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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Matt Hersey
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Wednesday, 02 May 2007 |
Velodroming
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I’m finally getting a chance to ride on the San Diego velodrome. Every Wednesday evening from 7 to 9pm on an outdoor track. They make all of us novices take an introductory course before setting us free to ride or race on the track. There are about 25 people - all different ages and abilities - getting used to riding without coasting. They run us through all kinds of drills - follow the leader, cat and mouse, pushing each other, etc… That’s good because riding in circles can get a little tedious without some distractions.
Half of the folks went out and bought track bikes. For the rest of us, there are the loaners. I get the same bike every week. It’s a very large, heavy, old, and squeaky GT. Black with white letters. Clinchers. Somehow the seat is too high and the stem too low and the coach always barks at me to “get in the drops”, but I just can’t safely reach those suckers. And I’ve been sent back to the ancient times of pedals with clips and straps. Curses! I brought my own pedals once, but they wouldn’t let me switch them out. I could write pages describing how much I loathe toe clips. Know what I mean?
Last week, I made the mistake of riding a lap on someone else’s bike - a brand new Pro Lyte with tubulars. It was twice as fast and twice as stiff as the GT. If I stay here for the summer, then I might buy a track bike of my own and do some of the Tuesday night races.
Melissa and I went to spectate the Tuesday night track races a few weeks ago. They also go from 7-9pm with a variety of different categories and distances. The bleachers were packed with rambunctious spectators. There were lots of college kids and bike messenger types. Many had used lights to cycle to the races. Everyone was yelling and standing up and drinking beer. They passed a hat around for “A” race primes. When I went to the beer tent, I tried to buy a beer - they told me to put my money away. I t was just the local shop/club and they were glad to share their keg.
2 more weeks of my Wednesday night track class. And then I’ll be free to buy a bike and race, or maybe just watch and yell and drink beer in the bleachers.
Matt |
; "click to enlarge")
