A Cycling & bikes forum. CycleBanter.com

Go Back   Home » CycleBanter.com forum » Regional Cycling » Australia
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Cyclist's International Cup & Sid Patterson Grand Prix - Sat 28th February - Vodaphone Arena



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old February 25th 04, 04:25 AM
hippy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Cyclist's International Cup & Sid Patterson Grand Prix - Sat 28th February - Vodaphone Arena

CYCLIST'S INTERNATIONAL CUP
& SID PATTERSON GRAND PRIX
Including the 'Men's Victoria Keirin Championship'

7pm
Saturday 28th February
Vodafone Arena

A double feature event reviving the Cyclist International Cup whilst
also honouring the legend of cycling great Sid Patterson.

The night's main events include:
Men's Victoria Keirin Championship
Match races
Sprint races
Motor pace events
Scratch races
Invitation events
and more!

International riders Erik Weispfennig and Cristian Lademann, who will be
riding the Bendigo Madison Championship in March, will be making an
appearance on the night. Weispfennig will feature in a Derny Race
against Tim Decker.

The night will also feature a Sprint Match race between two of Victorias
and Australia's hottest young cyclists, Shane Perkins and Daniel
Thorsen. Shane has recently been selected to represent Australia at the
upcoming Moscow World Cup and Daniel represented Australia at the 2003
World Junior Track Championships in Moscow and returned with 2 medals.

This is the 2nd last Cyclist's International event at Vodafone for the
03/04 season, so come along and see some great cycling action.

Melbourne is hosting the 2004 World Track Cycling Championships at
Vodafone Arena in May, so for a taste of great cycling action before
then, make sure you get to Vodafone Arena on February 28 for this great
night of cycling.

Tickets from Ticketek on 132 849 or at the door.
For more information please contact Barry Langley on 03 9525 1318.

hippy


Ads
  #2  
Old February 25th 04, 05:10 AM
Hitchy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Cyclist's International Cup & Sid Patterson Grand Prix - Sat 28th February - Vodaphone Arena

G'day

& will we be seeing a recent track 'convert' by the name of 'Hippy'

cheers

Hitch


-


  #3  
Old February 25th 04, 05:43 AM
hippy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Cyclist's International Cup & Sid Patterson Grand Prix - Sat 28th February - Vodaphone Arena

"Hitchy" wrote in message
...
& will we be seeing a recent track 'convert' by the name of 'Hippy'?


I will most likely be there... spectating/photographing.. I
don't think they'd let a newbie like me on the track with
guys/gals that can actually ride fast! :-)

I've been to the last two big track events at Vodaphone
and they've both been great fun - I recommend everyone
give it a look.

hippy


  #4  
Old February 25th 04, 07:10 AM
cfsmtb
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Cyclist's International Cup & Sid Patterson Grand Prix - Sat 28th February - Vodaphone Arena

hey, hippy, have you got photos of the Austral posted somewhere? (ie: the ones you took with the Big Camera


-


  #5  
Old February 25th 04, 03:00 PM
Geoff
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Cyclist's International Cup & Sid Patterson Grand Prix - Sat 28th February - Vodaphone Arena


"hippy" wrote in message
...
"Hitchy" wrote in message
...
& will we be seeing a recent track 'convert' by the name of 'Hippy'?


I will most likely be there... spectating/photographing.. I
don't think they'd let a newbie like me on the track with
guys/gals that can actually ride fast! :-)

I've been to the last two big track events at Vodaphone
and they've both been great fun - I recommend everyone
give it a look.

hippy


Hippy,

Agreed, track cycling events at Vodafone Arena are great fun to watch.
I'll be there but as a competitor. I'll be the guy in the Richmond Cyclery
colours riding the white/blue FORT bike in the D grade races. I can assure
you that I am not that fast but hey, that's why handicaps and graded racing
exist. It's so that everyone slow or fast has a reasonable chance to win.

