# Training for 1000m Time Trial



## bianchi77 (Jul 15, 2008)

What should I train most for my 1000m Time Trial on the Velodrome ?

Thanks


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

sprint / anaerobic speed.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

Start by finding an open/flat road and marking off 1000m. 

Then do some repeats a couple of times a week. Be sure to rest and do your other base training on other days as well.


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

You need to work on your starts, your speed, and finally your ability on the last lap to ignore the feeling of being burned alive.

Do you have a velodrome where you can work out? Training on a fixed gear bike, on the road, is never a good idea.


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## android (Nov 20, 2007)

Come on... It's only 4 times around and nobody is even in your way. How hard could that be? ;-)


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## tobu (Dec 19, 2004)

If you have to train only one thing, it's your start. It's all about starting as hard as you can and then fading as little as possible.


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## ilan (Nov 27, 2006)

The start is quite different in technique from anything on the road. The closest thing to compare it to is doing a deadlift. For this reason, the upper body has to be tight, the core tight, and bike straight (no side to side bike movement until going fairly fast). It's completely different from the road type out of the saddle movement with the bike rocking side to side. There are videos of kilo starts which you can study: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meTomy4M8dw and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXeBiFh3484 of Olympic champion Chris Hoy (he will keep his title this year, by the way). 

-ilan


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## TurboTurtle (Feb 4, 2004)

android said:


> Come on... It's only 4 times around and nobody is even in your way. How hard could that be? ;-)


You should definitely do it around here then. On one 'drom it's only 3 times around and on the other, less than 3! - TF


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

... oh yeah, and don't be scared if your vision gets a little blurry about halfway through. That just means you're doin' it right.


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## Doctor Who (Feb 22, 2005)

MR_GRUMPY said:


> Do you have a velodrome where you can work out? Training on a fixed gear bike, on the road, is never a good idea.


More people than you want to know ride around here, at speed, on brakeless track bikes. Most of the time they keep them upright, too. 

BUT, for training on the road, a front brake is definitely essential. Many track bikes have a brake hole in the fork – use it.


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## bianchi77 (Jul 15, 2008)

Doctor Who said:


> More people than you want to know ride around here, at speed, on brakeless track bikes. Most of the time they keep them upright, too.
> 
> BUT, for training on the road, a front brake is definitely essential. Many track bikes have a brake hole in the fork – use it.


The main idea is using my 53/12 for the start or may be 53/17 and gradually increased ...?
I don't have a track bike, and I must use the road bike for the competition, no track bike allowed, it's the rule ....

Thanks


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## Alex_Simmons/RST (Jan 12, 2008)

ilan said:


> Olympic champion Chris Hoy (he will keep his title this year, by the way).


Well that won't be hard since there is no longer a kilo at the Olympics.


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## bianchi77 (Jul 15, 2008)

Alex_Simmons/RST said:


> Well that won't be hard since there is no longer a kilo at the Olympics.


Why is it eliminated from the olympic ?


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

bianchi77 said:


> The main idea is using my 53/12 for the start or may be 53/17 and gradually increased ...?
> I don't have a track bike, and I must use the road bike for the competition, no track bike allowed, it's the rule ....
> 
> Thanks


The best way to figure out your gearing is to practice your starts just like they'll be in competition (I'm guessing you'll have someone holding you).


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## TurboTurtle (Feb 4, 2004)

bianchi77 said:


> Why is it eliminated from the olympic ?


So that they could include BMX racing. - TF


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## Alex_Simmons/RST (Jan 12, 2008)

TurboTurtle said:


> So that they could include BMX racing. - TF


Which as we know was a complete crock of **** and was UCI's way of giving the IOC the two fingered salute.

Can you imagine removing the 400 metre race from the track & field program?

Or removing the 100m freestyle event from the swimming?

That's effectively what they've done. :cryin:


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## ilan (Nov 27, 2006)

TurboTurtle said:


> So that they could include BMX racing. - TF


That's not the entire story. BMX meant eliminating one track event, so the UCI arbitrarily chose the kilometer, the complete story of how they chose this is not entirely clear. By the way, they also eliminated the women's 500m ITT. 

