I Want a Velodrome!

I want a velodrome! Nearby, that is.

Last month I posted a message on the TXBRA road racing forum to see if any other Austin racers wanted to join me in the monthly "development class" at the Superdrome in Frisco (north of Dallas). Jennifer Joy (35+ Cat 4 Woman) and Nick Lewis (30+ Cat 3, itching for Cat 2) confirmed. Jen did more MTB'ing last year, is getting into road racing this year and did her first crit on Thursday at The Driveway. Nick lives in New Braunfels, so he alternates weekly between the Driveway Crit and the crit in New Braunfels in addition to competing in most of the state-level road races.

I set three alarms and so awoke on time at 4:00 am Saturday morning and we were rolling from my apartment on time at 5:00 am. With a fast-food sit-down breakfast en route we arrived at the Superdrome just as the the door was being unlocked to distribute the stable of track bikes. Bikes used on the track have three critical requirements: 1) they're fixed-gear (the pedals only stop when the rear wheel is stopped), 2) brakes are not allowed and 3) the bottom bracket is higher than on a road bike, to allow steeper banking (at slow speeds). Also, a track bike generally has shorter crank arms (by 5-10 mm, again, for steeper banking) and a shorter wheel base.

Barry started up with a brief history of the Superdrome. They're always in need of donations to maintain the wooden track. It was originally constructed to have a tent-like covering, but that was never installed, so the wood and its paint is subject to the rain, ice, snow and blistering heat. There were a few chips of laminate layer missing from some of the plywood panels. The banking of the track is 44 degrees at the center of each turn and\n17 degrees at the center of the straightaways. There is no curve to\nthe banking: it's the same at the top as at the bottom. The innermost lane is at the same height all the way around the track. The higher lanes, however, require climbs into each turn and descents out of them. So in addition to being longer around the lap, the outer lanes require extra work around the turns.

Next, Barry walked us over to the track to see the various lines. The innermost line (the black "pole line") is where the 250 meters of the track is measured. It's the inside of the sprinters lane which is where you want to be to cover the least distance in one lap.

On our bikes we rode a few minutes in the concrete infield, learning how to mount, start and stop with pedals that are always turning, then Barry lead us onto the "apron," the flat concrete ring just inside the sprinters lane and technically not part of the racing portion of the track. Without warning, he led us a couple of feet onto the banked part of the track and we followed him around, slowly, at about 12 mph. Our bikes remained perpendicular to the earth and 44 degrees against the banked turns, so I was nervous about going so slowly. I felt that Barry was going slowly for those afraid of going faster, but it helped me gained a sense of just how slowly you can actually go without slipping. We picked up a little bit more speed and he led us halfway up the track for a couple more laps. Finally, we went to the top and tapped the rail on the straightway and followed that line to the top of the track, not going more than about 15 mph. Pretty spooky and I was ready to pick up some speed.

The banking of the track is 44 degrees at the center of each turn and 17 degrees at the center of the straightaways. There is no curve to the banking: it's the same at the top as at the bottom. The innermost lane is at the same height all the way around the track. The higher lanes, however, require climbs into each turn and descents out of them. So in addition to being longer around the lap, the outer lanes require extra work around the turns.

Next, Barry walked us over to the track to see the various lines. The innermost line (the black "pole line") is where the 250 meters of the track is measured. It's the inside of the sprinters lane which is where you want to be to cover the least distance in one lap.

On our bikes we rode a few minutes in the concrete infield, learning how to mount, start and stop with pedals that are always turning, then Barry lead us onto the "apron," the flat concrete ring just inside the sprinters lane and technically not part of the racing portion of the track. Without warning, he led us a couple of feet onto the banked part of the track and we followed him around, slowly, at about 12 mph. Our bikes remained perpendicular to the earth and 44 degrees against the banked turns, so I was nervous about going so slowly. I felt that Barry was going slowly for those afraid of going faster, but it helped me gained a sense of just how slowly you can actually go without slipping. We picked up a little bit more speed and he led us halfway up the track for a couple more laps. Finally, we went to the top and tapped the rail on the straightway and followed that line to the top of the track, not going more than about 15 mph. Pretty spooky and I was ready to pick up some speed.

