Track Training – New Shoes Day

Track Training – New Shoes Day

I woke up at just after 2pm and was waiting for my Wiggle  delivery was set to be delivered between 13:00 and 14:30 and it arrived just before 14:30 which was amazing as it meant that I could have a lie in😁

New Shoes

The delivery consisted of a new KMC K1SL chain and a pair of Sidi Dragon 5 SRS Wide fitting MTB shoes:

As soon as I received the delivery I had to jump in the shower and then get my son moving, load the bikes on the car and head up the track as a friend was borrowing the club gazebo sides and he was on his way to the track. My son got a good few laps in while I was chatting and I got a pump lap in and a few first straights but the track was really busy with small kids so I decided to call it a day and go home and sort my shoes out and raise the bars on my bike as I planned to do earlier in the week but didn’t have time!

I first sorted out the cleats in the new shoes so that I can test them out in the morning after my walk and do some testing. I then raised the bars as high as they would go so that if they feel too high I can move the small spacer to the top of the stem to drop the stem a little bit if needed.

Bike modifications

I will see how the bike rides like this but I am leaning towards getting some taller bars and slamming them as I prefer the look of slammed bars:

I am super happy with the 170mm cranks too as I now have no knee pain while riding and pedalling just feels right and it feels like I am pedalling in circles instead of chopping up and down like I do on the 180mm cranks. I am not very impressed with the cleaning job that I did with the bike last time I rode it either, as it looks like it wasn’t cleaned at all even though I spent 20 minutes cleaning it with the power washer! I also need to pop over the Gary at Curtis sometime soon and pick up the stickers that he made for me last year as the original ones are looking a bit ragged! I want to freshen up the bike before racing starts.

Racing 2021

Talking about racing the SW BMX committee final release the confirmed dates for racing this year (to the left), so I have booked all of the time off that I need to make the races before the Brits in August. I have been talked into racing the Brits this year as the track at Leicester at the end of August (28-29th) as the track is basically a big regional track compared the the National level track at Derby where I last raced the brits and crashed before I even did a race! I have also paid up my BC membership and License and just need to renew my transponder and I am ready to go!

To be honest I am toying with racing the South this year as 2 of qualifying rounds are at National tracks the week before the National races (Cyclopark and Gosport) so I can use them as practice for the Nationals and also qualify for the brits. The south also has a lower number of rounds needed to qualify for the Brits 3 out of 4 races which is less than the SW.

This would also mean that I can pick and choose which SW races I attend and use them as training which will make them more fun as well. Another advantage of the South is that the Majority of the tracks are more National focussed where as the quality of the tracks in the SW is of a lower standard as a whole. Also the cruiser class in the south is crazy competitive and the guys that I will race at regional level are some of the faster guys at National level which can only help with my progression overall.

As you can see the majority of the South and SW races are on the same weekends and Cyclopark and Gosport are the 2 rounds that have National races the week after the regionals and I am not too keen on Bideford and Exeter tracks either. In fact as I have been writing this I have made the decision that I will race South this year as it makes more sense experience wise and also I prefer the South tracks that are on the early schedule compared to the SW tracks.

I am now planning to race Bournemouth, Cyclopark and Gosport as my 3 qualifying races for the brits as I really like Bournemouth and Gosport tracks and they are as close to me as the majority of the SW tracks anyway. I am going to race Bristol instead of Hayes as it is one of my locals so I want to race there instead of Hayes. After that it is Gosport and then the National at Gosport and the Telford National and then its the Brits. After the Brits I am not sure that I will race Manchester National anyway unless I am in a ranking position which is not likely at all! Regional wise depending on where the last 2 south races are  I will decide when they are announced. SW wise I am probably only likely to race Burnham to support their club too as I train there sometimes.

When I get up tomorrow I am going to contact Andover BMX Club about joining their club as they are the closest South club and I will have the added bonus of being able to go there for gates on Wednesday nights as it is limited to members at he moment. Andover is also one of my favourite tracks locally so its a win win.