London Fixed-gear and Single-speed

Its going to be a mild 5deg Saturday

It's actually quite cold outside now, in the wind.
I'm fighting off a cold, so I hope I have enough puff to shout on saturday, we are expecting a somewhat more than adequate number of new riders.

Am there!! Hopefully all my winter resting will have paid off!

Why are all the advanced riders turning up on saturday?

Sunday FTW, or wotevaar it is.

Corrected

JJS I hear you have been doing anything but resting over the winter!

Father-in-law babysitting duties prob means it's tea for me at the track tomorrow rather than spinning round.

Will be an opportunity to check out the rumour that RPM is the new Dave Creasey. I guess it depends on the number of keys ...

Well maybe a little... but seriously not that much...

I would like to put an end to these vicious rumours once and for all!

(I have hardly any keys)

Without DC the place would be carnage, the rest of us don't have time to be there the amount he is in the summer.

Report to me at 2pm saturday

have you got a whistle yet Rob?

I'm planning on being there, more likley to be fiddling in the workshop than doing any actual riding, feel free to pop by for a hard stare and mumbled grunts about the old days....

If I am up to it tomorrow, I will drive down to drop my track bike off in the sheds and pay Jason for the year's storage. I might also waddle/limp over to watch the cycling and remind myself what riding a bike is all about.

Fancy picking up a cripple? It's even almost on route :-)

^ That's almost a full punnet (of rasperries)... ;]
Look forward to seeing you guys, if it's any consolation I won't be going near the track either...

I'll be along to watch too, at the moment I've got no interest in riding tarck this year - the bunch stuff is always too scary to be fun (sacrilege I know) - but will be there for tea and a chat for sure.

Guy - happy to give you a lift. Call me - number in phone number thread here and on the other forum.

hooraaaaaaaaayyyyyy!! first day of the season and the weather was good! brilliant to see everyone. i feel so positive after this morning, brilliant work Rob and Jason, this new schedule is perfect. i really felt like i got a lot out of the training today.. really enjoyed the lumps and bumps and the rotations. see you next week.

Nice to see so many out riding and watching and my new bike appears to have come with free new legs and lungs for me. This training lark seems to work after all. Woot!

today was great!

Looked good today, new program looks to keep things flowing nicely. Great to see people too. Thanks Clive! Have fun

The prog worked really well IMO, the inductees seemed to really pick it up quickly and enjoyed themselves without the pressure of riding in a mixed bunch with seasoned track monsters. There wasn't a huge rush either, once the weather gets better I expect the turnouts to get larger.

It was freezing cold, and my cold has developed into a real masculine illness. no riding for me tomorrow :(

Sounds like a successful opening day. Will try and get there one Sunday before the end of the month

Agree with everyone else! The saturday programme is miles better this way for everyone inductees and others alike.

And cheers to JC and Rob for today as well! Really fun session. It was good to get those lungs opened back on the track again! Happy times :-)

That was a real shock to my system today, great to be out on the track in the sunshine though!....must ride bike more.

We need a Sunday thread…

Training was great on Saturday I really enjoyed it, very good mixture between working hard and learning bike control in the lumps and bumps exercise. Thanks to all the coaches you did an excellent job.

That was by far the longest continous riding I've done on the track and I started to get a feeling I had a razor blade down my shorts, saddles getting changed to a rolls as soon as I can get mine back from a mate who borrowed it.

What's the level like on the new intermediate Saturday morning sessions? I was doing the morning sessions last year and the presence of people from the induction class meant I wasn't always the slowest... are they much tougher than last year's morning sessions?

I didn't go to that many Saturday sessions last year but from what I can remember they were slightly slower or maybe I was just fitter then, probably a mix of the 2. We were told that the intermediate level is aimed at the speed of people who will race in the B league on Wednesdays.

Saturdays level is more or less the same as last years.

If you did it last year you will be fine this year. Feels safer as well.

Yeah, new inductees now can go straight into the Novice training session 12-45-2. There's a good mix of skills and fitness riding in the session but at a slightly more relaxed pace than the intermediate session.

