Something I wrote a little while ago, but still totally relevant to any cyclist looking to improve their sprint or top-end speed:
GET REALLY FAST
So you want to get fast. Not just really fast, but Marcel Kittel fast. You’ve tried hill sprints, intervals and turbo sessions but still need something extra – what do you do?
You go old school. You do what Eddy Merckx did in his heyday, and what helped make Mark Cavendish, Greg Henderson and Stuart O’Grady great sprinters. You go to the track.
Traditionally track racing complimented a cyclist’s training and racing regime, honing their bike-handling skills and sharpening their top speed. It’s no accident that many of New Zealand’s top professionals came through the track programme, some continuing to race the boards during their road careers.
Kiwi greats Graeme Millar and Gary Anderson were both prolific on road and velodrome. More recently Greg Henderson rode in multiple Commonwealth and Olympic Games on the track between 1998 and 2008 while at the height of his road powers. Hayden Roulston won a silver and bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics for the individual and teams pursuit before signing for the Cervelo Test Team in 2009.
It used to be that track was raced in summer and road in winter. As road racing has slowly become a year round sport, there appears to be less crossover in that instead of competing in both disciplines, riders now tend to stick to one or the other.
This isn’t necessarily a good thing, says Cycling NZ’s Endurance Coach, Tim Carswell. Under his reign, members of the track team have a heavy road focus as well.
“The two compliment each other very well,” he says. “I would certainly encourage it the other way round too, it’s great fun and will add to your road racing.”
Other coaches agree. Former Olympian and professional road cyclist Peter Latham now trains ten riders and says leg speed and pedal style benefit greatly from regular track racing.
“It really helps develop a good cadence,” says Latham. “With a few exceptions, most professionals spin at a reasonably high rate. It also helps towards greater pedalling efficiency.”
“For example, an inefficient rider can be averaging 200 Watts but only ride 28km/h whereas an efficient pedaller with identical weight, aerodynamics, etc., averaging the same power could ride at 30km/h – this can make all the difference. The trick is to reduce the gap where there is no power going through the pedals, such as at the bottom of the downstroke. Fixed gear track bikes force you to keep the pressure on the pedals thus improving your style.”
Latham says race meetings are conducive to learning the winning edge.
“You get the chance to do a race, sit down, chat with the other riders and perhaps analyse where things didn’t go well. Then in 15 minutes you have a chance to do it again and fix the error. With road you may have to wait a few weeks between races, and then, boom, you make the same mistake.”
Latham like many used a successful track career as a springboard to the professional road racing scene which has been the standard for many kiwi cyclists over the years.
Says Carswell, “Nearly all of our current and recent pros went through that pathway: Jesse Sergent, Sam Bewley, Julian Dean, Greg Henderson, Hayden Roulston, Tim Gudsell and Peter Latham.”
“It’s the best way to get an early taste of international racing. Track and road go hand in hand as a young rider. The process normally follows a path of junior worlds, then stepping up to senior track worlds and on to top flight road racing from there.”
This is all well and good for the nation’s best, but how can track racing help you shave 10 minutes from the everyday cyclist’s Taupo time, or boost your performance in club races?
“Track is great for your top end power for sprinting and also for your power across the 2-10 minute range,” says Carswell. “On the road, this is useful for having the strength to drive it in the gutter in the crosswinds and as most of the climbing in New Zealand is within this range, there is a definite crossover.”
Ross O’Brien, Wellington’s Port Nicholson Poneke Cycling Club Track Convener agrees and says that training sessions and race meets mean you get multiple opportunities to hone your sprint and make top end efforts.
“With road racing, you’ll have one shot at a sprint at the end, whereas at our weekly summer racing series, Speed League, there’ll be a minimum of four races per grade and some events are structured so that there are sprints at regular intervals,” says O’Brien. “Race meets generally only last two hours but you will get the chance to make a number of maximum efforts and when you’re racing a bunch of other guys, you really do push that bit harder.”
It’s also a social thing, O’Brien says. “There are breaks between races where you can chat to your fellow riders. We tend to get a broad range of abilities and ages and we all try to learn from each other.”
There are certainly a number of preconceptions about track racing that may be putting some roadies off giving it a go, concern about accidents and the cost and effort of getting set up being just two.
“I can’t speak for other tracks, but at Wellington, we have had just two crashes per season for the past two years,” says O’Brien. “That’s over 17 weeks of racing with at least 12 races across three grades per week. Crashing happens, it’s part of cycle racing but track does offer a relatively safe environment to race away from New Zealand’s drivers.”
Track bikes are nothing like expensive as their road equivalents and a decent second hand machine should only cost a few hundred dollars (see sidebar), and while the newer indoor wooden velodromes in Cambridge and Invercargill require new riders to attend inductions, most others will have a more relaxed approach and will be only too keen to show newbies the ropes.
It may take a bit of time, but adding a bit of track to the mix will make you quicker, and who knows, you may just enjoy it.
Says Tim Carswell: “Do it. Its great fun, it will compliment your road racing and who knows you may find your calling and be our next Olympic or World Championship medallist on the track.”
STARTING TRACK
It may look a bit scary from the top of a banking, but getting into track racing is simple. Most clubs associated with velodromes run beginner sessions and have rental bikes to try out. New Zealand’s two wooden tracks in Invercargill and Cambridge both offer induction classes.
Track bikes themselves are not expensive – you’ll get change from $1000 for a decent rig – and it’s not necessary to have the latest carbon fibre super machine to be competitive.
As well as training times, most tracks run racing throughout the summer months consisting of three or four races per grade, each one varying between a few seconds and 10 minutes in length. There are numerous races that suit different types of rider such as fast and furious match sprints or Keirins, to straight forward scratch races or the more tactical points or elimination races.
The Cycling NZ (www.cyclingnewzealand.nz) site has plenty of info on how to get going, while Wellington’s PNP club has a good list of race types (www.pnp.org.nz/track/getting-started/types-of-races/)
Cycle Wire 