Over the four weeks I did a total of four track leagues with three on Tuesday and one on a Thursday.
Here’s how the went:
Starting off with the first one on the 19th of November
Scratch 25laps - this was my first track race of the year so i treated this one as a warm up finding my where are you around the track and getting myself familiar with the sort of riders and abilities I was up against which after ten laps I got into a rhythm of going to the front controlling the pace then peeling to the back and analysing the pace but when at the front you miss the crucial moves that happen and on two laps laps to go a break went and I had to chase on and finished 8th in the end a good warm up for the next three races to come.
Reverse win out - so this race can get very confusing at times so you have to be on top of your game every second. If you don’t know what this race is about every three laps a bell is rung and only the first person that crosses the line pulls out and gets 10th and then the next rider to get first across the line after 3 laps gets 9th until the final sprint for 1st is decided the remaining laps after that is for for the sprint for eleventh and so on. Coming into this race is was a bit fatigued after the first race and tried to get the first sprint but just missed out but a few inches to the first rider and sat in for the rest of the sprints and unfortunately rolled in out side of the top ten a learning curve for this race and definitely will be planning out what I’ll do better.
Elimination - if your not familiar with the term “elimination” its when after every second lap the last rider across the line gets Essentially eliminated and gets pulled out of the race until there is only 3 riders left to battle out for one lap this is my favourite race out of the four as you need to use you head and mind games to figure out where you are in the pack and not to get boxed in I came in at 5th being boxed in as I should of moved out a little bit more to get through the gap.
Points 40 laps- coming into the final race of the night my legs were screaming after the elimination but with lots of recovery and a warm up I decided to go for the first points and I got some points and drifted to the middle and hovered to the front and managed to not get lapped and with the points I picked up at the beginning I got 16th.
The next week was going to be a double night being on the Tuesday and Thursday:
26th of November:
Scratch 25laps - with coming back from school I miss judged the timing and mistakenly arrived five minutes before my race which is not always good as my legs were a bit stiff and tried but none the less I got stuck in using the first five laps to warm up pressing on at the front and following some moves but that took a toll on my legs and squeezed the last ten percent of energy and rolled in at 13th which for me was a disappointment but lessons were learnt.
Reverse Win out: using what I learnt from the recent night I decided to launch a attack on the second lap to secure my chances of getting in the top ten and I managed to get a gap with three other riders but what I was a bit confused about is they let me get the next sprint weirdly but afterwards I clocked on that they wanted to get the better places and I got 9th in that one.
Elimination- this night was a it more trickier as there was more big adults racing and there was little me spinning away fitting through gaps and the odd elbow I rolled in at 6th and next time I’m going to try and be a bit more aggressive with the other riders and not let them through any gaps.
Points - coming into this I planned to get the first points third points and last points meaning I had 20 laps to rest and recover which kind of worked but didn’t. I got the first points and thought no one would counter but they did and 5 riders got away and gained a lap but I didn’t take the risk and sat in to get the last points and finished in 10th
On the Wednesday of the week I was refuelling and foam rolling as I knew I was one of the few people in my group doing both nights so had to recover quicker.
Thursday the 28th of November:
Before the races started lots of people was being held up on the motorway which didn’t affect me as I live 10min away from the velodrome but the whole of group A wasn’t there so there was only group B and C which meant that there was about 5 min of rest before the next race which was disappointing but great training it was like interval training on and off and the races were longer.
Scratch 30laps - in this race I was vigilant and was looking everywhere to find the strongest rider and it was this guy that was controlling the race from the front so I tested his legs. Y attacking and it seemed that he had the energy to bridge gaps and go beyond and I rolled in the sprint at 6th
Reverse win out - after so many efforts to sprint and just getting piped off at the line my legs blew up and I came in outside the crucial top ten which was very disappointing as I am running a 52 x 49 compared to the other adults on a 54 but what can I say it’s good experience and it’s not always the bike that wins the races!
Elimination- coming off the track and reflecting on the previous race I had a goal to get in the top 5 and I was controlling the race from the beginning moving up and down the pack watching everything that happened and nearly got out early but I managed to lay off the pace and get over the top which burnt a few matches but I got 4th in the end which I’m very happy with and lifted my moral up.
Points 50 laps - coming into the final race of the year was good I tried a lot of new stuff managed to get into some breaks but my legs were struggling to keep on the constant pace as I’m used to a effort of about 15min then rest and go again but what I’m now training to keep a high pace for the longer races I’ll be doing next year.
It’s been an amazing 3 blocks of 12 races and will be crucial for helping my road season next year and will be kicking it off with trying to get my cat 2 license at the out door track at Lee valley and I’ll be keeping you guys informed 👍
These are some photos from the nights📸
