Conference noted::bicycle

    You gotta be cra...  On the other hand, some of us are anyway aren't
    we?  Looks like, sounds like, must be FUN.
    
    I hope you're going back for more.
    
    ed

great idea Rod - can I come up and see you some time (to quote M.W.!!)

I've only ridden Welwyn with 15�, 3 laps to the mile and outdoors.  It was great
Especially the end of meeting "5" (miles that is).

As for track bikes, beware because they can be habit-forming, after multi-geared
machines they are refreshingly simple, quiet and easy to ride (we used to give
each other handslings through Chelmsford high street on the way to work).  If
I was still in flat essex or even-flatter Bedfordshire, I would probably still
be using the faithful Rory O'Brien and 49x20.

Perhaps I could have one and just pose up and down the Croisette.......

track bikes are great - I built up a fixed bike from an old touring frame,
clincher 27" wheels and 1 brake, rode it commuting 20 mi. RT to work for
several years. P'raps this winter I'll try to get it running again. Great
exercise on the road. Art Longsjo (former racer from Fitchburg, MA, died
at height of career in auto crash) used to do daily training rides from
Fitchburg, into Vermont mtns, back down thru Keene NH and home - 180 miles
on a fixed gear, through some fairly serious hills.

Was curious to see that your cog unscrewed; usually there's a reverse-threaded
section on the outer side of the hub to screw on a lock-ring. Of course,
you can fake it by screwing on the cog (onto a std hub) and following it with
a bottom bracket lockring - I think English fits. Good cheap way to try it
out to see if you like riding fixed....
                                       ken

    
    
    	I've never tried track racing, but I think that the 'Cycling Powers
    That Be' made a mistake in deciding the main events. The pursuit is a
    very difficult event, as is the kilo, but neither are exactly
    stimulating to watch. I know that we don't do it to be watched, but
    over the years, an event that isn't watched dies out since the up and
    coming riders always start by watching events. If they think it looks
    fun, they'll try it.
    
    	They should concentrate on madison style events which are
    infinitely more exciting. But alas, you never see them except during a
    few elite events in winter.
    
    Graham.
     

Hello Rod,

Yeah, I agree that it sounds like an interesting pursuit. I tried a track only
once and got thrown out quickly for using my regular road bike. I guess it
showed up a little easily. I certainly agree that going up on the bank requires
a degree of confidence. I tried, but couldn't get up them in four or five laps;
I still claim it's because my bottom bracket was too low!

Thanks for reminding us of another use for bikes. It certainly must be nice not
to have to keep looking over your shoulder for cars.

Tim

Not so fast Tim, you have to be paranoid about what's behind you on a
track. Someone can easily be coming up on you fast and they can pass on
either side. You've got to steer a straight line and keep a good look-out.
Norbert could say a lot more, I'm sure.


Rod

Hi,

I owned a track bike (Pogliagli -sp?) in my early years.  As a matter a fact, 
when I had my Colnago stolen, that was my only bike (ever try to ride a 55/14
in city traffic?)

Anyways, I took the bike to Montr�al and tried it on the Olympic V�lodrome.

WHAT A RUSH!!

It took me about 15 mins to get enough nerve to hop on the bank and another 15
to climb  3/4 the height.  It's a strange sensation to be riding next to 
somebody on the inside and LOOK DOWN on them when they are less than 1 meter 
away.  The banking was 48 degrees.

Unfortunately it was a rainy day and water was dripping on certain parts of the
track.  We had to watch out for those spots as it was like wax.

My friend tried to dive down from the top of a bank and miscalculated his pedal
and ended up wearing VERY loose clothes for 3 weeks - shorts and skin all over
the track.  My younger brother (only ~16 at the time) thought that he can climb
the bank from a dead stop - learned a very valuable lesson in physics...

Riding fixed wheel is always fun - good practice for tandem riding - but if you
have a chance to try out a track: JUST DO IT (nice jingle to it, maybe Nike will 
use it ;-))

Eric

    
    A faint echo of the foregoing tales is my 24-hour ride on a
    racetrack ... well, ok, it was the Charlotte Motor Speedway,
    so the banking was not very steep, and in fact not curved
    banking ... but you still needed some momentum to stay up top,
    and some calculation to swoop down gracefully.  
    
