Indoor VS Outdoor

dominus1988

I'm a 15 years old cyclist from Montreal. 2 weeks ago I did a 11.69s for the 200m . The track was a 333.3 metre concrete outdoor oval . I asked my coach if there was a big difference between a indoor track and a outdoor . And he told me that for a 200m there was no difference between the two. Is it real ? if yes does it make a bif differnce on the time?

rayner

Thats a pretty sharp time for a fifteen year old! Did you do that with electronic timing or just stop watch and what gearing did you have on?

I'd have to agree with your coach to an extent. In still weather conditions there should be no real difference. Only things I can think of are steeper banking indoors and possibly a faster track due to the boards and the extra warmth caused by a good sized crowd. I still havent worked out why a hot track is a fast track but for me thats how it works. In my opinion an indoor track would bring your time down to an 11.6, not much but still enough to move you up a few spots in a title race. Keep it up!

dominus1988

My gear was a 50x14 and i think it was electronic timing + stop watch timing from the comissaires.

bikeguy

Hot temperatures are better for sprints because warm muscles perform better than cold muscles in sprints. For me even my endurance (not talking more than 50 clicks though) times are significantly better at 27-30 degrees than at 20 degrees because my muscles are so damn stiff. Warmth loosens them up quite a bit. Oh yeah, and air density is lower the warmer the air is. Less air to push through.

rayner

You're going pretty well. In Australia we have geaing restrictions in juniors. Someone your age would only be allowed to ride an 83 whereas your riding a 96.4. I don't know anything about you but at you age (or for any age really) I'd be moving my gearing back to something smaller. I heard that Eadie only qualifies on a 95 and I think its a pretty safe bet that at 15/16 your smaller than him. In u/17 I got my times down to a high 11 on an 83 and I'm more track endurance. Think what I'm trying to say is just because the gear is bigger don't think your going to be faster on it. Pull it back to something between a 9.8 and a 94.5 and see how you go for a bit; have a bit more of a spin. If it doesnt do anything else it'll at least save your knees. Something else I just thought of, what equipment were you using clincher/ tubies deep/shallow rim spoke count? Keep it up cos your going alright.

velomanct

thats quite a good time for a 15 year old. i know andy lakatosh did an 11.4 back when he was your age, and he was a top junior sprinter on the track.

i myself would be happy to break 12 and i am 19. i am going to try track racing within the next month.