BVC Friday - possibly placed...flatted... still alive

Three races: 25 lap Scratch, 40 lap Point-a-Lap and Elimination to Scratch.

The 25 Lap Scratch started with 18 riders. Which is a very large field for our 200m track (official limit is 20!) This was possibly the fastest B race (or at least in the top 3) for the last few years... 46.7kph (that includes the neutral lap, it was 48.1 for the 25 lap race!.)

25 Lap Scratch Race:

Duration: 7:03
Work: 135 kJ
TSS: 14.3 (intensity factor 1.105)
Norm Power: 342
VI: 1.07
Distance: 5.486 km
Elevation Gain: 8 m
Elevation Loss: 13 m
Grade: -0.1 % (-5 m)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 721 319 watts
Heart rate: 0 185 170 bpm
Cadence: 32 120 103 rpm
Speed: 17.1 54.7 46.7 kph
Pace 1:06 3:31 1:17 min/km
Altitude: 125 130 127 m
Crank Torque: 0 67.9 29.5 N-m
Temperature: 19 20 19.8 Celsius

I managed to at least get into the lead group for the sprint. But that only meant maybe 7th or 8th... Was on a 50x14.

The Point-a-Lap started very fast as well. Average speed for first 18 laps was about 45kph! At that point I had managed to bully my way into the lead group by following aggressively in the sprinters lane and yelling at anyone trying to drop down in front of me. I then jumped over the lead rider to take a point and apparently managed to gap the lead group who where by that point running out of gas... Took about 5 laps. Again on a 50x14 which helped as I could keep up a good pace without going to high on cadence.

Alex Pope then bridged up and we swapped laps for (I think) another 4-5 laps. By that time we where slowing enough that the the rest of the leaders managed to catch us again. I took one more and then fell off and just tried to stay on their wheels..

After about 1 maybe 2 laps I started to feel that unpleasant thump of the valve stem on the rear and realized that I had a flat tire... At about 44kph... going around on the blue line hitting a 47 degree banked curve every 8-10 seconds... This was NOT a pleasant experience.... At least I was well back of the main leaders and didn't have too many other riders around me, so I was able to start yelling "FLAT!!!!!!" and start trying to maneuver down the track into the sprinters lane and then after about 2 laps onto the blue. Without taking anyone else out or crashing....


I had to leave early after the last race, so still don't know if exiting on a flat dis-qualified me.. I think I got 7 points... which should have got me a 3rd or 4th.. There where a few other riders (e.g. Mike Rathengaler) who also managed to get multiple lap points. But I don't think anyone was dominant enough to take much more than I got. I suspect that there where 4-5 riders each with about 5-6 or 7 points...

The last race was an Elimination-2-Scratch. In the rush to swap to my spare training wheel I neglected to change the cog... So was racing on a 50x15. I had basically burnt most (all) of my matches in the Point-a-lap... and it was very hard to keep from being eliminated... just couldn't spin up enough. I was at the back and had to keep attacking up and over. I did manage to stay in for 6. Interestingly if I had managed to stay on for (I think) just one more the scratch race was fairly sedate. Most of the heavy hitters like Tony Zachary had also dropped out.

The power numbers for the breakaway in the Point-a-Lap where reasonable for the time. Starting to feel like my summer TT (e.g. Ryder 8KTT) numbers. Still not as high. But subjectively feeling like I'm actually getting some performance. The Tuesday/Wednesday sessions are probably helping.

Off Front:

Duration: 3:10
Work: 73 kJ
TSS: 7.9 (intensity factor 1.226)
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Distance: 2.461 km
Elevation Gain: 2 m
Elevation Loss: 1 m
Grade: 0.0 % (0 m)
Min Max Avg
Power: 111 826 384 watts
Heart rate: 179 187 184 bpm
Cadence: 91 124 103 rpm
Speed: 41.1 56.3 46.6 kph
Pace 1:04 1:28 1:17 min/km
Altitude: 114 115 115 m
Crank Torque: 10.7 70.9 35.4 N-m
Temperature: 18 18 18.0 Celsius

This also corresponds nicely with what Hunter Allen and Andy Coggan describe as a "Race Winning Effort":

Race winning efforts- Do (5 to 8). Each begins with a 30 second sprint(15second out of the saddle) to begin with and you must average 600watts (200%) of your Threshold power in these first 30seconds with a peak of at least 900-1000watts(300%). Then 3minutes hammer at 300watts or 100% of your Threshold, and then finish with 10 sec burst at the end trying to reach 600-700watts.

I managed to hit 826 watts max, averaged 542 watts for the first 30 seconds, then 2:35 minutes at 353 average watts, with a 10 second burst hitting 655 watts and averaging 511 watts at the finish.

Of course it was a Point-a-lap, with still about 10 laps to go... and I was whacked... But I think it should have put me in the top 3.. barring flats.. :-(