cardiovascular system up to speed first, then add a couple of gear inches when you race proper and can turn it over in a faster moving bunch without grinding away your snap; at least for general track riding. Not that I'm particularly interested in that sort of thing :/

I remember having a noticably good session when I kept the 74" ratio on for the warm-up rather than turning the wheel round as soon as I'd ridden down to HH. It meant rolling in with the bunch at the end of the warm-up rather than peacocking it at the front, but it then made it feel much easier than usual to turn over the 84" gear at >120rpm for protracted periods e.g. the pursuity stuff.

It's similar with riding medium gear on the road. Once you've spun 69" down the first hill, all the ~115rpm stuff on the flat feels fairly comfortable - as you'll have noticed last Tuesday :D

Yes, you are part washing machine though :)

I've been slowly raising my cadence on the road bike over the last year, which has done wonders for speed endurance and comfort levels, I find myself closing gaps (or making them) with changes in cadence rather than gear now, whereas a year ago I would just change up and step on it.

I feel a bit cramped on my track bike though, which is sort of stopping me from getting comfortable at higher cadences. I feel like I'm fighting the bike.
I think I would like to get some rollers and really learn to spin on it, and that would probably give me an opportunity to get the fit right - it's not there at the moment.

@ dan no his jersey was red gold green. Lovely jersey actually. I mentioned it later and he took it well, not a douche - just a regular roadie I guess.

I actually came to this thread to ask (but forgot in my rant mode):
Who is the american-sounding rider on the bugundy Robin Mather? We spoke just before I went on, he'd left the Intermediate session, he was being very complimentary about my bike. But then later I was driving in Nunhead, and heckled at him out the window 'Get some brakes!' - then he looked peturbed, didn't see me, and I felt guilty! Only having a laugh, hi if you're on here.

PharoahSanders, I believe.