China, Asia, Climbing and Fixed Gear Bikes

This morning Fede and me again went for a workout session. This picture gives and impression of what our training is all about: The fixed gear bike and the whip…

In the early evening there was the 3rd Summer Criterium Bike Race at the Beijing Golden Port race track. This time again (like in the first 2 races) I was riding on my fixed gear bicycle while everybody else was riding on road race bikes. Today a girl called Hu Chen was riding fast and challenging me. During the race the 6th lap was counted as a sprint lap. I won that lap. We both were riding together with the fastest male B riders throughout the whole race drafting behind each other. On the last lap of the race she was still behind me but then overtook on the last 100 meters with an extreme sprint. Our average velocity throughout the race was 38km/h. I finished the bike race on second place. The girl that came in on third place had been lapped by us as well as all the other female riders. It was fun to have a real competitor in this race.

The second road bike criterium race on the Goldenport International Circuit car race track was scheduled 2 weeks ago. But it had been postponed to the following due to the heavy storm approaching. 1 week ago the race got postponed again as we found out very late that BMW had rented the car track also for that evening. So finally today the race took place even though it did look like it would start raining anytime soon. Thanks to a friend I have some pictures of me. I have taken the first 3 pictures from him. Thanks 🙂

The track is really nice to cycle on. It si so much fun to ride around all the turns at high speed. Especially as I was again riding my fixed gear bike. That means I cannot coast in the turn. It is really a nice feeling when you almost scrape the ground with your pedal.

The female and male B riders had 45 minutes plus 1 final lap. The 4th lap was counted additionally as a sprint lap to make the race more interesting. The male A riders started 30 seconds before the others. But after half a lap we caught up as nobody wanted to lead in the A group. My friend decided to lead the pack and break the wind for them. So I just stuck myself an inch behind his back wheel for the first 3 rounds.

Then the B riders went into the sprint lap. I was ahead of the other girl in that lap. The 6th lap was the sprint lap for the A riders. They took off and I lost the connection to the group. From then on till the end of the race I was riding alone on my fast fixed gear bike.

My friend said afterward that he had an average speed of 37.5 km/h during the race. So my speed was slightly slower but I did not get lapped by anybody. And I won the race in the female group.

Tom was almost lucky. He was leading the A riders for the last 3rd of the last lap and got overtaken by about 15 cm just at the finish line. He almost won! But great job against those young strong Chinese riders.

There were just a few riders from our Beijing Peloton participating. Let us see on which Wednesday the next criterium race will be.

Later I had actually wanted to have dinner with a friend from Korea. But the taxi he had taken had had an accident and the police had then brought him back to his hotel which was very far outside the city.