They had other choices, for example, the points race which is definitely not as popular, and is also problematic as there is a limit for each country (I think it is 1 for the women and 1 or 2 for the men) so countries like Italy have as many competitors as Columbia) and pretty often, a country decides to field a rider from the road race instead of their best points racer. For example, Jeannie Golay rode for the USA in 1996 when she had hardly ever ridden the track whereas Jessica Grieco was one of the top 3 points racers in the world but didn't go. Also in 1996, Maureen Kaila got 5th at the Olympics points race riding for El Salvador, but she wasn't even the best women's points racer at her home track in San Jose, CA, so the US would have had a very good chance of getting a medal in that race. 

-ilan


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## tobu (Dec 19, 2004)

ilan said:


> That's not the entire story. BMX meant eliminating one track event, so the UCI arbitrarily chose the kilometer, the complete story of how they chose this is not entirely clear. By the way, they also eliminated the women's 500m ITT.
> 
> They had other choices, for example, the points race which is definitely not as popular, and is also problematic as there is a limit for each country (I think it is 1 for the women and 1 or 2 for the men) so countries like Italy have as many competitors as Columbia) and pretty often, a country decides to field a rider from the road race instead of their best points racer. For example, Jeannie Golay rode for the USA in 1996 when she had hardly ever ridden the track whereas Jessica Grieco was one of the top 3 points racers in the world but didn't go. Also in 1996, Maureen Kaila got 5th at the Olympics points race riding for El Salvador, but she wasn't even the best women's points racer at her home track in San Jose, CA, so the US would have had a very good chance of getting a medal in that race.
> 
> -ilan


1) They could have eliminated the team sprint, keirin, or the madison. The points race probably wasn't up for consideration as it is the only individual mass start endurance track event.

2) I don't think you can use each countrie's qualification criteria for judging whether the points race should be eliminated. Or the UCI can revise the qualifcation system.

3) Re: 1996. The points race is much more of a crap shoot than some other races -- who knows how well Grieco may have done. Good road riders can also do well in points races: perhaps Golay was an okay choice. I just don't know enough about her track background. (edit: okay, I reread your post. Maybe Golay was a bad choice despite being a strong rider)
Who was better than Kaila at San Jose? I was out of the country so I'd like to know.


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## ilan (Nov 27, 2006)

tobu said:


> 1) They could have eliminated the team sprint, keirin, or the madison. The points race probably wasn't up for consideration as it is the only individual mass start endurance track event.
> 
> 2) I don't think you can use each countrie's qualification criteria for judging whether the points race should be eliminated. Or the UCI can revise the qualifcation system.
> 
> ...


As I understand it, no one was consulted for the decision to remove an event, some UCI person just made it up, pretty much all national federations, coaches, and riders were against removing the kilo and 500m ITT. As you say, other events could have been removed, I gave the points race as an example because it is often the case that the best riders don't even get to ride because their federation doesn't have enough spots for them, as opposed to the other track races you mentioned where all the favorites should be there. 

If I remember correctly it was Jeannie Golay's first ever track race.

I believe that Megan Troxell was at least as good as Maureen Kaila in 1996, she was collegiate nationals pursuit champion (beating Laura Reed, sister of current Olympian) and was a very good points racer as well. Megan had some good pursuit times, she finished 11th at 1998 worlds just ahead of Leontien van Moorsel with a 3:42, I believe. That said, I did finally get to watch the 1996 points race earlier this year (it was shown on French ESPN Classic!!) and Maureen Kaila rode a very good race to get her points. 

In any case, some things have improved. I remember when the gold medal at the Olympics was decided by who won the East German title and got the only team spot. 

-ilan


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

*Overgeared for the kilo.*



bianchi77 said:


> What should I train most for my 1000m Time Trial on the Velodrome ?


Little late to the party, but the kilo was my favorite (read: most successful) event back in the day. First thing: unless you lack any kind of leg speed, a 53 x 12 is much too high a gear. Ride a 53 x 16 for the entire event, then try a 53 x 15 if you feel it could make you faster. Only the stopwatch will tell you the truth. In my view, gear shifting schemes are useless or can even work against you in the kilo. Small tip: if you feel like you're accelerating in the last 250 meters, it's because you slowed down during the preceding 250 meters.

