This morning, rather than do 2 paced flying 200's at 55-58km/h on 86.1" and then 2 on 98.4" at ~60km/h, I thought I'd concentrate on more spinning, and try the 60km/h stuff on the 86" gear.

A bit drizzley, but the track was safe.  Pat and I took our usual turns pacing eachother, as he did enduro work and I slotted in my sprint training.  First up we warmed him up with 20 laps from 35km/h -> 50km/h (84" I think he was on).  Then I did my first paced F200, at 55km/h and it felt slow (ie: too easy).  By this time Simon had arrived and he jumped in with Pat for his second set of 20 laps, this time taking them gradually up to 55km/h.  Pat rode very well, Simon's learning to follow wheels better and how to overlap and help his motorpaced fellow riders.

Next up my turn again, and 56km/h on the 86" again.  Felt too easy.  Maybe this is starting to work?  Then Pat and Simon again, this time Pat ends up with 2 to go, shouting 'faster' over and over, so I bring the bike up to 55, and he wants more ... 60km/h around the last bend .. and he's still there.  Pat's chuffed (and puffed!). He'd moved up to 91" for that effort.

My turn, this time, I ask for high 50's again and keep the 86.1" on (51:16).  Wind up, still feels too easy but holding the line around the final bend gets tricky at that speed (Blackburn's not very banked, it's about 25 degrees I think).  I want Pat going faster... We roll around, and he tells me we hit 60 around the corner and held it to the line.  That's, according to Analytic Cycling, around 148rpm.  Not stupidly fast, but getting up around the sort of cadences I should be able to turn without much problems.  180rpm is still a way away, but this is good progress, I think.  It's an improvement and I'm finding that I'm able to stay with the bike at higher speeds with less perceived effort.

Simon and I roll easily back to aboc HQ and we do a weights session in the Power House.  Done for the day.  Feeling good.

To keep things in perspective, the kids at the Vic titles (indoors at DISC) on the weekend, Maddison Hammond, who's 16 or 17, did an 11.6s F200 without the benefit of a motorbike to draft, and that's ~62km/h. DISC is a lot faster than Blackburn, but that kid is flying, and I'm an old hack!  The TSSS on Sunday, with a southerly blowing saw the fastest time around Blackburn of 12.10 by Eddie Wilson in the first round, and the fastest F200 on its own was by Jeremy Mclay (12.16).  No doubt that Blackburn is slow, but I've got a -long- way to go before I can do 60km/h F200's undrafted! I want to get a power meter on the track bike, guessing wattages sucks once you get used to a power meter and the data it provides.