Thrills 'n spills on the Velodrome.

531db
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Thrills 'n spills on the Velodrome.

Postby 531db » Sat May 19, 2007 10:26 pm

Waratah Vets CC had their club track champs today at the Dunc Gray Veldrome (for those who you who are unaware this is a 250m indoor board track with 42.5 degree bankings and was used for the 2000 Olympic Games.)

Anyway I dusted off the Guerciotti track bike (real steel Columbus SL tubing) and last Wednesday took the bike out to Dunc Gray to set it up for the event. After a couple of hours riding (72.2 km clocked up),I found my usual 50x15 (90") gear as used at Queanbeyan on the flatish 440m asphalt track a bit on the low side - no head winds :D - so I changed the gear to 48x14 (92.6").

Anyway whilst just finishing my warmup before the racing started, I slowed a little bit to much on the banking (you need to be going at least 26 kph to avoid sliding down the banking) and had my first ever 'track crash'. It's certainly an interesting experience to slide down the banking attached to your bike with your skin getting 'wood burns'.

Fortunately the Guerciotti was fine apart from torn handlebar tape (already replaced) and a small scuff to the seat. I suffered a nasty abrasion to my hip and minor abrasions to my elbow and knee. The real damage was to a pair of my best bib knicks - a large hole ripped in the leg, they unfortunately are ruined. A nasty looking although mostly cosmetic scuff or two to my four month old Specialized shoes will be an excuse to buy another pair, and the scuffed pair will be relegated to training duties. Also a bit of damage to my gloves but they'll survive for a while yet.

Fortunately I was able to be patched up, and although I was bumped up to 'B' grade due to low entries in my original 'C' grade I managed a reasonable 500m TT (slow start- found it hard to get the 92.6" going), a good 2000m pursuit and 3000 scratch race, and an OK keirin event (my first and combined with the A Graders :shock: ) to take the bronze medal. To top it all off I managed 2nd in the all in 6 lap wheelrace, looking a winner 30m out from the finish until a scratchman flashed past.

Probably the highlight though was the number of real steel track bikes still going around - Vets know good stuff :!: , one of them was built in about 1960 and still had steel cranks and a leather Brooks saddle.

I might even ride my 1968 Bates track bike in the sprint event in the 2007 UCI World Masters in October at Dunc Gray - just because I can..........

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Postby mikesbytes » Sun May 20, 2007 11:30 am

Shame to hear of the fall. I've been told that you need particular tyres to use on wodden. I need to find out about this as my track bike will require new tyres later this year.

What teeth are you running front and rear to get 92.6 ?

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If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Postby 531db » Sun May 20, 2007 12:46 pm

48t chainring, 14t cog. I was running 700x20C Continental GP's circa 1992 vintage (nicely matured and aged!).

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Postby Bnej » Sun May 20, 2007 12:55 pm

Does the wood on the track get gouged by the pedals & frame from such accidents?

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Postby MichaelB » Mon May 21, 2007 10:14 am

Cool.

But where are the pics ?

Bummer about the damage, but well done.

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Postby 531db » Mon May 21, 2007 12:16 pm

Photo's were taken of the racing (not of the crash though), I'll probably have some to put up in a week or so.

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Postby moosterbounce » Mon May 21, 2007 4:56 pm

Bnej wrote:Does the wood on the track get gouged by the pedals & frame from such accidents?
I've always wondered about that too. I've seen heaps of cool crashes when watching the pros on TV, and thought there must be damage to the boards. I know we can't get a wood floor at home as the dogs nails will scratch/dent it. I'm sure there is more than 55kg landing on the boards when someone goes down (I could work out the actual force of both, but there are more scientific people than me to do this :wink: )

Moo...

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Postby europa » Mon May 21, 2007 5:08 pm

Digging deap into the memory banks from the early nineties or thereabouts (when they first build the Adelaide Superdrome and the Europa was a regular in the car park :D) ... I seem to remember an interview with the poor bloke responsible for PAYING for all the repairs to the track. Apparently running a wooden track is a black art in itself and repairs and replacement strips have to be done by a craftsman trained in arcane arts (and a cage of chickens hidden behind the brazier in the workshop).

Richard

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Postby tallywhacker » Tue May 22, 2007 3:48 am

Bnej wrote:Does the wood on the track get gouged by the pedals & frame from such accidents?
at the velodrome in Perth there is an unwritten rule that whoever falls and gouges the track buys a carton of beer. Havnt had a free drink yet.

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Postby 531db » Sat Jun 02, 2007 9:43 pm

The photo's of the track racing are finally here. This ones of me leading out the Wheelrace with one lap (250m) to go.

Image

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Postby 531db » Sat Jun 02, 2007 9:45 pm

However one of the scratchmarkers (Peter Coleman) had too much speed for me (and the rest), so I ended up second.......

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Last edited by 531db on Sun Jun 03, 2007 5:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Postby 531db » Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:02 pm

Another one.

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Postby 531db » Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:04 pm

And another.

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Postby 531db » Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:05 pm

The last one :D

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Postby sogood » Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:31 pm

NICE! :D
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Postby mikesbytes » Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:55 pm

If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Postby 531db » Sun Jun 03, 2007 3:32 pm

mikesbytes asked:

'Nice photos. What grade were you racing in?'

Yeah, they are top photo's. Credit goes to Ernie Smith of Ernie Smith Photography, you can see more of his work at www.erniesmithphoto.com.au

Most of the photo's show me in the all age/all grades(masters) wheelrace, but for the club championship I was 35- 49 years B grade.

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Postby mikesbytes » Sun Jun 03, 2007 5:58 pm

531db wrote:mikesbytes asked:

'Nice photos. What grade were you racing in?'

Yeah, they are top photo's. Credit goes to Ernie Smith of Ernie Smith Photography, you can see more of his work at www.erniesmithphoto.com.au

Most of the photo's show me in the all age/all grades(masters) wheelrace, but for the club championship I was 35- 49 years B grade.
I thought that Ernie only sold hard copys ?
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Postby 531db » Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:13 pm

JPEGs as well.... :D

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Postby mikesbytes » Sun Jun 03, 2007 10:25 pm

531db wrote:JPEGs as well.... :D
I'll ask him about that tomorrow night.
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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