For most people, the key to kilo training is to brake up the event into 4 sections and train for each one separately as explained at the link, then put it all together.

http://www.cptips.com/trnanal.htm


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## tobu (Dec 19, 2004)

ilan said:


> As I understand it, no one was consulted for the decision to remove an event, some UCI person just made it up, pretty much all national federations, coaches, and riders were against removing the kilo and 500m ITT. As you say, other events could have been removed, I gave the points race as an example because it is often the case that the best riders don't even get to ride because their federation doesn't have enough spots for them, as opposed to the other track races you mentioned where all the favorites should be there.
> 
> If I remember correctly it was Jeannie Golay's first ever track race.
> 
> ...


Yeah, Megan was good. Good person too. You'd never know that she was a good racer if you met her in person: she wasn't the type to talk about how great she was. Very down to earth. She'd volunteer at the races and put up with everything, from the prima donnas to the first timers, and still have time to say hello and ask how you were doing. Not to put her on a pedestal, but the peloton would be a better place if there were more Megan's and fewer cut throat /backstabbing / bad mouthing self absorbed riders.


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## bianchi77 (Jul 15, 2008)

wim said:


> Little late to the party, but the kilo was my favorite (read: most successful) event back in the day. First thing: unless you lack any kind of leg speed, a 53 x 12 is much too high a gear. Ride a 53 x 16 for the entire event, then try a 53 x 15 if you feel it could make you faster. Only the stopwatch will tell you the truth. In my view, gear shifting schemes are useless or can even work against you in the kilo. Small tip: if you feel like you're accelerating in the last 250 meters, it's because you slowed down during the preceding 250 meters.
> 
> For most people, the key to kilo training is to brake up the event into 4 sections and train for each one separately as explained at the link, then put it all together.
> 
> http://www.cptips.com/trnanal.htm


Hmm...better use 53 x 16 for the rest off the TT.....thanks for the advice...


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## gradosu (May 17, 2007)

tobu said:


> 1) They could have eliminated the team sprint, keirin, or the madison. The points race probably wasn't up for consideration as it is the only individual mass start endurance track event.
> 
> 2) I don't think you can use each countrie's qualification criteria for judging whether the points race should be eliminated. Or the UCI can revise the qualifcation system.
> 
> ...


The olympics are turning into the X-games.


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## bauerb (Jan 18, 2006)

my lungs hurt watching the youtube vids. clearly the 1k was as much about technique as it was power/aerobics. that start was no joke and could win/lose the race.


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

bianchi77 said:


> Hmm...better use 53 x 16 for the rest off the TT.....thanks for the advice...


Well, you can certainly _try_ to ride a kilo with shifts just to see how you'll do. My money is on the no-shift, same-gear kilos being faster, every time. And as bauerb said: the explosive start is very important. Hold back nothing. For the first 20 seconds, ride like a vicious Rottweiler is snapping at your butt.


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*curious*

Have never done this, but I'm very curious about it.

Could someone describe racing a 1k in detail? What's it feel like at each step of the way? How long does it take? What are typically the margins of victory -- 1 sec? .1 sec? What kinds of people do well at this? Thanks.


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

What kinds of people do well at this? Thanks.

Guys the don't look like bike riders.


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

Here's an example of the power generated at the start.
Make sure your chain is connected well.


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*can't see*

For some reason, I can't see the image.


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## TurboTurtle (Feb 4, 2004)

Fixed said:


> For some reason, I can't see the image.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=504U_9yHYE8

TF


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## bauerb (Jan 18, 2006)

agreed. track sprinters do not look anything like RR guys. they look more like football players


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*blocked*



TurboTurtle said:


> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=504U_9yHYE8
> 
> TF


hmm; blocked at work


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## ilan (Nov 27, 2006)

bauerb said:


> agreed. track sprinters do not look anything like RR guys. they look more like football players


First of all, that is not always true, for example, Laurent Gane was 5'9", 165lbs, and had a pretty good track record in sprinting. Secondly, I watched the Omnium event at world's this year and there were a good number of sub 1:05 kilo ITT from "normal" looking riders. I think that a lot of track sprinters would be quite happy to be able to ride 1:05 or better.