To give you an idea of how close you are to riding at one of these events
I'll tell you my story.
I started racing Crits in September 2002. I then took up track racing at
about this time last year and had my first ride on Vodafone Arena in March
2003. It was the Mens Masters (Class 2/3 combined) Victorian 10Km Scratch
Championships, my first ever proper scratch race on the track.

Prior to that my only previous racing was one Wed night at Brunswick in the
presence of some pretty elite company (ie Will and John Walker) which made
me realise how fast I really wasn't. Unfortunately on that same night I
crashed during an elimination race (my mistake and a big dose of experience
was gained). The bike escaped with just a couple of scrapes on the bars. I
ended up suffering from a broken right thumb which, for a few months, left
me unable to ride my road bike and race crits (a bit of a problem with using
the brakes). Luckily I could still ride the track bike in relative comfort
so my summer season was not completely over (You don't need or have brakes
on the track).

Anyway getting back to Vodafone Arena.
Although I was unable to hold on for the whole 10Kms I was pretty satisfied
with my ride. Most of the other riders in the race I knew raced A and B
Grade club crits and at that point in time I had only just started riding C
grade crits after moving up from D grade so I knew I was probably a little
out of my depth here. In the end I finished around 650m behind the winner
and about 100m behind the guy in front of me. But best of all, I didn't
finish last I think the winning time was just over 12min 30seconds. The
initial speed at which the race started took me by compete surprise. The
first few laps were timed at low to mid 17s. I just could not hold this
pace and started dropping back into the 19s and low 20s.

Now I'll tell you what the best bit of the day was.
I arrived nice and early so that I could get some experience and gain some
feel for the track. Prior to this day the steepest banking I had ever
ridden was at Brunswick (Slightly steeper than Blackburn). The whole arena
was deserted except for a couple of other people out in the middle. There
was no sound as both the ventilation and sound system were switched off at
this time. I rolled out onto the track to do a couple of laps. As I did I
could hear this sound that I had never heard before. It was the sound of
the timber creaking beneath my wheels which was echoing in the silence of
the moment. The thought that went through my mind was something along the
lines of "WOW". As I gained speed the sound of the creaking timber was
replaced by the sound of the wind screaming past my ears. As I gained even
more speed I realised that the bends in the track melted away giving the
illusion that I was riding in a continuous straight line. This sensation is
definitely something to be experienced.

This year I started the track season with a winter of road training behind
me but still not a lot of racing experience. I had always wanted to do a
"Melbourne Cup on Wheels" but decided against this for this year due to lack
of handicap racing experience. I decided that the Austral would be my first
major handicap race on the track for the season. As preparation for this I
did a couple of Saturday race meets at Blackburn. I then targeted the
Bendigo and Shepparton Christmas carnivals (handicap races galore). From
doing this I was able get an idea for how to tactically go about riding this
type of race and got valuable experience. I also took part in the Vic Metro
Championships (MMAS2/3/4 combined) in all four disciplines. I was a first
timer in all but the scratch race so everything was new to me. To my
surprise I ended up with a Bronze Medal in the 2000m Pursuit. I will now be
giving the all of Vic State Titles a go and may even make the trip up to
Sydney to the Australian Masters National Titles in April. (Do you think
I'm hooked) I will also be riding in this weekends Sid Patterson Meet at
Vodafone Arena

So Hippy my advise to you is if you don't currently feel comfortable riding
a club level handicap then you are probably not quite ready to attempt a
major track event, such as the Austral etc, this year. I would recommend
you start looking at what you want to achieve next season and then look at
how you can get the experience required. At this time of year, as I
discovered last year, with Championships happening there is not a lot of
quality club racing around. The numbers turning up for club track meets are
a fraction of what they are prior to the month of February. If you are
really hungry to get a ride on Vodafone you probably have 2 opportunities.
The first is the Vic Time Trial Champs (if you are an Elite the distance is
1000m). The second is the Vic Sprint Championships (200m qualifying round
followed by match sprints if you qualify). Entries for these two close on
Monday 1st March. There is also the Vic Senior(Elite) Points Race Champs but
at the level you are currently at you are going to be way out of your depth
if you attempted this one. Time Trials and Sprint qualifying are individual
events so you are only racing against the clock. Even if you don't set the
world on fire with your times this year you can always look back and say to
yourself that you actually rode in a State Title Event on the boards of
Vodafone Arena.

