Originally Posted by
krispenhartung
...need some quick advice here. Tonight I won my second omnium for the week here at Jerry Baker Velodrome and the race director upgrade me to Cat 3. So it looks like I staying and doing the Northwest Regional track championships this weekend. I'm 50 and doing 500m, 2K, international tempo, elimination (international omnium version), scratch, keirin, and points. I'm nervous as hell, but glad to be racing in my age group. :-) I've only done scratch, keirin, and points on this list. My main question is that I need to gear up. I'm on 48:15 now (restricted gearing for Cat 4s) so I need to gear up but I don't have a lot of time to experiment, so I can't take a lot of risks. I'm thinking 52:15 (90 inches), 48:14 (89 inches) or 50:15 (86.8 inches). Unfortunately, I don't have a 49t with me, but I have 16, 15, 14, and 12t cogs. Again, I don't want to risk it too much, but clearly can't be spinning out on my 48:15. Any suggestions? I am inclined toward the mid option, 48:14, and if I have to spin at 140rpm on some sprint laps, I'm good with that. BTW, for the TT/pursuits, I have a different bike for that and different gearing. I'm already set there, based on my Oregon State Masters 500m and 2k.
A couple of years ago I stole a gear list from the "Learn to ride track" page that the Minnesota cycling federation had up. Here's the condensed version I use:
Scratch: 49/14 (50/14 for 2k or shorter)
Points: 48/14 or 51/15
Tempo: 52/15
Elimination: 49/14 or 52/15
Chariot: 51/15
Keirin: 51/14
Your mileage may vary as this is what I use for under-40s 3s races. The original author suggested going down a tooth when not racing at altitude, so consider that as well. I haven't had the opportunity to test that, so I can neither confirm nor deny.