A Rider’s Almanac

I’m constantly reminded that in San Diego, this means that there is a 90% chance of it being a perfectly glorious day - mostly sunny with some lingering storm clouds in the sky, no wind, large sun drenched waves along the coastal route, cool and crisp… I know the math doesn’t quite work out on the percentages, but the reality is that this is the reality. We only get about 9 inches of rain a year here, so the odds are that it’s not going to rain… and it didn’t!

The mantra for today’s ride was, “rain or shine… sickness or health… we’re riding.” Everyone on the team has been very busy with life, so we’ve each been riding quite a bit on our own and to tell the truth, I was growing weary of the solo riding.

Today’s ride profile called for us to meet along the coast in Solana Beach and go for an easy 40-45 miles with a quorum of Team Climb On Riders. As it turned out - for various reasons (…Dave…Ajay…) our large team ride turned into a small group ride of three riders. After recovering from the disappointment of The Team no-showing, we headed north along the coast at an easy, comfortable pace. It was such an unexpectedly nice day that we just kept going; through Carlsbad, through Cardiff, through Oceanside, and through Camp Pendleton where we decided to head back South.

Our ultimate destination was to meet back in Solana Beach at Pizza Port for some of the best pies in San Diego (I highly recommend the Pizza Vallarta - Canadian style bacon, olives, onions, & jalapeños - Delicious!). Our team may not always be motivated to ride, but they are motivated to eat. On arrival at The Port, we were greeted by four additional team members. It was nice to see some old faces and to meet some new ones.

When all was said and done, I racked up 72.5 miles on the day, had some really tasty pizza and got to hang out with some really cool people. It definitely beats riding alone and it’s a definite reminder why I live in San Diego.

Once I decided to get back into racing, I new it was only a matter of time before I would go down (i.e., crash), but I didn’t think it would happen the way it did. If you race a bicycle long enough - especially on the track or in criteriums - you’re going to be involved in a crash. More often than not, it’s of no fault of your own; nevertheless, with the high speeds and close proximity of the combatants (i.e., riders), it is inevitable. Just watch the Tour de France - with the best riders in the world - and you’ll see what I mean. It doesn’t require much to go wrong for there to be a massive pile up.

Last night I raced at the LA Velodrome. I’ve spoken of this place in a previous post. Just as a reminder, the LA Velodrome is an indoor wooden track that is 250m in length with 45 degree banking. When your up to speed - remember that part - riding on this track is like, well, riding a bike. The track may be intimidating to look at, but when you’re cruising around, you really don’t notice the steep banking.

Most mass start track races start from the outter rail of the track on the relatively flat straightaway. Riders line up from the start finish line, which on this velodrome is just before turn one, and continue as far back as the number of riders requires. All of the riders line up along the rail and the referee provides instructions for the upcoming race and then blows the whistle to get the race underway. Experienced riders realize that one cannot be too high on the banking at the start of the race as they do not have enough speed to maintain grip on the track. In fact, most ridres head straight for the apron and hop back on the track after turn two on the backstretch. 

I’ve raced on the track many times - albeit not on tracks as steep as the LA Velodrome - so I really have no excuse. Regardless, at the start of the 70 lap 1/2 Points Race, I found myself a bit higher than I should have been on the entrance to turn one (reminder: 45 degree banking). It all happened so quickly, so I’m not completely sure it was my fault - although I think it was. I tried to correct my position, but I was surrounded on all sides by other riders. To cut to the chase, one of my wheels slipped down the track (or perhaps I was knocked over by the rider on my high side) and the next thing I know, I was down - slidin’ on the wood - along with two or three other riders. We weren’t going very fast at this point so no one was hurt (aside from a bit of track rash), just mad. We all picked ourselves up and reentered the race. For the points race, we were allowed up to 5 laps to get back into the race without being penalized.

So you might wonder what crashing on a wooden track does to the body. Does one simply slide to a stop without injury? Does one get road rash like crashing on the street? The answer is that you end up with what I can best describe as a rug burn of sorts. When you slide on the track, you kind of stick, so what you end up with is a relatively clean skinning. The track is relatively smooth so your skin doesn’t get torn up like it does on the road. I ended up with tiny strawberries, one on my knee and one on my upper thigh, and a larger one on my lower arm. Unlike road rash, the track rash - at least mine - really doesn’t bleed; in fact, none of my injuries bled and almost looked immediately healed. In all honesty, the biggest injuries I suffered was a bruised ego and a ripped skinsuit (and that’s no minor thing ).

Aside from my early mental mistake, my evening was quite a success. I signed up to ride in both the Category 1/2/3 group and the 40+ Masters group. The result of this was that I ended up riding in 7 individual races which covered over 40 miles (including warm up laps). In the 70 lap 1/2 Points Race, I lapped the field with four or five other riders, but later gave the lap back as I petered out. In the 40+ 15 lap Scratch race, I think I was 3rd. In the 40+ 30 Lap Points Race, I scored points in each of the thee sprints - winning the first one, taking 4th in the second and taking 3rd or 4th in the final sprint. That should place me in the top 3 overall for that event. I completed all of the other races to little fanfare - but atleast I finished

Over the last couple months I have been asked at least a half dozen times whether I recommend a set of rollers or a more traditional resitance trainer for indoor training.

My answer each time I’ve been asked has been, “it depends.” It depends on what you want the contraption for.

If you are looking for a device that will allow you to sit in the comfort of your home in the evening or on a rainy day and get a great workout – albeit mentally painful :| - then a wind/magneto trainer is the way to go. You simply plop your bike atop the trainer and pedal until you pass out.

If you are looking for a device that will force you to be smooth on the bike (i.e., pedal in circles vs. stomping, relax your upper body, etc), then a set of rollers may be in order. When I used to ride rollers, I never had a set that had any sort of resistance (i.e., no fan/magnet). The rollers themselves are affected by the drag of the rollers themselves along with the drag caused by your bike, but nothing like a resistance trainer. You can purchase those as add-ons to your rollers if you are looking for that.

The biggest downside to rollers is that you can fall off. With a trainer, you can fall asleep and as long as you don’t topple off of your bike, you will be okay. On rollers, if you stop paying attention, you can lose control and fall off (…over and take out whatever is nearby). There is nothing keeping you on a set of rollers other than your own pedaling action and your balance. The first time you hop on a pair of rollers, it feels like riding on ice. Once you get the hang of it it’s not difficult at all, but you will still have the occasional brush with disaster (translation: not paying attention). You can get a fork stand to use with your rollers, but then what’s the point.

If you’re looking for a device to improve your pedaling motion and body position on the bike and to use for a quick warm up, then a set of rollers is for you. If you’re looking for a device to workout on when you can’t get on the road, then you want a traininer.

That’s my $ 0.02. I’d be very curious to hear what you think - especially those of you who have just recently tried/acquired a set of rollers.

… 31 miles along a road less traveled - Elfin Forrest

No more words necessary