Originally Posted by
Clythio
Checked the individual persuit final won by Lambie and didn't get the reason for his "wide", "open" path on straights, even going "up" when leaving turns.. I can get the reason to slightly open the trajectory entering turns, but going wide all the time.. it seemed weird to me.
The video is available at UCI YouTube as "day 3", I believe.
A lot of pursuiters ride this line. I've heard it called "Lucy Lines" after the person who pioneered it, but I forget her name...
Basically, if you're on a straight, on the black line, looking forward at the lane, it rises up in the turns as the banking increases. If you aim to hit the black line all the way around, that's great, but you're still likely to flick up in the turns. That robs you of momentum (even if you get it back) and rhythm and control.
Drifting out to red on the straights lets you ride the waterline of the track - the line of equal height - which lets you sort of dive into the turns without getting hit by the banking. It's a very smooth and fast line and you really feel the acceleration into the turns from the wider arc instead of that slight fight when you hit the steeper banking.
You can try something similar just on your warmup - on 250s, my warmup line is out to the rail on the straights and then over to the stayer's line in the turns. That's a similar waterline (and a real joy to ride on well-designed tracks).