TMonk

Thanks! I'm stoked for next week.

chas58

Doing 4 races in one night is a nice benefit of track racing. Around here at least the race fees are also much cheaper (road races have cash prize, track is fame but no fortune. ;-)

TMonk

def. cheaper and safer too. seems like most of the time it will be just as fun (more fun?) as well.

with my time commitment (or lack thereof ) I will likely never upgrade to the 2's on the road anyway so fortune isn't really an option for me regardless

carleton

Haha, true. If you do the math, track racing is much cheaper:

- Lower entry fees (I have a season pass. $300 bought me unlimited training and entry to any race for a full year.)
- Track bikes are relatively less expensive. For a given class of bike (entry, mid, advanced, world-class), track bikes are around 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of a road bike.
- Maintenance costs are lower for those who don't do their own bike maintenance or upgrades.

There are other advantages, but those above are just from a financial perspective.

Also, some track races pay cash. DLV has 3 events per season that pay. Other tracks do as well.

carleton

YES!

Track racing, for some reason, has a rep as being dangerous. But this is not true.

The number of incidents per race is significantly lower than that of road or crit racing.

There is an emphasis on safety at most tracks in the country. Plus, the race director can see the entire race and immediately correct bad behavior, not just wait to hear reports of it after the fact.

VanceMac

The benefit of this cannot be overstated. I have never witnessed accountability in a road race or crit (I know it happens, but I have never witnessed it)... I witness it all the time at the track.

Flatballer

There's also no corners, which makes things safer. It's far safer at the track than on the road. The only crashes I've seen on the track are from people going too slow and clipping a pedal in the corner.

queerpunk

Last night was the last points race of the season, last night of racing for the season.

I tried my damnedest to finally beat my rival, this time by countering the second sprint and going away with a really capable rider. We were out there for a long time, two and maybe three sprints (my brain turns to mush fast in these races) before getting reeled back in. The field was looking pretty wasted by the time things got back together. I think I went for another sprint or two. I really don't know. My rival won the final sprint by riding me right off his wheel - again. And I wound up losing by 2 points - as close as I've ever gotten. Encouraging and disappointing all in one. And I've got a day of residual track hack from sucking down cool autumn air to remind me of it.

I guess I've just got another offseason of improvement to look forward to.

Flatballer

My season is over officially. The state champs are tomorrow but I have something else to do. Last night was my last attempt and it was match sprint night. I haven't gotten to match sprint yet, so I was excited.

Warming up and I get a call from my fiance. She got t-boned. She's fine, but I had to rush home. Disappointing end to the season, but looking forward to next.

TMonk

^
bummer fb.

there's always next year. hope the fiance is OK.

TMonk

night 2/3 of friday night racing for me. There are exactly enough race weeks left in Sept for me to upgrade to tuesdays before the season is over! haha.

Burnout Paceline:
I (mis) interpreted the statement: "ramp it up with 5 to go" to mean that it would be a scratch race at 5 to go. Wound up off the front for a bit, and got scolded afterwards. My bad. Didn't know that these really aren't races.

Unknown Distance:
I think it ended up being somewhere in the 9-11 lap range. A strong rider (I think Lee?) was off the front with a good gap when he rang the bell. I hit the gas hard and tried to go under a rider who kind of left the sprinters lane, but he swerved back into it a little bit and I had to back pedal pretty hard to not run into him. That was all she wrote.

8 lap snowball:
Took laps 2,3 and 4 by just pulling super hard but leaving some gas for an acceleration out of turn 4. I think I was on the front for these laps the entire time. Lee took off with two to go and easily took lap 7. I flew out of the pack on the last lap and caught him before he left the last turn to snag the last lap points and the race. After the race he confessed that he though the race was one lap shorter! He certainly soft-pedaled for x seconds before he realized that we were chasing hard. Had he known there was one lap left I may have not caught him and he might have won.

