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Track (Velodrome) Riding

We are lucky to have our own velodrome at Marymoor Park (click here if you want to learn about or be part of a proposal to bring an indoor velodrome and climbing, kayaking, etc facility to Magnuson Park) On this shallow (relatively speaking) 25 degree 400M track you can ride a fixed gear bike without brakes. It's a load of fun and it's great for building your riding skills and honing pedaling mechanics for road, mountain, and cyclocross racing. See the Marymoor Velodrome Association web page for the summer racing schedule. Contact Coach Mike if you want to learn how to ride the track, hone your skills, or learn tactics and strategy from a world champion and three time medalist.

References:
Velodrome Glossary of Terms
Etiquette for riding at Marymoor
U.S. Cycling Federation (USCF) rules http://www.usacycling.org/rulebooks/uscf_rulebook_section2.pdf
International Cycling Union (UCI) rules http://www.uci.ch/english/about/rules/ch03_track.pdf
Test your knowledge (prerequisite to basic skills class required to race - and very informative and entertaining)

Links:
Everything track: http://fixedgearfever.com/

Interactive Pace and Gear Charts

meINNOVATIONS interactive gear and pace charts help you find the right gear, right cadence, and right target lap time for peak performance. Standard track lengths for Burnaby (200M), Manchester (250M), Alpenrose (268.43M), the Olympic Training Center (333M), and Marymoor (400M) are listed on the pace chart along with standard, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 40K distances.

Here's the real value though: Each person's start lap is a little bit different for different people, different length races, and even different gears. Simply change the "start=" value from 4.5 seconds to your target time. The interactive gear chart allows you to input the exact circumference of your tire. 27" is used for most gear charts, but lightweight 220psi Tufo track tires only roll out to 26.2" — 24" for a 650 wheel. To determine your true tire diameter, pump up your tire to max psi, put a measuring tape on the floor of your garage, and make a tick on the tire. Now get on the bike, carefully roll forward one revolution of the rear tire along the measuring tape and note the exact circumference in inches. Input this value the highlighted "Circum" cell of the True Tire diameters section of the gear chart. This will allow you to find your true cadence or determine the gear to use for a target time using your personal optimum cadence (world class pursuiters usually target 107RPM).

To determine your exact cadence for a particular race you can simply change one of the gear inch values on the pace chart to the true gear inch value from the gear chart and cross reference your finish time with your true gear inches. As an example of why this is important, conventional knowledge would tell you that a 48/14 chainring/cog combination is a 92.6" gear on a 700C wheel. However, for most track tires it would be closer to 90, a significant difference. Use these charts to determine your optimum cadence from previous races, tests, or training sessions then use them to pick the right gear and targeted lap splits for any lap or race length.
 

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Last modified: May 16, 2005