Originally Posted by
carleton
1: Depending on the track, it's quite possible to "burn a match" climbing into turn 1. Cutting the corner and easing into the top of the curve is a good idea.
2: If you don't have a diesel engine and are able to slowly build high speed, you can treat the very end of the windup as a "rolling standing start".
The "rolling standing start" was really effective for me at TTown. I tried this when, looking at power files, I noticed that my final 200M from a standing lap was the same or faster than my flying 200s were on the same day. I still didn't perfect the technique (didn't have enough reps). But, it's viable. This also lends credence to the idea that I was reaching a "terminal velocity" (max possible speed given my aerodynamics and energy output). So, basically, it seemed that the windup didn't help me much as I would still hit the wall of wind and max out on speed given my "rolling refrigerator" stature.
It's very interesting, Carleton. In addition to body position, line thru T3-4, thinking "fast feet" through the final turn, etc, one of my missions is to generally try to minimize degrading in the second half of the 200, so I've been hunting for low resistance through T1 and T2 when doing easy lapping practice, with the mindset that every slice of energy I don't waste there will make for more resources for T3-4 and through to the finish line.
If I climb uphill at the rail at T1, but it gives me a larger radius/distance to recover and build up to the start line, it's a longer effort and some wasted energy. It feels like by turning in a little early, I'm in a shorter radius which gives less time to build speed before the start line, but since there is less resistance, speed is maintained and I'm doing a shorter effort overall---so perhaps I'm making better use of resources and better able to minimize degrading on the finishing straight.
I have to play more with this and look at cadence, speed and time at different points in the effort. If I had a lot of power to burn, it would be easier, but without it, I have to find little incremental energy saving opportunities. Ultimately, who knows where I'll wind up when I have more strength and practice under me, but enjoying the learning and experimenting tremendously. I've also developed a much greater appreciation for how technical the sprint is, and how skilled fast sprinters are. What looks so simple is truly not. Fascinating.