DHBC Juniors Training, News and Statistics 2 October 2013

[James Rogers]

Hello Everyone,

It was a good session last Wednesday, with everything running smoothly and to time. We managed to fit in quite a few different activities. Many thanks to everyone for their help achieving this.

Something which really put a smile on my dial was the state of the storage room – which looked like a clean freak had (literally) swept through and put everything away nicely. Good work riders (and adults!). This really makes things a lot easier for everyone – thanks again.

We had 22 riders on the track on Wednesday. For some reason we always seem to have 22 riders, but not always the same people. Spooky. Even more spooky is that the magpie seems to have made a permanent exit, and I presume won't be returning for the rest of the season or, indeed, ever. I'll miss our fine-feathered friend, and I only hope that said magpie is chasing red jerseys somewhere else.

We started a bit later than 5:30pm due to the amount of debris on the track thanks to the previous days wind. It was good that everyone was ready to get onto the track on time, and we moved straight into pace lines. Same as the week before – A did 10 laps; B did 20 laps; and C did 25 laps.

Keirin (group A and B)
Because of the requests (and I am a sucker for a race), we did a little Keirin practice. With a quick refresher on the rules and tactics/how-to's we started with group B (in two groups), and the results were:

1. Max
2. Rory
3. Louie
4. Luke

1. Tess
2. Jake
3. Darani
4. Mia

Group A:

1. Lawrence
2. Xavier
3. Christian
4. Genevieve

Now, the question for all riders – which position is the best?

Group C got a work out on the rollers.

Match Sprints (all groups)
Next we did match sprints, over 1.5 laps. We talked a bit about tactics that you could use in the match sprint – especially where tactics can win over raw power.

There was some great racing on display with a lot of riders benefitting by making the right tactical decisions – and some very close finishes. Both Tess and Ruby really rode with panache, eliciting a chorus of cheers from the bleachers:

Match Sprints - Results:

1. Louie
2. Luke

1. Max
2. Jake

1. Tess
2. Rory

1. Darani
2. Mia

1. Lawrence
2. Christian

1. Xavier
2. Genevieve

1. Bro
2. Taku

1. Ruby
2. Francis

1. Sarah
2. Zanzi

1. Alison
2. Rohan

1. Brendan
2. Liam

Venue Blaster
As a final treat, we did a 3 lap Venue Blaster. Obviously this is markedly different to the match sprints in attitude, so really mixed up the results again. Lacking the ability to write down names fast enough, I only captured the first few of the A and B heats, as they were very close finishes. Cs were a bit more spread out, which explains the fuller ranking:

A Venue Blaster:
1. Lawrence
2. Christian
3. Xavier
4. Gen

B Venue Blaster
1. Max
2. Jake
3. Louie

C Venue Blaster
1. Bro
2. Zanzi
3. Brendan
4. Taku
5. Sarah
6. Liam
7. Francis
8. Alison
9. Ruby
10. Rohan

Thanks to Lizanne, and Peter for running the rollers, and all the parents who handled for the Keirin, helped put away the bikes and otherwise kept the energy up for the evening. Thanks too, to the riders, for another good training session.

All riders going to the NJTS please hang around after the finish of training so we can do a quick briefing about the event this weekend!

For anyone who is interested, the National Junior Track Series is on this weekend at Dunc Gray Velodrome. It is pretty exciting, and well worth your time. It runs this Saturday from 12pm — 6pm; and then on Sunday from 9am — 3pm. If you have aspirations to race, this is really like a crash course in how track racing works. Come and support the DHBC riders!

DHBC hosted Junior track carnival - November 30
We will be hosting a junior track carnival at the end of November, this will be a Cycling NSW event and open to all clubs. We are looking for volunteers in all areas to help out with things such as the BBQ, canteen, registration, handlers, and various other jobs. It will be a enjoyable afternoon event... and many hands make light work (etc)! Please see this thread for more details.

See you on Wednesday,
James



WEDNESDAY 9/10 SCHEDULE:
5:00-5:30 Bike Setup and rollers warm up
5:30 Pacelines (A - 10 laps, B - 20 laps, C - 25 fast laps)
5:50 Drill #1
Group A - Rollers/trainers
Group B - Flying 200 (then skills on the warm up track)
Group C - Flying 200 (prior to this stay warmed up on some rollers)
6:20 Drill #2
Group B - Team pursuit (then stay warmed up on the rollers)
Group C - Team pursuit (then skills on the warm up track)
Group A - Team pursuit
6:40 Wheel race* (if there is time) - 6 laps
Group A/B/C - This will need handlers!

* What is a wheel race? Why, I am glad you asked: Quintessentially, an Australian race, the Wheelrace is a handicap event open to a wide range of riders. The race distance is typically 2000 metres if it's held in an indoor velodrome, or 3000 metres if it's an outdoor track, which is the case in many Australian towns. Riders start with a handicap from a variety of positions around the track (as if the spokes of a wheel). The top riders start from the 'scratch mark' - which is the absolute race distance - but they are sometimes over 300 metres behind the first riders who have that much less distance to travel.

With 'head starts' provided to the majority of the field, it is always possible that the front and middle markers can get organised and work together to hold off the highly-fancied 'scratchies'. While some see this as unfair, it's an entrenched part of the sport and gives riders of all abilities to compete against the stronger riders, with a theoretically even chance to win.

[Eleri]

If you have aspirations to race, this is really like a crash course in how track racing works.

Tee hee