AN ASSET TO YOUR ROAD RACING

HH is a quite a different proposition to an indoor modern velodrome such as the 2012 Olympic velodrome at Lee Valley which is climate controlled, has wooden boards , has shorter circuits by 250M and has a 42 degree banking so a good deal steeper than HH. However, Herne Hill is accessible because of its location and cost to train there is relatively cheap.

Looking to ‘recycle’ I opted to build myself a track bike using an old TT frame. Both have horizontal drop outs allowing you to get the right tension on the chain, a road bike uses a derailure to provide chain tension. Track bikes are stripped back basic machines: a saddle, a frame, a fixed gear on a basic wheel set and a single speed chainset. There are no brakes and retardation comes from your legs and also using the banking of the track. 

Track cycling has long history starting around 1870. To this day it remains an exciting and dynamic sport with Olympic and World Championship races. There are many types of track races. Formats include a single rider racing the clock, two riders sprinting head to head for less than one minute, to mass start races with 10 or more riders racing for over 20 minutes. Sprinters are seen as a select breed of highly muscled and explosively fast riders while endurance racers have to have the right mix of power, strength, and stamina.

In recent years, riders like Bradley Wiggins, Mark Cavendish, Taylor Phinney, Rohan Dennis, and more have traded the velodrome for the open road. These riders have all commented that their track background has been a tremendous asset in their road racing. This begs the question of how could racing for one to four minutes on the track help to benefit road cycling where riders compete for four to six hours in a typical professional race. This is where structured training plans can aid a cyclist wanting to use track type workouts to develop their cycling skills, contact me to help you build this into your training.