This Novice session is aimed at people who aren't particularly fussed about learning to race in the track league and instead just want a good quality ride. Don't feel compelled to ride in the faster intermediate session just because you've been before. You'll learn and improve more riding with people in a focused session, rather than hanging off the back of the intermediates.

I turned up at the novice (12.45) one on Saturday and they told me that was only for people that had just done the induction and that I should do the morning one...
Anyway, I'm going to give the intermediate one a go, I'm hopefully a bit fitter than I was last year so maybe it won't be too bad. Also it will be nice to ride without some of the more erratic riders from the induction (only just missed being taken out in one of the worse accidents last year).

Ok, sorry about that. Whoever told you that miss-communicated that a bit. They probably meant that you have to have had an induction at some point before, not necessarily just before.

I'm expecting, and will mention to some riders that if they can't stay with the pace of the intermediate session then the should be doing the novice session instead.

Judging by Saturday, this new format makes for a much higher quality of novice/first time riders. They have more time and space to learn the skills, and aren't frantically trying to keep up with a relentless pace. Ie, it shouldn't be too erratic.

Ok, that's good news. I'll try the intermediate and see if I can keep up and if not I'll drop back to the novice. Morning session is much more convenient for me so I'm really hoping I'm up to it. Thanks very much

+1
I had said to a few riders that couldn't hack the intermediate group that they could stay on and drop in at 1245 for the easy training session.

1245 till 2 isn't intended to be purely for the just inducted, it's novice/easy training for anyone not ready or interested in the 10till12 session.

Not sure who told you otherwise, ad441, but as JC said, a bit of communication breakdown there. We'll re-enforce this with the other staff for next week.

Going to try and make it down on Saturday for the intermediate session. Might end up dropping down to the novice sessions though as recently becoming a father means I've not been on the bike over the winter other than for commuting so I'm not in great shape.

Cool, see you there.

BTW, there's no shame in doing it the other way. Starting in novices and working up to intermediates. That's the way progression usually works.

@JC/BRM - Hi, I did the induction late last year. just before end of season which was awesome.
I have understood what's been said re novice session etc abve. Which is where i think i'd like to pick up from. Q is really, when should i turn up to sign on for this? is it first thing like the induction??
Cheers
S/

turn up at 1230, and don't call me BRM

^Oooops! sorry and thanks :)

taking my old dear out for lunch on saturday.... so annoyed.
i might see if i can push it back an hour, and just do the first hour of the intermediate session, and then sneak off..... i sorted out the chain and stem on the pinnarello this week and everything.

balls balls balls.

True enough, maybe I'll ease myself back into it and start with the novice session.

Gunna be coming along for induction tomorrow. Excited! Just recovering from the plague though, my legs feel like trash. I'm guessing (hoping) beginners isn't too fast paced?
Also, out of interest how many people do you usually get on the beginners?

Well I'm going along for the induction so there will be at least 2 of us!

Anyone know if its worth putting on a higher gear for the induction/first session? I'm on 46/17 at the moment but I could get up to 48/16 if need be

48/16 would be much better. I think most people advise somewhere between 80-90 gi, so 48/16 (79") is the minimum you'd want.
I'm gunna be running 85" and see how that goes. Probably a bit high for me but that's the best I can do until my new chainring arrives.

48x16 is 81" in trackspeak i.e. the old 27" (chainring/sprocket x 27) system.

Generally trackies who race at Herne Hill will mention 86" (48x15), 88" (49x15), 90" (50x15 or 47x14), and 92" 48x14, plus maybe a bit of 46x14 (88", but closer to 89").

I'm using 81" for the Sunday advanced sessions this month (cold/transitional/legspeed), so it'll be fine for the induction - you spend a lot of time doing less than 20mph. On a good day, you'd hope to hit ~37.5mph in that gear (160rpm)... but not for long :D

Thanks, I'll sort that out then. Weather forecast looks good, much better than today!

Thanks BMMF. In that case, I think I'll swap it out to 42/14, 81" for the first session. Nice and spinny.
I'll be on the blue Steve Goff triple triangle. See you tomorrow Bainbridge!

Cool, I'm on a white Brian Rourke. Looking forward to it!

will anyone going be able or have with them the tools to swap a record pista chainset and centaur bb from one bike to another tomorrow.

would take it to a LBS but i have no spare monies.