Originally Posted by
trenzafeeds
So I'm like a brand new new new newbie track racer, as you'll probably be able to tell by my question. I've been riding some informal races and club level stuff, and I've even managed to pull off a win or two, but I have a persistent problem. No matter how straight of a line I feel like I'm holding around the track, every time I hit a curve it feels like the going gets a little tougher, even when I line my front wheel up with a tape line and hold it as true as I can. I know there must be a way to avoid this, but I'm a little lost as to how, anyone have tips?
What you are experiencing is normal. It's more so in smaller, "tighter" tracks (like 200 or 250M) and less so on "bowl-shaped" large tracks (like 333 or 400M).
What exacerbates it is when you are anywhere on the track but the black line. Basically you literally climb into turns the further from the center you go. If you are along the boards, you will exert a lot of energy climbing into turns 1 or 3. But, you will get some of that energy back when you "fall" out of turns 2 and 4. That doesn't negate the fact that you can "burn a match" if you exert too much climbing into the turn. That will make you feel bad.
This is actually a match sprinting technique: A leading rider may try to force a trailing rider (slightly behind) to climb into a steep turn and exert some glycogen and scrubbing off a few KPH off of their speed in doing so...enough to allow the leading rider to win a drag race from that point.
Welcome to track racing. It's not as easy as it seems
