In the last couple weeks of riding drop-in sessions at Milton, there has been some chatter about putting together one or more Team Pursuit teams to race at Track Nationals on Jan. 4-6, 2024. We are looking for any interested individuals who are track certified (or can get certified quickly) and are interested in racing a team pursuit. If there is enough interest we will put together two teams, with the hopes of at least one team reaching the podium. @Francqlife and I were members of a team 3 years ago which podiumed for a bronze medal (yes we were 3rd of 3 teams, but we still raced!!). How great would it be to have another WCC team represent on the podium!?
Let us know if you’re interested and we can attempt to actually have some practice sessions at an open track time in the next couple months leading up to the event. This is open to all track riders. We could even keep practicing over the winter and put a team in for Provincials in March as well.
Please respond to this post with your interest. Qualifications for this event would be:
Willingness to suffer
Willing to work as a team
Track certification
Track race license (as it is a new year, you will need to purchase the license in December to participate)
Pursuit bars on your own track bike would be preferable, but will take anyone with a track bike. Not suitable for a rental bike, as the gearing on those bikes is not great for pursuit racing.
Commit to 2 or 3 practice sessions in the next 2 months…probably Sunday afternoon Open Sessions at Milton. (There is a Friday night Open session available as well…but it’s a Friday night )
Also, @TommyB would LOVE to put in a Team Sprint team. Unless he has a team already?
Thanks for letting us know of your interest.
Kevin Scheerer @bdoberst @Russell
Tom… I believe I’m scheduled to work that weekend… O-Cup #3 is the Eastern Challenge - so they usually have a full slate of races – but not always the Team events. However, if a team wants to go into this race, then – HECK yes – Go for it!!!
Rental bikes are included in the two paths below…and can be rented once you participate in drop-ins/etc. (see below).
I recommend using rentals for the first season of track to give you time to figure out what you want, which track bikes catch your eye, etc…then explore the re-sell market.
Fun fact: the rental shop will put on different (bigger) gearing on your rental for a $5 fee so that you can use it in competition.
There are two paths you can take…
Try the track - open to the general public. A 2 hour session introduces you to riding a fixed gear bike and gets you on the track riding! (I organize a session for my coworkers every year and they love it…my immediate family has also done this and left smiling!)
Track Certification class: I believe this is two sessions (A and B) each a couple hours long on different days. This gets you sorted out so that you can sign up for drop-in sessions and structured training sessions (Beginner to start…Intermediate and Advanced as you get more comfortable/capable).
*Note this is at the track in Milton. FCV (Forest City Velodrome) is about to re-open and they have a different path…not sure how/if it will change with the re-opening).
Update: I got my A and B certification yesterday and I absolutely love the track! Trying to figure out where to go from here. I know there’s an individual pursuit session I could do or do the BST and IST sessions to be able to race. What do people recommend? And should I want to get a bike for races, what are my options (trying not to spend a lot…).
Emily, congratulations! Welcome to the crazy world of track!
For racing, you need to progress through a race prep course…and I can let @Tom Baltos fill you in on that course of action. I’d recommend you give your first attempts at racing at the NCIM Saturday evening race nights. There you will learn to race in a fun supportive atmosphere. You can use a rental bike for the first few races, but once you’re truly hooked, take a look at the classified ads on Marketplace… There is a Milton Velodrome classified page on Facebook that you can join to find a good used bike. Track bikes hold value well…but they can also be super affordable.
Welcome aboard and hope to see you on the boards soon.
I’m not sure what your skill level is at to be able to say BST or IST…the pursuit clinic coming up might work but I’d recommend getting a bit more km on the track.
There are also women’s learning to race sessions on Friday evenings. I can introduce you to a few people there. We have introduced a women’s only category at the NCIM Saturday races this year which is a great group to race with to get experience, knowledge, and friends!
To start let’s get you into a few drop-ins to get you riding at pace and familiar with simply riding the track with many others around you. The BST is also good for that with blob exercises and a couple mock points/scratch races.
The advice on bikes I give is to rent for a bit…come out to sessions and look around at the bikes. Find something that makes you smile (most importantly!) And then, as Kev suggests, keep an eye out on the Facebook Milton velodrome marketplace page. Also, people will occasionally sell via word of mouth at the track, so come out and meet us all!
Thanks @Bopper and @TommyB! I ended up booking the BST for tomorrow night and will likely book the women’s program for December 8! Apparently budget becomes less of an issue when something is really fun
Re: budget…yes. I know that well…
I have a spreadsheet (no surprise to those that know me) where I track my track sessions/races and costs over the last 5 years…to keep me honest.
Side note: December 10 is OCUP1 if anyone interested in watching some races. (Keirin, Scratch, Elimination, Points). And December 16 is the last NCIM Saturday races night (Scratch, Melting Snowball, Points, Madison). And Nationals are January 5-7.
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