Geoff


  #6  
Old February 25th 04, 11:15 PM
hippy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 2004 Austral Pix (was: Cyclist's International Cup)

"cfsmtb" wrote in message
...
hey, hippy, have you got photos of the Austral posted somewhere? (ie:

the ones you took with the Big Camera)

I do now:
http://www.thehippy.net/Cycling/2004Austral/

I wasn't going to post these because I wasn't
happy with them at all. I was using a much
higher ISO than at the MCOW which made
the images way too noisy after any cropping.
Also, I shot jpeg and not RAW which meant
any exposure correction lost quality. These
images are uncorrected, hence some really
underexposed ones. I could tweak them in
Photoshop but they're not worth the effort
IMHO.
Next time I will try and get closer to the track,
use lower ISO (maybe 400 or 800), use the
flash and play with shutter speeds. Any other
tips, most welcome :-)

hippy


  #7  
Old February 26th 04, 06:24 AM
hippy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Cyclist's International Cup & Sid Patterson Grand Prix - Sat 28th February - Vodaphone Arena

"Geoff" wrote in message
...
Agreed, track cycling events at Vodafone Arena are great fun to watch.
I'll be there but as a competitor. I'll be the guy in the Richmond

Cyclery
colours riding the white/blue FORT bike in the D grade races.


I'll try and keep an eye out for you. It's unlikely, but I'll try and
get
some shots of you in action. I'm not good enough to pick out riders
early enough to snap 'em ;-)

Will the D grade races be outlined in the program? I've never bought
one before, that's all.

I started racing Crits in September 2002. I then took up track racing

at
about this time last year and had my first ride on Vodafone Arena in

March
2003. It was the Mens Masters (Class 2/3 combined) Victorian 10Km

Scratch
Championships, my first ever proper scratch race on the track.


I've not raced on the track yet - only Blackburn training sessions so
far.
I've been on/off crit racing for a couple of years now. You are
obviously
pretty good/keen, going from starting out to Vodaphone in ~7 months.

Prior to that my only previous racing was one Wed night at Brunswick

in the
presence of some pretty elite company (ie Will and John Walker) which

made
me realise how fast I really wasn't. Unfortunately on that same night

I
crashed during an elimination race (my mistake and a big dose of

experience
was gained). The bike escaped with just a couple of scrapes on the

bars. I
ended up suffering from a broken right thumb which, for a few months,

left

What was the mistake? If you tell me now, maybe I can avoid copying you?
:-)

Anyway getting back to Vodafone Arena.
Although I was unable to hold on for the whole 10Kms I was pretty

satisfied
with my ride. Most of the other riders in the race I knew raced A and

B
Grade club crits and at that point in time I had only just started

riding C
grade crits after moving up from D grade so I knew I was probably a

little
out of my depth here. In the end I finished around 650m behind the

winner
and about 100m behind the guy in front of me. But best of all, I

didn't
finish last I think the winning time was just over 12min

30seconds. The
initial speed at which the race started took me by compete surprise.

The
first few laps were timed at low to mid 17s. I just could not hold

this
pace and started dropping back into the 19s and low 20s.


12:30 for 10k... damn, I've got some work to do!
How long is the track at Vodaphone?
I didn't realise there was racing at Vodaphone for anyone under
A grade level except for the junior races which were invitational.
Does that mean anyone could do some club races and then enter
themselves in races at Vodaphone?
I don't plan to do this, just curious. Track basically stops over
winter right? Other than sneaking down there on dry days, does
anyone do any track work over winter that doesn't involve indoor
training? I don't want to lose all my recently acquired "skills"...

I arrived nice and early so that I could get some experience and gain

some
feel for the track. Prior to this day the steepest banking I had ever
ridden was at Brunswick (Slightly steeper than Blackburn).