So I'm glad I brought the stopwatch for the open riding that followed. I and a couple of other guys practiced 200-meter sprints. The starting line is halfway through the first turn. To get maximum speed for the sprint, you build up speed before the turn at the outermost part of the lane and at the start of the curve, you then "dive bomb" across all lanes and down to the start line at the sprinters lane. The bikes were set up for easy pedaling, so we would spin out pretty quickly, but we had some fun. I did my best of \n14.04 s (31.87 mph) on the first attempt. In a later attempt just before the "dive bomb" I slammed against the high wall, got some "wall rash" and a bloody knuckle and I left a tire scuff on the wall (but I didn't scratch the sprint). I'm bringing a bigger chain ring next trip. :-)

Then we did some races. The rides start on the straightaway all in a row hanging on to the rail. To start, everyone starts rolling a neutral lap and gets together in a pack. The first race was a "scratch race," simply a fixed number of laps (9 in our case). As with road racing, time doesn't matter, so racers often sandbag at the start. I was having none of that, so led out relatively easily, but keeping some pressure on. At the end, I was just behind the #2 racer, so I slowly started accelerating about 3/4 lap before the finish and pulled up and outside of the far turn. It was more work climbing the turn, but I could be slightly behind him at the end of the turn and take advantage of the height and surprise him by coming down in the last few meters. And that almost worked. I came in third by only a couple of inches (the line "ref" said he would not have been able to tell, had he not lined up his eyes on the line).

So I'm glad I brought the stopwatch for the open riding that followed. I and a couple of other guys practiced 200-meter sprints. The starting line is halfway through the first turn. To get maximum speed for the sprint, you build up speed before the turn at the outermost part of the lane and at the start of the curve, you then "dive bomb" across all lanes and down to the start line at the sprinters lane. The bikes were set up for easy pedaling, so we would spin out pretty quickly, but we had some fun. I did my best of 14.04 s (31.87 mph) on the first attempt. In a later attempt just before the "dive bomb" I slammed against the high wall, got some "wall rash" and a bloody knuckle and I left a tire scuff on the wall (but I didn't scratch the sprint). I'm bringing a bigger chain ring next trip. :-)

Then we did some races. The rides start on the straightaway all in a row hanging on to the rail. To start, everyone starts rolling a neutral lap and gets together in a pack. The first race was a "scratch race," simply a fixed number of laps (9 in our case). As with road racing, time doesn't matter, so racers often sandbag at the start. I was having none of that, so led out relatively easily, but keeping some pressure on. At the end, I was just behind the #2 racer, so I slowly started accelerating about 3/4 lap before the finish and pulled up and outside of the far turn. It was more work climbing the turn, but I could be slightly behind him at the end of the turn and take advantage of the height and surprise him by coming down in the last few meters. And that almost worked. I came in third by only a couple of inches (the line "ref" said he would not have been able to tell, had he not lined up his eyes on the line). The "Miss & Out" is a little more interesting. You start out riding a few laps and then after so many laps (4 in our case), the ref starts removing the last rider on each lap. This keeps someone from drafting behind the entire pack during the entire race. So, of course, my strategy was to draft behind the entire pack during the entire race, *except* at the lap line, when I would sprint ahead, overtaking the lap loser. :-) When the field is whittled down to three racers, the final lap determines final places.

We Austinites had considered hanging around for the open riding session, but all the riding in class and the early start was enough. Afterwards we toured through the Richardson Bike Mart, mouths agape at the size of the place, had lunch and drove back. A long and very satisfying day.

More information is at www.superdrome.com. If you decide to take the devo class, one tip not mentioned is to measure your road bike fit dimensions, so when you get the track bike you can more easily adjust it to match your fit. Also, in addition to bringing your own pedals and shoes and helmet, you might also consider bringing your own saddle.

Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/danorton/200705MaySuperdromeDevoClass