January 6, 2007 Report

Session #4

 

Click here for pictures

 

Hi Ladies ~

Back in August 2006, when we first began discussing the Ladies Only Track Training Sessions at the LA Velodrome, we had no idea what the response would be. Some wondered if anyone would even show up...no one suspected that we would run out of rental bikes at every session.

Session #1 brought in over 40 Ladies, half of them attended Roger's Certification Class for first time track riders. Session #2 brought in 60 Ladies with more than half of them attending the certification class and riding the track for the first time ever. Session #3 brought in nearly 50 Ladies with half of them brand new to track cycling.

Of the over 100 ladies who have attended these sessions, many are experienced road riders/racers. Others are bike messengers from down town LA. Others are mountain and cyclocross riders. Some ladies are not cyclist but are skilled in non-cycling events such as running, swimming, rowing and mountaineering. Still others have no athletic background but always wanted to try track cycling but had never been given the opportunity. Some ladies carpooled and drove over 6 hrs one way just to get here. Ladies came from as far away as Arizona while one lady drove in from Las Vegas for a couple
of the sessions.  Some Ladies showed up in expensive cycling gear with expensive track bikes while others showed up in tshirts, blue jeans and sneakers. But they all learned, they all rode on the track and they all swore they had a fantastic time while promising to return either as life long hopelessly addicted spectators or as dedicated participants. Several Ladies have asked me how they can find a coach, buy their own track bike and get involved in local track races.  Others are anxious to begin regularly attending the various open training sessions listed on the LA Velodrome's weekly calendar. Many of the Ladies have signed on a volunteers at the LA World Cup...two of the Ladies will even be "Podium Girls"!

Complete session reports and plenty of pictures are available on the LA Velodrome website at http://www.lavelodrome.org

January 6, 2007 ~ Session #4 again brought in over 40 Ladies with more than a dozen brand new to track cycling. At the January 6th Ladies Only Session we learned about track racing as we watched some of the Ladies from the US National Track Cycling Team along with other local elite ladies & legends as they demonstrated some of the races that we will see at the LA World Cup on January 19-21. Together we learned as we watched Jennie Reed, Liz Carlson, Cassandra Holman, Catherine Feidler & Karla Bland race the Keiren with John Walsh driving the pace bike. We learned as we watched the individual pursuit demonstrated by Christen King & Neva Day. We were treated to a match sprint coached by Connie Paraskevin and demonstrated by Jennie Reed & Liz Carlson. We learned about a brand new women's Olympic Event called the "Team Sprint". Karla Bland & Kara Vidaca demonstrated this event as 'The Voice of Encino', Mr. Alfred Nash, III (Encino Velodrome Race Director) explained the dynamics of the event. Finally 500m Master's World Record Holder, Liz Carlson demonstrated the finer details of the 500m Time Trial.

When all the demonstrations & explainations were complete all of the Ladies attending the session were invited down to the track for some one-on-one coaching as they each attempted their first standing start 1 lap time trial. As most of us discovered, it is much more difficult that it looks. But everyone had fun! Many of the ladies were able to do several standing starts as they improved their skills.

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Having said all of that...I am super excited to let you all know that due to fact that the Ladies Only Track Sessions have far
exceeded anyone's attendance & enthusiasm expectations...we have decided to continue them as far into the future as we can see! The sessions will remain on the 2nd Sat of each month as much as possible. Due to the business of the track I will be forced to finalize the exact date for each session only about 4-6 wks ahead of time so please check the LA Velodrome website regularly. But everyone can assume it will happen on the 2nd Sat of each month unless otherwise noticed.

Also, the $65 Certification fee & the $15 rental bike fee will continue to be waived. However, starting in February, we will be implementing a $10 session fee.

The next Ladies Only Track Session will be on Saturday Feb 10th.

I am attaching a flyer that can be posted, displayed & handed out everywhere there are cyclists.

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I have made a supply of Ladies Only Track Session Socks. They "look like the track" with a blue (band) sock body and a yellow cuff (to look like the wood) w/the black line, red line & blue line on the cuff. They look adorable! They are for sale for $10 a pair. All proceeds will be used exclusively to fund the Ladies Only Sessions. We are working on a coordinating t-shirt design that should be available this spring.

I am really excited to ride this wave of Women's Cycling. The sport of women's cycling (road, track, cyclo & mountain) seems to be experiencing a huge growth spurt! I am really excited about 2007!

I look forward to seeing all of you at the Track this year!!

Cheers!
Julia