I have to get some experience on other tracks too...

As preparation for this I
did a couple of Saturday race meets at Blackburn.


What are those Sat races like? I'm thinking about going this Sat..
What sort of races do they usually run? Many people?

So Hippy my advise to you is if you don't currently feel comfortable

riding
a club level handicap then you are probably not quite ready to attempt

a
major track event, such as the Austral etc, this year.


No, like I said above, I've never raced and never actually considered
that I might be able to race at Voda. I guess it will depend on how I
go in club races as to whether I even continue track racing. The
training
is awesome fun though, so unless I make a regular habit of crashing or
losing, I don't see why I wouldn't continue on the track.

I would recommend
you start looking at what you want to achieve next season and then

look at
how you can get the experience required. At this time of year, as I
discovered last year, with Championships happening there is not a lot

of
quality club racing around. The numbers turning up for club track

meets are
a fraction of what they are prior to the month of February.


Goal setting? What's that? ;-) All I want to do is give myself an
oppurtunity to win something else - track is much more suited to
my physiology (fat bugger, likes sprinting). I've really on just
touched the surface of track racing and didn't even know what
a wheelrace was 3 weeks ago!

The first is the Vic Time Trial Champs (if you are an Elite the

distance is
1000m).


I'm certainly no "elite" but my licence says "Elite"...

The second is the Vic Sprint Championships (200m qualifying round
followed by match sprints if you qualify). Entries for these two

close on
Monday 1st March.


What time is needed to qualify?

There is also the Vic Senior(Elite) Points Race Champs but
at the level you are currently at you are going to be way out of your

depth
if you attempted this one. Time Trials and Sprint qualifying are

individual
events so you are only racing against the clock. Even if you don't

set the
world on fire with your times this year you can always look back and

say to
yourself that you actually rode in a State Title Event on the boards

of
Vodafone Arena.


I think I'll settle for some more club-level experience first :-)

Thanks VERY much for your story. You seem to have taken to track
like a duck to a couple of hydrogen molecules and an oxygen
molecule. It'd be nice to think I could replicate your effort, but I'm
a slow learner (at least when we're talking bike racing). I might try
and put in more of a showing this year during the road season and do
the ergo sessions that Blackburn runs (if they let me). Meantime, I'll
race crits and fit in any further track stuff I can find.

cheers!
hippy


  #8  
Old February 26th 04, 09:14 AM
Andrew Swan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Cyclist's International Cup & Sid Patterson Grand Prix - Sat28th February - Vodaphone Arena

Geoff wrote:
Hippy,

To give you an idea of how close you are to riding at one of these events
I'll tell you my story.

cool story snipped

Geoff


Fascinating reading - thanks for sharing.

&roo

(P.S. maybe you could write a senryu about the amazing sensations when
alone on the track!)

  #9  
Old February 26th 04, 02:10 PM
Geoff
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Cyclist's International Cup & Sid Patterson Grand Prix - Sat 28th February - Vodaphone Arena


"hippy" wrote in message
...
"Geoff" wrote in message
...
Agreed, track cycling events at Vodafone Arena are great fun to watch.
I'll be there but as a competitor. I'll be the guy in the Richmond

Cyclery
colours riding the white/blue FORT bike in the D grade races.


I'll try and keep an eye out for you. It's unlikely, but I'll try and
get
some shots of you in action.


Don't forget to get some snaps of your fellow Blackburn riders as well.
There's quite a few of them riding. (btw I'm a St Kilda CC member)

I'm not good enough to pick out riders
early enough to snap 'em ;-)


Agreed. It can be hard to take pic of object moving at speeds 45km/h

The lighting in VA can also make pics difficult to snap.


Will the D grade races be outlined in the program? I've never bought
one before, that's all.


The races listed in the program will most likely not actually state the
grades but the entry lists on the Cyclesport Victoria website will. Usually
for a Vodaphone arena event there are four grades ie Elite, B, C and D. For
the rider a program is a neccessity for planning your warmups, and knowing
how much time you have to do things like change gears and rest. As a
spectator you can probably get away without one except in the case of a
madision where there is a page to record the points (in a running total
format) won by each team. Knowing this info can make the race much easier
to watch. Personally when I'm spectating I like to know who is racing so I
alway get a program.



