Thursday 6:00 Windsor Park Cornering Session

[Lister Farrar]

is going as planned. All welcome. We'll see who we have, and plan accordingly.

If you have had the basics, you will be grouped with like riders and do fast laps with jumps out of corners to practice the timing and line.

If you're newer to this, we will review the basic line through a corner, speed adjustment and weighting the bike. Then try a few fast laps to see how it might feel in the race.

Please meet at the Pavilion so we can talk without disturbing the neighbours.

Be prepared to take a few laps out, as spotter for cars.

See you in the am!

[watwin]

Hi Lister, sadly my knee has been bugging me all week and was pretty sore at the end of the race today...I think it's trying to tell me something. I'm going to take tomorrow off and see how it is on Friday.

Alec

[BryanS]

Hey Alec, I had exactly the same problem. I kind of ignored it for a couple weeks, but then finally my knees started to hurt pretty bad. I went to Rob Hasegawa, the chiropractor, and he said it was patellar tenditis, or jumpers knee. Its an overuse injury, and now ive been off the bike for just over a week! That may be what your going through

[watwin]

Thanks for the info Bryan, how are your knees after the week off? Did they feel less stiff fairly quickly (with the rest of the time off as a precaution to prevent recurrance) or did it take a while?

[BryanS]

They feel slightly better but i can tell that they aren't 100% Its hard to explain but they feel like they are still sensitive when applying a load to them. Ive read that this injury can take along time to heal so im stressing!. I plan on riding again by next Tuesday, which will be at the two week mark of my break.

Hope that helps

[Greg Miller]

Who would be in to a Thursday 6am Windsor Park Session to practice for the Crit on Sunday? There isn't a race this Wed pm.

Greg

[Rolf]

I'd be innerested. Provided I can get a decent night's sleep.

Damn, now I have an excuse not to do hills tomorrow.

[Lister Farrar]

If anyone does decide to train at Windsor Park Thursday morning, please be aware there is a neighbour on corner 4 (Transit and Windsor) who is sensitive to noise. She has written to Oak Bay Bikes to complain. I have writtten to her to suggest a meeting to work out an understanding and reassure her our use is reasonable.

I suggest meeting at the Pavilion so you can discuss the session away from neighbours, and not talking while riding, especially in front of her house. Even 'car-up', 'car-back', should be avoided. Maybe a hand in the air like a Tour rider looking for a wheel? The consequences of continuing to annoy her might include creating difficulty for the Wheelers-Oak Bay to get the course for future races, and us not being allowed to train there.

Thanks!
Lister

[Rolf]

Roger that, Lister. Thanks for the heads-up on local sensitivies.

At least Greg, Adam, Gavin (?), and I will be at Windsor at 6 tomorrow (Thursday) morning to do some practice laps. Lister's away but suggested a good drill would be a fast guy on the front, pushing it a bit after corners (but not actually attacking), followed by the slowest guys who can get some insight into how to better jump out of corners, followed by whoever's in between getting some general group cornering experience. Also: alternating one lap on hard, one lap off and taking it easy -- so as to get more out of the "race" laps.

Do I have that right, Lister? Sounds pretty sensible.

So come one, come all. The more people we have, the better our spotting capabilities and the more laps everyone can get in. If you skip coffee, you can still get home and watch the last hour of Saxo Bank's last-ditch effort to slit Alberto's tendons and smash the Tourmalet.

[Lister Farrar]

Thanks Rolf. That's what worked Monday, but go with what the group wants to do. The weaker riders in the # two and three positions alleviates some rubber band effect for them, and adds it for the next strongest guys.

Also be sure to spot the corners. The spotter should be on the outside of the exit of the corner where they can watch both the approaching riders and traffic at the same time without turning around. Spotters should not stop traffic, or call out, but raise an open hand to the riders to call off the drill until the traffic passes. Sounds obvious, but we've tried several other options and they're not advised. Corners 1 and 3 especially need a spotter. If you're trying hard enough on the hard laps, there should be no shortage of spotters.

Finally, maybe smile or wave at all the neighbours and drivers passing so they don't feel intimidated or that they can't approach us if they have a concern.

[bill]

I believe the lady at the house is the one who wanted me off here yard when I had my accident!! Kinda funny

[wonger]

One thing I noticed today was Karl addressing the issue of early morning bicycles around Windsor Park before each race. It's obvious that the woman who's been referenced before in this forum has made repeated complaints to Oak Bay Bikes as well as the municipality. While I personally think she is being ridiculous, and apparantly has a history of "protesting", I do think it would be prudent for us to either choose an alternate location for cornering practice or take a break for a while. With the crit now over, maybe it's a moot point, but we all know there is only one group out there at 6:00 a.m. and I would hate for us to be the reason that Karl gets a bad rep or that the event is compromised.

[Josh.E]

You know what would probably be a good 6AM venue is the hillside mall parking lot.
Although I too think the lady is being ridiculous, as Lister been very conscious of reminding everyone to keep their voices to almost a whisper (she couldn't understand Lister over the sound of her sprinklers when she did come out one morning), it only takes one person complaining to ruin it for everyone, and we definitely don't want to contribute to making the venue difficult for OBB to get in the future.

It might be worth it to make a point of writing to the Oak Bay municipality with positive feedback about the Windsor Park crit. I bet a few positive notes from people who enjoyed and appreciated the event would help offset the negative feedback from the one "squeaky wheel".

[Greg Miller]

I was thinking the same thing - a few letters to council describing what a positive event it is for the whole family, the community, and for raising the profile of cycling would go a long way.

The connection between showcasing the sport and generating grassroots interest in cycling fits one of Oak Bay's goals of developing alternative transportation. There is nothing better than seeing that big pack of kids riding and soaking in the 'big kid' races. Not too many sports have the connection between age groups to generate active lifestyles, pursuit of sport, AND getting people out of cars, all in a public setting.

Let's also make the effort to stop in to OBB to say thanks.

[Quentin]

I know Windsor Park is over, but are these cornering sessions still happening?

[mlawless]

Hmmm, I have not been on my bike since Monday so I think I will try to drag my weary carcass out of bed and go down to Windsor parK to see if anyone else is there...If no one is there I will claim to have done a very hard ride while actually going for extra long coffee

Michael

[Josh.E]

I think Lister is out of town, so I don't think there will be any sage like instruction tomorrow morning.

[Ian]

If some people do decide to do this, do we want to follow Josh's suggestion in another thread and move it to Hillside Mall Parking lot instead? I would rather avoid pissing off the-lady-with-Superman-hearing....