18 lap points:
These are quickly becoming my favorite event. I think I crossed first on 2 of the 3 points laps by doing my thing: surfing wheels towards the front and taking off from about 3/4 lap out. I made sure to take a few hard pulls in between points laps just to keep it fast. I had a huge gap after my flyer for points lap 2 (6 to go?) and sort of dangled by myself out there for a couple laps but decided to roll up track and save something for the final sprint. On the last lap I had to make up a bunch of ground (I re-joined the group on the back) but still managed to get second. Won this one too.

queerpunk

this is always tricky. i tend to assume that if people flick out of the lane, they didn't do it on purpose and they're about to drop back into it.

congrats on the wins!

carleton

Yeah, that's always a tricky move. It's always best to do just that, assume that they are coming back in. Every time I see someone dive under, it's scary.

If you do it, PLEASE make sure that you shout to let the rider you are going under know that you are there ASAP. He/She can easily take your wheel out and leave unscathed.

TMonk

If you leave the sprinter's lane (from the front) aren't you supposed to not go immediately back in??? like assume they will be pulling thru?

thanks man. i can't wait until i get to do longer races where everyone is as fast/faster then me.

chas58

+1. Going under is dangerous. While technically it may be legal, in races that do not have people with lots of experience, people pop out of the sprinter's lane because they are not paying attention or can't stay in the lane.

Heck, even in the Olympics people missed gold because they did not stay in their lane.

Most important thing in track racing: Ride safe and don't cause an accident!

TMonk

ahhhhhh so much faster though!

bitingduck

In a mass start race people pop in and out of it all the time. You should be able to tell by how they're riding what they're doing, and if you can't, then you shouldn't be shooting under. In a cat 4 or 5 field it's almost certainly accidental unless they're obviously getting out. Cat 3? Maybe. Cat 1/2? They're baiting you, and you'll know if you can get under or not and force them high by the time you're a cat 1/2

queerpunk

That rule is in effect "when a sprint is engaged."

TMonk

Ah.

queerpunk

Yeah. And to elaborate a bit more - I've raced at velodromes where that rule is in place in the final 200m of any sprint. But I've also been in conversations with some riders and officials who insist that it can be from however far from the line, as long as people are sprinting - which can include the last 625m of a keirin, for example.

I think it's worth playing it safe. If you're in, stay in, and if you go out, stay out. If somebody else goes out, give 'em a second or two before taking the lane from them... and don't forget that they should be relegated, so you don't need to take dangerous moves to beat 'em.

TMonk

I think that this is a good rule of thumb for myself (and other beginners in the track). As I gain more practical experience and understanding there may be situations where I can find a tactical caveat to this rule, but I will follow it strictly for a while.

bitingduck

And in the rulebook it's only explicitly called out in the rules for sprints, though it's typically enforced similarly in mass start races. And at high levels I've generally seen it interpreted as "sprint is engaged" as that's the rule, rather than "last 200 m".

TMonk

track racing tonight was kewl. first night in the "B's." last week was first night in the "C's."


Win - N - Out:
Format was 8 -laps followed immediately by a Win - N - Out. Some bigger sprinter dudes with better positioning started mobilizing in front of me for lap 1 (lap 9) and I knew it would be a crapshoot trying to beat them so I just used it as a ride to/off the front. I had no problem taking lap 10 for 2nd place.


30 lap points:
Tonight the points went 4 deep every 5 laps. I think its something like 5,3,2,1 points for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th across the line each lap, respectively. I scored 22 points and took the win, spending much of it off the front with another rider trading 1st/2nd across a couple points laps.

kyle!

Man, I'm riding like crap. The last two Tuesday nights my back seized up on the last races. I need to get a massage and adjustment or something. It sucks, my legs and lungs feel fine. My spine is terrible. Blugh.

If you saw a guy in an Adams ave bikes kit on a Bianchi looking blue in the A's, 'twas me.

TMonk

oh i think i know u, u ride a concept???

my name is david. i have a black dolan and wear a Spy kit for now. Until my Adams Ave kit comes in (just placed an order), I get to pretend that I'm still a sponsored road rider
I do the sat morning Chilis ride from time to time to. Ill say hi next time.

good luck w ur back.