2023 Event 11: Gravesend, Sunday 24th Sept
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Topic: 2023 Event 11: Gravesend, Sunday 24th Sept
Posted By: Andrew S
Subject: 2023 Event 11: Gravesend, Sunday 24th Sept
Date Posted: 11 August 2023 at 8:37pm
Race sign-on for the 11th event of 2023 at Gravesend Cyclopark starts on
Advance registration is essential (no registration on the day) and available online here:
Registration closes 12:00noon on Thursday 21st September For more details about the event see:
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Replies:
Posted By: ChrisH
Date Posted: 10 September 2023 at 9:42am
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Can we have a volunteer organiser for Gravesend to choose race formats etc please. The track is booked from 10-3pm Same circuits as last year. |
Posted By: ChrisH
Date Posted: 10 September 2023 at 9:42am
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Can we have a volunteer organiser for Gravesend to choose race formats etc please. The track is booked from 10-3pm Same circuits as last year. |
Posted By: HeatherF
Date Posted: 20 September 2023 at 5:10pm
| I will offer to run this one. Race format to be finalised but will probably be a quick dash around the upper circuit and a longer race (90-120 minutes) round the whole track. As ever, offers of help with bell ringing, flag waving and loud shouting will be most welcome. |
Posted By: russellbridge
Date Posted: 20 September 2023 at 6:09pm
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A slightly shorter distance on the longer track would be appreciated - 2 hrs going up that hill will not be fun... |
Posted By: HeatherF
Date Posted: 20 September 2023 at 9:37pm
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Race format for Gravesend, Sunday 24th September Race 1: 10:30 - 15 mins, slower riders, short oval, clockwise
Race 2: 11:00 - 15 mins, faster riders, short oval, clockwise Race 3: 11:45 - 1-lap time-trial, full circuit, anticlockwise Race 4: 12:45 - 90 mins, all together, full circuit, anticlockwise |
Posted By: HeatherF
Date Posted: 23 September 2023 at 9:27pm
| Did anyone leave a BHPC, short sleeved, full zip top at the Bettesanger track today? Let me know if it is yours |
Posted By: Kim
Date Posted: 24 September 2023 at 10:58pm
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Results: http://www.bhpc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Events/2023/11/" rel="nofollow - http://www.bhpc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Events/2023/11/ Points: http://www.bhpc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Events/2023/11/gravesend.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.bhpc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Events/2023/11/gravesend.html Finish times in the 15min slow race were mostly reconstructed from video, due to CrossMgrImpinj picking the worst moment to start sulking. I have my suspicions as to why, but it's going to take some work to reproduce. Lesson learned: It's best if whoever's doing the bell/flag stands directly opposite the camera (ie. near the aerial on the far side of the track from the timing tent). Not only does it prevent us capturing high-framerate footage of someone's leg instead of the riders, it also means the bell and flag are in shot, so it's clear from the video whether they're being waved. (For anyone wondering what happened to the ranking of the live results of the 90 minute race, that seems to be what happens when you sort by average speed and there's no track distance set. A warning dialog has been added to my to-do list.) *thunk* zZzZ
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Posted By: NigelSlee
Date Posted: 25 September 2023 at 4:00pm
| @kim - not a big thing but wondered if my TT time score was my first attempt when I came off or my re-run on stopwatch? To be fair my re-run wasn't amazing as I'd lost my confidence on that last corner and over ran onto grass but stayed on. |
Posted By: Kim
Date Posted: 25 September 2023 at 10:58pm
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Yeah, it's fudged to use the time from the stopwatch. You can tell by the way it's got "From stopwatch" written on it in the race chart details. (I accept that it's probably only the time team who ever look at this.) Hope the road rash isn't too bad! (In other news, I've modified CrossMgr to moan if you leave the Categories tab with the lap distance unset, and got to the bottom of the Impinj issue that caused us to lose tag reads at the end of the first race. The details of which are far too tedious to go into, but measures have been taken to prevent a re-occurrence.)
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Posted By: DavidKK
Date Posted: 29 October 2023 at 2:01pm
| I eventually got round to sorting out some photos. They can be found here https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAYrcf" rel="nofollow - https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAYrcf |
Posted By: Kim
Date Posted: 29 October 2023 at 4:55pm
That sequence of Nigel looking uncertain of his line before making a bid for Unfortunate Scotsman is magazine material. 
