The road season is now well and truly over here in the US and I have not been doing a lot of riding lately but I have been racing the Verge Dirt Derby which is held on Tuesday nights along with a couple of training rides. It is a very popular weeknight event that attracts hundreds of people to race in the various categories, both in short course mountain biking and cyclocross.
The track is run on a motocross course and is spot lit. It is the only night time off-road racing that is staged in America. The increased popularity of the race series has resulted in fierce competition but yet maintains a festival atmosphere that attracts families, pro racers, first timers and spectators.
The racing features short track, cyclocross and velodrome (track) style races. The short track is on an awesome wide smooth dirt course with a few rough sections to negotiate. It takes about 4 minutes to complete a lap and spectators can view most of the action. Racers negotiate short steep climbs, sharp turns, drop-offs, jumps and smooth berms. I borrowed an old early 1990s mountain bike that features original suspension that bottoms out over every bump. The first time I raced (several weeks ago) my cleat ripped out of my shoes just before the start of the open mountain bike race and I raced with just one foot anchored in the pedals for 30mins! I made it through the race but my right foot and shins were really sore from the effort. I particularly enjoyed the velodrome racing which was on a dirt 300 metre oval track. Had all kinds of short races including scratch, sprints, win and outs, point-a-laps. I won one of the scratch races but was pretty average in the other races. According to Ryan Albert from Northwest Cycles, “The Oakley Velodrome races provide cyclists a unique opportunity to try out track racing without hitting the boards. "Austinites have been trying for years to get a velodrome built, so we boiled it down to the cool part - lots of short, intense races – without the expensive building or the fixed geared bikes." With the event providing more cyclists exposure to the appeal of track racing, many are expressing their interest in heading to Houston or Dallas to try the "real" velodromes”
It poured with rain the night before the next race I went out to. As a result the courses were cut in half to make a very short loop around the motocross venue. I ended up getting lapped near the end by the leaders. There are some really fast pro guys that race here each week. It was around 1min 52 secs each lap and my fastest lap was 1min 42, about what the leaders were doing but I could not hold it consistently. I rolled across the line for 8th that week which was an improvement over the last race I did.
Check the website: www.dirtderby.com to see photos and results. |
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| | July 2008 | * Simon Kennett - Sat, 05th
* Simon Kennett - Sat, 05th
* Simon Kennett - Fri, 04th
* Simon Kennett - Fri, 04th
* Simon Kennett - Fri, 04th
* Simon Kennett - Fri, 04th
* Simon Kennett - Thu, 03rd
* Simon Kennett - Thu, 03rd
* Simon Kennett - Thu, 03rd
* Simon Kennett - Thu, 03rd
* Simon Kennett - Wed, 02nd
* Simon Kennett - Wed, 02nd
* Simon Kennett - Wed, 02nd
* Simon Kennett - Tue, 01st
