your racing 'style', did you choose it or did your 'bodytype' chose if for you?

kumate_champ07

Im not a roadie but track riders are also split into different groups,

probably 3 different kinds.

A) pure sprinter good for max of 1km high pace ,match sprint+keirin, mainly specialists so on the national scene theres not many, here they do scratch races too but will get dropped when enduros decide to lift the pace early and hard

all rounder with a decent sprint at last lap in a scratch, omnium riders, team pursuit man 1


C) ,pure endurance , will try make a gap in a scratch race and hold it to the end, good pursuiters,

I was A with a little B, but now want to move to B/C. problem is Im physically 'A' but I enjoy scratch races more. I can 'easily' gain the endurance but my frame is about as aerodynamic as Dublin Bus

anyone else going against the grain?

for track if youre a sprinter and you do a match sprint, its seeded and you race against someone whos faster/slower than you. the guy/girl who is 0.3 seconds faster over 200m will win 9/10 times, your race is over quickly and theres rarely any surprises. I like how a scratch race is anyones game, theres a few potenital winners and they can make 1 or 2 mistakes and still be in contention. its not purely a stats game.

Beasty

I'm pretty much the same height and weight as Chris Hoy, but I "chose" TT'ing and pursuiting ahead of sprinting. That was partly because when I took up this racing lark I didn't like the idea of racing in groups, and TBH when I've been up against world class sprinters (in my age cat) on the track I've been very intimidated. Given my current (physical) state I think I would still choose the "safer" option, but have seen some improvement in sprinting ability over the winter (partly bacause of specific training) - alas that's probably gone with the crash, but in terms of my "physique" I should probably do better in the shorter disciplines.

Hmmzis

Not sure what build I am as regards to rider types but I seem to be able to get the shorter efforts 'easier' at higher paces. My TTing isn't crap but it's also not great, sprinting seems to be better and crits seem to suit me well. Can't climb to save my life, anything above 6% for more than a few minutes and I'm done. I weigh 78-79kg and my height is 179-180cm (depending if it's morning or evening).

kumate_champ07

@beasty
did you get a chance to do any team pursuit?

endacl

Beasty wrote: »

I'm pretty much the same height and weight as Chris Hoy, but I "chose" TT'ing and pursuiting ahead of sprinting. That was partly because when I took up this racing lark I didn't like the idea of racing in groups, and TBH when I've been up against world class sprinters (in my age cat) on the track I've been very intimidated. Given my current (physical) state I think I would still choose the "safer" option, but have seen some improvement in sprinting ability over the winter (partly bacause of specific training) - alas that's probably gone with the crash, but in terms of my "physique" I should probably do better in the shorter disciplines.

Yeah. Stop crashing. Bad for any physique!

How's the recovery?

On topic....
Back when I raced (many moons ago....), in fact, when I first got into cycling as a bona fide Child of Roche, I never even considered the question. At a lanky 6'4" - for the old-timers, picture an Edwig Van Hooydonck kinda shape - I couldn't figure out why I always got dropped on the climbs, I trained as much as the others, or why I'd leave many of them standing in a sprint - they trained as much as me!

They question of body type never really occurred to me. I wonder if it might have made any difference. Spins were spins and training was training. Nobody really specialized, that I would have been aware of anyway.

Darkglasses

Not a trackie or even a racer but regardless. Same height and weight as Alejandro Valverde. Sadly, I'm not Alejandro Valverde. But I am slightly less rubbish going up short steep stuff than anything else. I'd say it's 50:50 between having the right bodyshape and having the right technique.

Beasty

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

@beasty
did you get a chance to do any team pursuit?

Not proper team TT'ing but I've come pretty close in some of the "taster" sessions in Manchester. One session on a THursday morning is usually very fast with 3 or 4 of us basically line lapping almost in Team pursuit format (although a couple of us can stick it out for the full hour)

I actually like the format as with proper changing you really can recover by sticking an inch or two behind the wheel in front

no1murray

Im 80 kg and 180 cm. I can climb well, I can TT, and my sprint isnt bad. Racing in ireland is for allrounders. Dont think any of the climbs are long enough in the average sunday race to suit a pure tiny climber.

lennymc

Is a lot of it not down to genetics - some people have huge explosive power but lower long term power (good for sprints) whereas other people have poor explosive power, but good long term power (good for pursuits)

Harrybelafonte

lennymc wrote: »

Is a lot of it not down to genetics - some people have huge explosive power but lower long term power (good for sprints) whereas other people have poor explosive power, but good long term power (good for pursuits)

Genetics only come into the equation at elite level afaik.

There's an interesting body-type concept out there in relation to size and metabolic rate, but I'd argue that most thinks for people at our level can be trained and improved.

RockWerchter

Am about as explosive as a wet match. 6"3 and 79kg. Really need to work on explosiveness, no point being able to ride in breaks if you can't finish it off, I find that I suffer more on the road than the track in this regard though.

Just to give an idea of track performance (from 2013 nat. omnium);
Flying 250: 16.819s
4km Pursuit: 5.14.49min

And just on the aerodynamics front, being big is not a hindrance, on a flat track power to frontal area ration is much more important than anything else, this number tends to be higher for larger riders.

cycleoin86

At the moment I'm best suited to downhills (182cm, 90Kgs )

petethedrummer

Physiology picked style for me.

I've been the same since a child; average endurance, above average sprinting, below average recovery.