-ilan


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## Alex_Simmons/RST (Jan 12, 2008)

ilan said:


> First of all, that is not always true, for example, Laurent Gane was 5'9", 165lbs, and had a pretty good track record in sprinting. Secondly, I watched the Omnium event at world's this year and there were a good number of sub 1:05 kilo ITT from "normal" looking riders. I think that a lot of track sprinters would be quite happy to be able to ride 1:05 or better.
> 
> -ilan


Not sure I'd call Theo Bos a football player physique either. He is the fastest man in history over 200m fly.

1:05 - we'd consider that a good junior time in Oz. Or a top level masters rider. You need to be a 1:01.x rider to be considered a world class kilo rider.

The Kilo will now die a death without an Olympic event being the pinnacle.


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## ilan (Nov 27, 2006)

Alex_Simmons/RST said:


> Not sure I'd call Theo Bos a football player physique either. He is the fastest man in history over 200m fly.
> 
> 1:05 - we'd consider that a good junior time in Oz. Or a top level masters rider. You need to be a 1:01.x rider to be considered a world class kilo rider.


It also seems that trash talk is big in "Oz". Here are some facts:

At the 2005 World Championships, only 2 riders where "world class" going under 1:02. Non "world class" riders included Olympic champion Chris Hoy, Australian Ben Kersten (I wonder what they thought of him back in Oz with that non world class time), Stefan Nimke, etc. 

In 2006, Chris Hoy became a world class rider again, but the only one that year. Non world class riders that year were the same losing Ben Kersten, François Pervis, Tim Veldt, Kévin Sireau.

In 2007, only 2 riders made the world class. Non world class riders included Jamie Staff, Tim Veldt, Teun Mulder. Track may have been slow, Chris Hoy barely broke 1:01. 

-ilan

P.S. Those "slow" sub 1:05 times I was referring to were done at the end of a day of 200m ITT, scratch race, pursuit, and points race.


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## Alex_Simmons/RST (Jan 12, 2008)

ilan said:


> It also seems that trash talk is big in "Oz". Here are some facts:
> 
> At the 2005 World Championships, only 2 riders where "world class" going under 1:02. Non "world class" riders included Olympic champion Chris Hoy, Australian Ben Kersten (I wonder what they thought of him back in Oz with that non world class time), Stefan Nimke, etc.
> 
> ...


Nothing like a good bit of trash talk  

If you can do a 61 sec kilo at any stage of your career, then you are world class, period. Class is permanent, form is not.

Kersten and Hoy have both ridden 1:01.x. Can't recall for Nimke but definitely a world class rider.

Once the event was cut from the Olympics, then no one who would be considered world leading in that event was going to bother with it for too much longer, hence the gradual reduction in times since then. Apart from Hoy making his tilt at Tournaut's world record that was it. Commonwealth Games 2006 was probably last time we'll see those sort of times.

It used to be 1:02 was the mark but that got lowered. Now it's going out again and it will keep doing so IMO.

There is a huge physiological difference between a 1:05 and a 1:02 kilo.


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## ilan (Nov 27, 2006)

I think Chris Hoy is still pissed that they took off the kilometer ITT
from the Olympics, so he decided to sit back from his teammates in the final round of 
team sprint and win the race as a 750m ITT.

-ilan


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## bianchi77 (Jul 15, 2008)

I was assigned for IP 4000 m at last...
And I do 6:59 for it...
What's the best time for IP 4000 m ?


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## carbon13 (Dec 23, 2007)

Also static starts and weights.


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## ilan (Nov 27, 2006)

bianchi77 said:


> I was assigned for IP 4000 m at last...
> And I do 6:59 for it...
> What's the best time for IP 4000 m ?


4:11 but with rules that don't apply anymore.

-ilan


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## bianchi77 (Jul 15, 2008)

Alex_Simmons/RST said:


> Not sure I'd call Theo Bos a football player physique either. He is the fastest man in history over 200m fly.
> 
> 1:05 - we'd consider that a good junior time in Oz. Or a top level masters rider. You need to be a 1:01.x rider to be considered a world class kilo rider.
> 
> The Kilo will now die a death without an Olympic event being the pinnacle.


A minute for a Kilo is 60 km/h in average.....wow a very good performance for a human being...
the average is around 50 to 57 I guess...but I'm sure somebody can beat 60 if he's using an aerodinamic bike and very very good training system...

my time is only 1:24 for a kilo ...hehehe...not using a special bike and special train...

After all I never trained specificly on the velodrome, I just train on the road...


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