1) Neutral lap does not mean slow lap- it means you can't attack. The juniors and 5's tend to forget that and slide down the track. If you watch a 1/2 race the neutral lap is often approaching full race speed.
2) hold your line at the end of sprints. there may be a lot of people around you and if you swing up you very well might cause a crash
3) don't try to get out of the way when you die. People behind you will see that you're cooked and go around, if they can't get around then they were just about dead anyway. If you try to get out of the way, you may very well hook/chop someone. Once they're all past, you can move to the pole lane and retire, or move to the pole lane and ride tempo until they catch you (and don't try to get out of the way when they do)
4) if you're dropped and a break catches you, you can latch on but can't share in the work. the leaders have to do the work and you get a free ride if you can hang on.
5) read the section of the rulebook on track racing. it will explain the rules about the sprinters lane and scoring and things.
6) keep your head up and look way ahead-- if you're watching the wheel in front of you, by the time you see something bad happen it's already happened to you and you just haven't hit the deck yet. If you're watching way ahead you can react in time to stay upright
7) If there's a crash in front of you, steer up track and keep pressure on the pedals. If it's a low speed slide you have to keep pedaling or you'll slide, too. If it's a high speed crash it generally will slide down the track. If you try to go under you're almost guaranteed to be in it, too. If you try to go over, you still might be in it, but there's a pretty good chance you'll clear it.
8) always look before you move laterally. It could be crowded.
btw - do you have a bike? did you build up the look? Rentals aren't allowed for racing at HDC.
Last edited by bitingduck; 02-26-10 at 01:31 PM.