I started racing Crits in September 2002. I then took up track racing

at
about this time last year and had my first ride on Vodafone Arena in

March
2003. It was the Mens Masters (Class 2/3 combined) Victorian 10Km

Scratch
Championships, my first ever proper scratch race on the track.


I've not raced on the track yet - only Blackburn training sessions so
far.
I've been on/off crit racing for a couple of years now. You are
obviously
pretty good/keen, going from starting out to Vodaphone in ~7 months.

Prior to that my only previous racing was one Wed night at Brunswick

in the
presence of some pretty elite company (ie Will and John Walker) which

made
me realise how fast I really wasn't. Unfortunately on that same night

I
crashed during an elimination race (my mistake and a big dose of

experience
was gained). The bike escaped with just a couple of scrapes on the

bars. I
ended up suffering from a broken right thumb which, for a few months,

left

What was the mistake? If you tell me now, maybe I can avoid copying you?
:-)


basically I was just of the the back of the bunch with another guy racing to
stay in. I was on the low side he was on the high side. Neither of us was
giving in. After crossing the line and me being eliminated we both came up
on the back of the much slower bunch very quickly (the leaders knew they
were safe so they were not going as fast) . The other guy had the space to
go around the top of the bunch. I had nowhere to go but down the track and
aim under the bunch and try to loose some speed at the same time. Things got
a bit tight, and if you know the Brunswick track it is a bit rough just
below the measuring line in the first turn, I lost the front wheel and the
rest is history.


Anyway getting back to Vodafone Arena.
Although I was unable to hold on for the whole 10Kms I was pretty

satisfied
with my ride. Most of the other riders in the race I knew raced A and

B
Grade club crits and at that point in time I had only just started

riding C
grade crits after moving up from D grade so I knew I was probably a

little
out of my depth here. In the end I finished around 650m behind the

winner
and about 100m behind the guy in front of me. But best of all, I

didn't
finish last I think the winning time was just over 12min

30seconds. The
initial speed at which the race started took me by compete surprise.

The
first few laps were timed at low to mid 17s. I just could not hold

this
pace and started dropping back into the 19s and low 20s.


12:30 for 10k... damn, I've got some work to do!
How long is the track at Vodaphone?


250m on the measuring line. (the black line near the bottom of the track)

I didn't realise there was racing at Vodaphone for anyone under
A grade level except for the junior races which were invitational.
Does that mean anyone could do some club races and then enter
themselves in races at Vodaphone?


Technically you could enter without doing any club level racing but I would
not advise you do this. Remember there will be other riders on the track
with you in a handicap that may do this for a living, are national level
riders etc. You don't want to be responsible for injuring one of these
people. Also if it is found that you caused an accident as a result of
dangerous riding you can be fined and possibly given a suspension.

I don't plan to do this, just curious. Track basically stops over
winter right?


Yes but this may change when, the Northcote Velodrome is complete.

Other than sneaking down there on dry days, does
anyone do any track work over winter that doesn't involve indoor
training? I don't want to lose all my recently acquired "skills"...


Winter for me is a combination of Ergo, Lots of road Kms and Road Races and
the occasional crit.


I arrived nice and early so that I could get some experience and gain

some
feel for the track. Prior to this day the steepest banking I had ever
ridden was at Brunswick (Slightly steeper than Blackburn).


I have to get some experience on other tracks too...

As preparation for this I
did a couple of Saturday race meets at Blackburn.


What are those Sat races like?


Good hard racing. When I have raced there have been at least 3 grades with
around 10 riders per grade. If there are 4 grades I will race C, if three I
will race B.

You might be better to ask someone like Rowan G or maybe John N (who seems
to be the one who runs the racing on Saturdays).

I'm thinking about going this Sat..