* Simon Kennett - Tue, 01st
* Simon Kennett - Tue, 01st
| | June 2008 | * Lisa Morgan - Mon, 30th
* Simon Kennett - Mon, 30th
* Kieran Bennett - Mon, 30th
* Simon Kennett - Mon, 30th
* Simon Kennett - Mon, 30th
* Lisa Morgan - Sun, 29th
* Simon Kennett - Sun, 29th
* Simon Kennett - Sun, 29th
* Simon Kennett - Sat, 28th
* Simon Kennett - Sat, 28th
* Lisa Morgan - Fri, 27th
* Mark "Cabin" Leishman - Fri, 27th
* Simon Kennett - Fri, 27th
* Simon Kennett - Fri, 27th
* Simon Kennett - Thu, 26th
* Simon Kennett - Wed, 25th
* Simon Kennett - Wed, 25th
* Simon Kennett - Wed, 25th
* Simon Kennett - Tue, 24th
* Simon Kennett - Tue, 24th
* Lisa Morgan - Tue, 24th
* Mark "Cabin" Leishman - Mon, 23rd
* Simon Kennett - Mon, 23rd
* Mark "Cabin" Leishman - Mon, 23rd
* Simon Kennett - Mon, 23rd
* Mark "Cabin" Leishman - Mon, 23rd
* Lisa Morgan - Mon, 23rd
* Lisa Morgan - Mon, 23rd
* Lisa Morgan - Mon, 23rd
* Simon Kennett - Mon, 23rd
* Samara Sheppard - Sun, 22nd
* Simon Kennett - Sun, 22nd
* Samara Sheppard - Sun, 22nd
* Simon Kennett - Sun, 22nd
* Kieran Bennett - Sun, 22nd
* Kieran Bennett - Sat, 21st
* Samara Sheppard - Sat, 21st
* Simon Kennett - Sat, 21st
* Kieran Bennett - Sat, 21st
* Samara Sheppard - Sat, 21st
* Simon Kennett - Sat, 21st
* Kieran Bennett - Sat, 21st
* Samara Sheppard - Sat, 21st
* Simon Kennett - Sat, 21st
* Kieran Bennett - Sat, 21st
* Samara Sheppard - Sat, 21st
* Simon Kennett - Sat, 21st
* Kieran Bennett - Sat, 21st
* Samara Sheppard - Sat, 21st
* Simon Kennett - Sat, 21st
* Kieran Bennett - Sat, 21st
* Samara Sheppard - Sat, 21st
* Simon Kennett - Sat, 21st
* Kieran Bennett - Sat, 21st
* Samara Sheppard - Sat, 21st
* Simon Kennett - Sat, 21st
* Kieran Bennett - Sat, 21st
* Samara Sheppard - Sat, 21st
* Simon Kennett - Sat, 21st
* Kieran Bennett - Sat, 21st
* Samara Sheppard - Sat, 21st
* Simon Kennett - Sat, 21st
* Simon Kennett - Sat, 21st
* Kieran Bennett - Sat, 21st
* Simon Kennett - Sat, 21st
* Kieran Bennett - Tue, 17th
* Kieran Bennett - Sun, 15th
| | May 2008 | * Kieran Bennett - Wed, 28th
* Kieran Bennett - Mon, 26th
* J Dog - Mon, 19th
* J Dog - Mon, 12th
| | April 2008 | * Mark "Cabin" Leishman - Thu, 10th
| | March 2008 | * Samara Sheppard - Fri, 07th
| | December 2007 | * Lisa Morgan - Wed, 26th
| | November 2007 | * Daniel Carruthers - Thu, 08th
| | October 2007 | * Geoff Acethorp - Tue, 09th
| | September 2007 | * Kieran Bennett - Wed, 19th
* Geoff Acethorp - Mon, 17th
* Holly Kernonhan-Smith - Thu, 13th
* Kieran Bennett - Wed, 12th
* Olivia Johnston - Mon, 10th
* Mark "Cabin" Leishman - Mon, 10th
* J Dog - Sun, 09th
* Olivia Johnston - Sun, 09th
* Mark "Punter" Johnston - Sat, 08th
* J Dog - Sat, 08th
* J Dog - Sat, 08th
* J Dog - Fri, 07th
* Holly Kernonhan-Smith - Fri, 07th
* J Dog - Fri, 07th
* J Dog - Fri, 07th
* J Dog - Fri, 07th
* J Dog - Fri, 07th
* J Dog - Fri, 07th
* Holly Kernonhan-Smith - Thu, 06th
* J Dog - Thu, 06th
* J Dog - Thu, 06th
* J Dog - Wed, 05th
* Holly Kernonhan-Smith - Tue, 04th
* Mark "Cabin" Leishman - Mon, 03rd
| | August 2007 | * Mark "Cabin" Leishman - Mon, 27th
* Geoff Acethorp - Tue, 21st
* Kieran Bennett - Wed, 15th
* Olivia Johnston - Tue, 14th
* Olivia Johnston - Fri, 10th
* J Dog - Mon, 06th
| | July 2007 | * Kieran Bennett - Tue, 31st
* J Dog - Mon, 30th