    The track was asphalt covered with rubber granules (from 
    race-car tires).  A friend came out at night on his mountain bike
    and had lots of fun getting up above and behind me than swooping
    down, fearless, at some velocity, like a bird of prey.
    
    -john

    I did my try at a velodrome in Trexlortown PA about 6 years ago.  I
    only had my touring bike with me, getting a ride to Lancaster to start
    a tour.  To me this is a perfect way for pre-work workout.  To think...
    this is a public (county) facility! 
    
    My dream is to win mega-bucks and build a velodrome in central MA.
    
    steve

	re .5 and .6
	
	you are right, what ever your speed is (or almost) there could be 
	somebody else cycling even faster. So each time you change direction,
	either to overtake some one in front of you, to climb up the banking or
	to swoop down always have a look back either on the left or the right. 
	It's difficult in the beginning, but after a while you almost can feel
	the people on the track. You begin to know them and just in the end 
	of the curve you can overlook almost three quarter of the track. But 
	anyway, it does need full concentration all the time. 

	For your information: last year I used a 53 x 16 (which corresponds to
	7.07 meters) this year I tried 52 x 16 (6.94 meters). The second is 
	of course much easier to turn, but it's more difficult catch a fast
	"train" and to follow. So maybe I'll change back again, but only after
	my pursuit race of next saturday. It's a pursuit of 15 laps = 2.5 km. 
	That's a race to blast off your lung. 

	In my opinion, the real fun is when there are four to six guys of 
	about the same force, starting at about 35 km/h, relaying after about
	three laps, and accelerating continuously up to 45 km/h and trying
	to be the last one of the group blowing up. I like it.
	
	Norbert  

     Rod - 
    
     You lived in Reading UK for 3 years and never rode the track at
     Palmer Park? Shame on you :-)
    
     I believe the Reading track is one of the best in the U.K., but
     it probably is pretty grotty compared with most French tracks.
     It has a banking angle of only 15% and is laid with 
     asphalt rather than wood.  There is no roof, so the spray is 
     blinding when it is wet and you are at the back of a chain gang! 
     One good thing though - you can ride road bikes on Mondays and 
     Saturdays.
    
     BTW Is there any advantage in wooden plank tracks - aren't they 
     a bit slippery?
    
     Nigel.
           

    
    	The Meadowbank track in Edinburgh is the best in UK. Unfortunately,
    someone had the brainstorm of building a track in Scotland without a
    roof to protect it from the rain. What a brilliant idea! Now, why
    didn't I think of that?
    
    Graham.
    

    RE .-1 didn't they call it the Welly-drome ?
    
    Actually I think the smartest thing that they thought of for the last
    commonwealth games was the idea to put the road race up and down the
    Edinburgh bypass (less interesting than highway 3 between Lowell and
    Nashua) when there is some spectacular countryside - both scenery and
    from a racing point of view - which is well within a 120m roadrace...  But
    I digress...

I did ride at Palmer Park once, one cold December evening a year ago. But
riding a road bike round a 400m outdoor track is very different to riding 
a track bike round a 166m indoor track. Both are good training, but the
latter is a lot more exciting.


Rod

    do not be dicouraged if you do not have a tract nearby , as long as 
    you can come up with a fixed gear setup you can begin to explore a
     whole new feeling . 
      my real love for tract bikes are due to their simplicity and
    increadible speed during accelleration , when you get to your top 
    speed slowing down is another question. I found it acceptable to
    go around secluded city blocks for night trainings , whats even 
    better is if you have some knobbies you can go on your local high
    school tract (running) and go round and round as fast as you can
    without loosing it. I guarantee you once you rode tract bikes you
    wont wan't to ride 10 speeds again . also here in the U.S. there
    are beginer classes held on most tracts for about $60 check it out.

    
    	I rode by the Northbridge [MA] High School track last week and
    	they only allow walkers/runners on the track, so I'm looking
    	for info on where to find some kind of a track that I can ride
    	a hybrid on.
    
    	I'd love to be able to do 15-20 miles on a relatively level
    	surface instead of the "roller coaster" roads near my house,
    	so if anyone knows of any that are local to the central MA
    	area I'd be very grateful.
    

    Check out the bike path from Bedford to Boston, about 10 miles of
    abondoned RR track, paved.  You will have to share with walkers,
    joggers, roller blades etc.

Don't ride the MM trail when it's nice out.  If you do, watch for kids and dogs,
neither of which understand what the yellow line down the middle is for.