I don't think you will find much of a turnout this sat as many of the usual
riders are entered to do the SPGrPrix or are riding the Pursuit Champs on
Sunday. However that said you may still get enough people for some racing.
It's still worth rocking up to see who else is there.

What sort of races do they usually run?


racing from my experience has generally been a combination of some or all of
the following.
Graded Scratch, Handicap, Elimination (miss and out) Match Sprints and
Sprint Derbys.

Many people?


Enough to make it worthwhile but not too many.

So Hippy my advise to you is if you don't currently feel comfortable

riding
a club level handicap then you are probably not quite ready to attempt

a
major track event, such as the Austral etc, this year.


No, like I said above, I've never raced and never actually considered
that I might be able to race at Voda. I guess it will depend on how I
go in club races as to whether I even continue track racing. The
training
is awesome fun though, so unless I make a regular habit of crashing or
losing, I don't see why I wouldn't continue on the track.


Are you saying that you would give it up just because you didn't win!!! I
don't really care if I win or loose. I just do the best I can do in each
race. If that means I cross the line first then thats a bonus. If I finish
further back then I look at what went wrong both tactically and physically
and then take the neccessary steps to avoid it happening again. You learn
more about racing in the races you didn't win.

Since the odds of not being the winner in a race in which you start are
pretty high you might as well get used to not winning. If you find you are
always winning you are probably racing in the wrong grade. Not winning is
not a reason to give up any sport.


I would recommend
you start looking at what you want to achieve next season and then

look at
how you can get the experience required. At this time of year, as I
discovered last year, with Championships happening there is not a lot

of
quality club racing around. The numbers turning up for club track

meets are
a fraction of what they are prior to the month of February.


Goal setting? What's that? ;-) All I want to do is give myself an
oppurtunity to win something else - track is much more suited to
my physiology (fat bugger, likes sprinting). I've really on just
touched the surface of track racing and didn't even know what
a wheelrace was 3 weeks ago!

The first is the Vic Time Trial Champs (if you are an Elite the

distance is
1000m).


I'm certainly no "elite" but my licence says "Elite"...

The second is the Vic Sprint Championships (200m qualifying round
followed by match sprints if you qualify). Entries for these two

close on
Monday 1st March.


What time is needed to qualify?


I think it is the 8 or 16 fastest times that qualify. (i think the number
is dependant on the number of entries or the rules of the event)

My guess is the faster times will be in the high 10s or the 11s.


There is also the Vic Senior(Elite) Points Race Champs but
at the level you are currently at you are going to be way out of your

depth
if you attempted this one. Time Trials and Sprint qualifying are

individual
events so you are only racing against the clock. Even if you don't

set the
world on fire with your times this year you can always look back and

say to
yourself that you actually rode in a State Title Event on the boards

of
Vodafone Arena.


I think I'll settle for some more club-level experience first :-)

Thanks VERY much for your story. You seem to have taken to track
like a duck to a couple of hydrogen molecules and an oxygen
molecule.


I don't believe I was thinking the likes of the above "duck and water
scenario" earlier tonight as I was busy depositing a portion of my lunch
onto the ground just after completing a practice individual pursuit during
training. But it was nice to know that I was not suffering on my own.
There were 2 other guys that were sharing the same "why are we doing this to
ourselves" moment. But for some reason we still keep on coming back for
more pain and suffering.

Hip, I think I have covered most of your questions you have asked here but I
appologise if I have missed a couple.

Geoff


  #10  
Old February 26th 04, 03:34 PM
hippy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Cyclist's International Cup & Sid Patterson Grand Prix - Sat 28th February - Vodaphone Arena

"Andrew Swan" wrote in message
news:vQh%b.215 (P.S. maybe you could write a senryu about the amazing
sensations when
alone on the track!)


I know you wanted Geoff's but...

Very fast, no brakes
Total rush, corner a blur
Spin like mad to win

hippy


 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Gels vs Gatorade Ken Techniques 145 August 3rd 04 06:56 PM
Convincing people to use helmets Oliver Keating UK 391 February 25th 04 12:50 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:59 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 CycleBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.