* J Dog - Mon, 30th
* J Dog - Mon, 23rd
* Daniel Carruthers - Sun, 22nd
* Daniel Carruthers - Wed, 18th
* Geoff Acethorp - Tue, 17th
* Olivia Johnston - Thu, 12th
* Cameron Cole - Wed, 11th
* Daniel Carruthers - Tue, 10th
* Jazz Apple Cycling Team - Tue, 10th
* J Dog - Mon, 09th
* J Dog - Sun, 08th
* J Dog - Sun, 08th
* J Dog - Sun, 08th
* J Dog - Sun, 08th
* J Dog - Sat, 07th
* Jazz Apple Cycling Team - Fri, 06th
* Mickey Fan - Wed, 04th
* Jazz Apple Cycling Team - Wed, 04th
* J Dog - Wed, 04th
* Olivia Johnston - Tue, 03rd
| | June 2007 | * Grant Herbert - Thu, 28th
* Kieran Bennett - Thu, 28th
* Olivia Johnston - Tue, 26th
* J Dog - Mon, 25th
* Harriet Harper - Thu, 21st
* Mark "Cabin" Leishman - Tue, 19th
* Geoff Acethorp - Tue, 19th
* Jazz Apple Cycling Team - Tue, 12th
* Mark "Cabin" Leishman - Tue, 12th
* Olivia Johnston - Tue, 12th
* J Dog - Mon, 11th
* J Dog - Mon, 11th
* J Dog - Mon, 11th
* J Dog - Mon, 11th
* J Dog - Mon, 11th
* J Dog - Mon, 11th
* J Dog - Mon, 11th
* J Dog - Mon, 11th
* J Dog - Mon, 11th
* J Dog - Mon, 11th
* J Dog - Mon, 11th
* Olivia Johnston - Sun, 10th
* J Dog - Sat, 09th
* Jazz Apple Cycling Team - Sat, 09th
* J Dog - Sat, 09th
* J Dog - Sat, 09th
* Olivia Johnston - Fri, 08th
* J Dog - Fri, 08th
* J Dog - Fri, 08th
* J Dog - Thu, 07th
* Cameron Cole - Tue, 05th
* News - Mon, 04th
* J Dog - Mon, 04th
* News - Sun, 03rd
| | May 2007 | * Mark "Punter" Johnston - Thu, 31st
* Kieran Bennett - Wed, 30th
* Geoff Acethorp - Tue, 29th
* J Dog - Mon, 21st
* Geoff Acethorp - Mon, 21st
* J Dog - Mon, 14th
* J Dog - Sun, 13th
* J Dog - Sat, 12th
* Grant Herbert - Fri, 11th
* Geoff Acethorp - Fri, 11th
* J Dog - Thu, 10th
* Kieran Bennett - Tue, 08th
| | April 2007 | * Mark "Punter" Johnston - Fri, 27th
* Tim Wilding - Tue, 17th
* Tim Wilding - Fri, 06th
| | March 2007 | * J Dog - Tue, 20th
* Cameron Cole - Mon, 05th
| | February 2007 | * Cameron Cole - Tue, 06th
| | January 2007 | * Cameron Cole - Thu, 18th
| | August 2006 | * Robyn Wong - Fri, 25th
* Robyn Wong - Thu, 24th
* Robyn Wong - Wed, 23rd
* Robyn Wong - Wed, 23rd
* JohnnyC's OE Race Reports - Thu, 17th
* JohnnyC's OE Race Reports - Tue, 08th
* Tom Holland + Craig Pattle - Tue, 08th
* Lahar Racing - Thu, 03rd
* Cameron Cole - Thu, 03rd
| | July 2006 | * Tom Holland + Craig Pattle - Mon, 31st
* JohnnyC's OE Race Reports - Fri, 21st
* News - Tue, 18th
* Kieran Bennett - Tue, 18th
* JohnnyC's OE Race Reports - Tue, 11th
* Cameron Cole - Wed, 05th
* Kieran Bennett - Tue, 04th
* JohnnyC's OE Race Reports - Mon, 03rd
* Junior DH Development Squad - Sun, 02nd
| | June 2006 | * Kieran Bennett - Thu, 29th
* Junior DH Development Squad - Mon, 26th
* Bob + Chris - Sat, 24th
* JohnnyC's OE Race Reports - Thu, 22nd
* Cameron Cole - Thu, 15th
* Bob + Chris - Thu, 15th
* JohnnyC's OE Race Reports - Tue, 13th
* Kieran Bennett - Tue, 13th
* News - Tue, 13th
* Bob + Chris - Fri, 09th
* Tom Holland + Craig Pattle - Thu, 08th
* Lahar Racing - Tue, 06th
* Bob + Chris - Fri, 02nd
| | May 2006 | * J Dog - Wed, 24th
* Tom Holland + Craig Pattle - Mon, 22nd
| | March 2006 | * Robyn Wong - Wed, 22nd
* Robyn Wong - Sun, 19th
* Robyn Wong - Fri, 17th
* Robyn Wong - Thu, 16th
* Robyn Wong - Tue, 14th
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