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Posted By: NigelSlee
Date Posted: 30 October 2023 at 7:41am
Yes, good support material for an article by an experienced low racer pilot who can shine a light on the mysteries of how to tackle hairpins? I still don't really know what I'm doing. I have learnt it's a good idea to practice the bend a few times at a sub race speed or take it easy on the first few laps following someone else to get the feel for entry point, speed and angle. Something I didn't do at Gravesend as this was the time trial.
What surprised me most in David's brilliant camera work, is how much floppy skin I have on my face. In picture two it looks like I'm experiencing a high G Force. Surely that's not the case?? I'm serious about an article if someone wants to write one. |
Kim wrote:Posted By: melle
Date Posted: 30 October 2023 at 11:44am
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I'd certainly be interested in reading that article Nigel, hope someone will write it. I've been riding recumbents on the road for the best part of 25 years, but I'm relatively new to riding one on a track and I tend to lose a lot of speed (and sometimes my balance!) in hairpins. ------------- Optima Stinger | 2x Baron |
Posted By: Kim
Date Posted: 30 October 2023 at 12:16pm
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+2 I've been having a bad cornering season. Dave Minter gave me some good advice at Gravesend, vis the white cones that had obviously been left there to mark the right line to take the bend. As I wasn't really trying in the longer race, I took the opportunity to try that line at a variety of speeds, and decided it worked up to the point where I chickened out because of the unpredictable sidewind. The other thing I've discovered, courtesy of the untimely demise of my Streetmachine, is that I'm a lot more confident on the track if I've been riding the Baron on the road vaguely recently. Dodging potholes and rolling hills do wonders for your bike handling skills.
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Posted By: russellbridge
Date Posted: 30 October 2023 at 1:54pm
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I put the cones out to help judge the turn in point and apex for that corner - it was very very easy to overshoot.....oooooooooooo  The best tactic is just to follow someone faster than you. But not Dan...
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Posted By: LWaB
Date Posted: 30 October 2023 at 5:23pm
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You can get an idea of the theory of fast cornering by studying the ‘racing line’ = wide in, clip the apex, accelerate out wide. This is obvious in any motor racing or when watching a bike racer descending quickly. Aerial shots are brilliant for this. I have done fast mountain descents (80-110kph) on quite a few upright bikes, tandems and trikes and some recumbent bikes and trikes. The basic theory or racing line doesn’t dramatically change regardless of the machine ridden. I haven’t done a fast descent on a lowracer yet but can’t imagine why that would make a huge difference. Repeated descents at increasing speed builds confidence. Fit tyres you absolutely trust to stick and don’t push your speed envelope if there is a chance of sand, gravel, oil or wet leaves. Leave that for your second run down, once you are familiar with the locations of dubious road surfaces. Follow a known fast descender reasonably closely to show you the racing line and to see how far they lean, where they brake and how hard. Take the approach that “If they think they can get through this, then so can I.” |
Posted By: NigelSlee
Date Posted: 30 October 2023 at 11:34pm
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Thanks for the replies - almost enough there for an article on cornering! All we need now are a few simple line drawings of example corners like the hairpin corners at Gravesend and Stourport showing example 'turn in' and apex points and some single lines showing perhaps good, bad and ugly scenarios. It would also be useful to know about making adjustments to your line once committed. And any 'learn from me' tips from those of us who have come off i.e. what we now realise we did wrong. I've also been trying out some Rugby shorts with protective pads. I now have some practical experience with these and can write about that too. Save these extra things for the magazine so please send to editor@bhpc.org.uk or via PM |
Posted By: NigelSlee
Date Posted: 21 February 2024 at 5:38pm
I'm now working on #155 issue of Laidback Cyclist - thanks for early cornering contributions. If anyone else has anything to add - or would like to rate three notorious hairpins from 'no sweat' to 'short shredding' then you can do so on this form. http://forms.gle/qYNadSqtC6r2EQqLA" rel="nofollow - https://forms.gle/qYNadSqtC6r2EQqLA
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