Re: [CR]Fw: term of the week

(Example: Events:Cirque du Cyclisme:2004)

Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 18:34:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Fred Rafael Rednor" <fred_rednor@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]Fw: term of the week
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
In-Reply-To: <e679242ade7bc9dd621e0ce75b263c76@optonline.net>


Sage advice from jamie Swan: > > If you are below a guy you must stay even with > him to block him from diving down and getting a > good jump. If you have him all the way at the > top of the track and you can get your bars in > front of his then you can "pin him to the boards" > and he can't go any faster then you go. Don't > take your eyes off him though because he can stop > abruptly and go behind you and dive down that way.

Nuts! Now you tell me what I had to be on guard against? I made that mistake twice this weekend at the Trexlertown Velodrome.

Actually, I know what you're supposed to do but sometimes it's not so easy to execute. Anyway, I had two sprints in which I couldn't keep the guy on top properly pinned. In both cases I had to go back "on top" as I chased. I lost the first and won the second by about 6 inches.

One thing to remember about going "on top" is that you have a longer distance to travel around the curve. Of course you get the benefit of the slipstream but, in order to pass, you still have to be spinning at a higher rate than an opponent who is also close to maxing out his (or her) spin. You might be close to losing control if all this is happening as you make the transition from the banking to the home straight.

To make sure this stays on topic, let me recommend a trip to a velodrome if one is nearby. Since track bikes are so simple, the percentage of riders actually racing classic bikes or KOF bikes is quite high. What you sometimes see is that racers bring 2 bicycles to the race meet: newer "aero" framed thingies for the time trials and something like an old Cinelli, Raleigh, Motobecane, Atala or LeJeune for the sprints. Of course, in the old days you had one bike and one bike only. You might even have ridden it to the track, carrying some tools, spare tires and your alternate cogs in a backpack. Today, you simpy "must" also have aero bars, a disk wheel and Lord knows what else for the time trials and pursuit, so you also need to buy a new car to carry all this junk. Cheers, Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)

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