Last Saturday night (June 1) was the first SKCC Track Training session since the recent success at the Victorian Track Titles here in Melbourne.

A small group of dedicated riders turned out to a cold and wet night of training and racing. The session consisted of a 30 lap warm up, followed by an entry plus 100m. Riders then came in, changed gears and went back out for four sprint Derby races and then a 30lap cool down. Two hours of riding with little breaks in between saw a number of riders pretty tired and fatigued at the end of the evening. Track riding is very intense, there is no freewheeling or just rolling around, it’s full on when you’re on the track.

Above – two SKCC riders preparing their bikes for the next race

Depending on the race can determine the gearing you race on. For track riding you cannot change gears once you go out to race, you have to think before how you are going to race and set your bike up for that race strategy. For this race they are preparing for the Derby, it’s a three lap race for three riders. It generally starts off slow with each of the riders watching each other as they ride slowly around the track then all hell breaks loose when one rider tries to break away and that’s when the fun begins. Riders then push each other around both up and down the track till one gets away from the others then it a sprint to the finish line.

 Above – three riders prepare for the fence start for the three lap Derby race

Above – a very close finish in the three lap Derby race.

Future SKCC Track and Training

The 20th July is the next SKCC Track training session between 6-8pm at Disc.

Booking is essential if you are planning to train with the club on this evening by emailing Ray Box at trackie11@bigpond.com. The program is likely to consist of a warm up (30 laps – 20-5-5) followed by tactical race moves to test different race situations in sprints and derby’s. After each race rider re-group and review lessons learnt on tactics that worked and what didn’t work for them during the last race.

Also, Blackburn Cycling Club are once again holding Track Madison Racing. This year SKCC track riders are being asked to think about entering teams for this event. SKCC has never entered a team is such a race but already a number of SKCC track riders are considering entering teams for this race. If you think this racing is for you please let us know on the email above.

Future track training sessions are planned for the following evenings. Generally after each training evening riders regroup at the local Pizza and Pasta restaurant for a late meal

• 20th July
• 17th August under the direction of Shane Kelly
• 21st August under the direction of Shane Kelly
• 19th September
• 12th October
• 19th October under the direction of Shane Kelly
• 9th November under the direction of Shane Kelly
• 30th November
• 21st December

Article compiled by Ray Box and the SKCC track riders