My physiology suits a GAA corner forward/back. For road racing I have to wheel suck to not get dropped and hope I have something left for the sprint.

Chips Lovell

And what a sprint it is!

n-dawg

Im 6ft, 70kg... definitely a C type rider.

On the track I've done all right in pursuits (individual and team) but love a nice tough points race... the harder the better. When in doubt attack is my normal tacit.

In road races hills are my friend. I normally find the pace the bunch will climb at quite easy and can normally get off the front on a climb without too much trouble.

I would guess you should be able to do well in scratch races, all it takes is good positioning in the bunch. If you know of a rider who never leaves a gap goes with all the right moves etc. sit on their wheel. Never work on the front, always swing up within 25m. You should be able to get to the finish in the main group and kill all us type Cs in the sprint.

on_the_nickel

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Genetics only come into the equation at elite level afaik.

There's an interesting body-type concept out there in relation to size and metabolic rate, but I'd argue that most thinks for people at our level can be trained and improved.

F*ck that, I need someone to blame and if that has to be my parents, so be it.

Harrybelafonte

I think part of this dynamic is that we're not all good at what we want to be good at. Most newbies to the track (I find) want to be sprinters. It's fast, exciting and a massive adrenaline rush. After awhile they realise they may not be as explosive as they thought and get discouraged and a lot never show again. But, at the same time, they may have shown promise in bunch races or the pursuit. They're just not the races they want to be good at. I race a decent elimination, but man do I hate that race and the odd win doesn't ease my hatred for it. Points race I suck at, but boy would I like to win one.

Ultimately, many of us, including myself, fall foul of self prophecy or actualisation or whatever I can call it. If one adopts the attitude that one's not a sprinter or a climber we never actually try and improve that facet or we do so half-heartedly. Why work on something you're never going to excel at? I'd suggest most of us could be all rounders with one ability we excel at: climbing, sprinting or TTing, but we can all work on the other abilities.

As someone said earlier, no race in Ireland would need Contador like climbing abilities to win, which in a way is pretty cool. We all have a chance then.

n-dawg

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

If one adopts the attitude that one's not a sprinter or a climber we never actually try and improve that facet or we do so half-heartedly.

I think this sums it up quite well... I love climbing training because I'm good at it. Therefore I put in a big effort and improve.

I hate sprint training because I'm crap at it so don't give it the time/effort it deserves.

Caroline_ie

I'm pretty mediocre at cycling overall, but I am particularly rubbish at climbing.

Brian?

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

I think part of this dynamic is that we're not all good at what we want to be good at. Most newbies to the track (I find) want to be sprinters. It's fast, exciting and a massive adrenaline rush. After awhile they realise they may not be as explosive as they thought and get discouraged and a lot never show again. But, at the same time, they may have shown promise in bunch races or the pursuit. They're just not the races they want to be good at. I race a decent elimination, but man do I hate that race and the odd win doesn't ease my hatred for it. Points race I suck at, but boy would I like to win one.

Ultimately, many of us, including myself, fall foul of self prophecy or actualisation or whatever I can call it. If one adopts the attitude that one's not a sprinter or a climber we never actually try and improve that facet or we do so half-heartedly. Why work on something you're never going to excel at? I'd suggest most of us could be all rounders with one ability we excel at: climbing, sprinting or TTing, but we can all work on the other abilities.

As someone said earlier, no race in Ireland would need Contador like climbing abilities to win, which in a way is pretty cool. We all have a chance then.

I'm terrible at climbing so every training spin is hilly. Something I learned for power lifting is to always train your weaknesses harder than your strengths. Mill never be a mountain goat because of my size, but I'm improving at climbing.

Amprodude

Im a good climber. Im not a great sprinter. I have the power in the hills to drop the bunch but they will always catch me and get past me on the straights. It sucks.

kumate_champ07

sprinting is bloody hard! so much work in the gym all for such a short race, and theres not many sprints in the leagues. track cycling is still pretty small in Ireland so theres alot more endurance based racing which can be frustrating when all you want is to go flat out till you empty the tank, then sit down and eat cake

with the right diet, training, technique, anyone under the age of 40 can hit a 12.3 second flying 200m at sundrive if thats what they want, with a few solid years 11.6 is possible. quicker than that and you start to get into genetics. thats my opinion anyway

nak

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

sprinting is bloody hard! so much work in the gym all for such a short race, and theres not many sprints in the leagues. track cycling is still pretty small in Ireland so theres alot more endurance based racing which can be frustrating when all you want is to go flat out till you empty the tank, then sit down and eat cake

It is a pity, I've never had the chance to do a 2 up match sprint at Sundrive. Not enough time to do it on league nights. Not as keen on the endurance races either.

colm_gti

I don't think I've been riding a bike long enough to know what class I fall into, sprinter is probably the least likely.

Beasty

Funnily enough I had been looking forward to returning to the track this summer having placed quite a bit of emphasis on some of the shorter stuff over the winter. It was more directed towards the pursuit (which let's face it is still a relatively short 2km for me), but I definitely feel as if I had picked up some additional sprinting speed that I wanted to test out. Tactiiclly I would have remained very vaive and would certainly have remained prone to being caught on the line as my tendency has always been to attack from a little further out, but again I was hoping to improve the tactics by simply getting some races in. Of course it's a little up in the air now, but assuming I can get some track league nights in it may well be that I will hopefaully have retained some of my ability over the shorter events (as I accept that given the time I'm going to be off the bikes endurance may take a little longer to regain)