Originally Posted by
jmikami
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4) Stay/Stick/hold your line means that, please attempt to stay at whatever distance from what ever line your are near and just stay there. Someone might be coming under you or over you and you don't know. They might have lots of experience and be able to dodge you if you move, or they may have a mechanical issue and need to make a sudden move and you just need to hold your line.
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This CANNOT be emphasised enough. Stay/Stick/Hold ALWAYS means you put your bike parallel to the lines on the track and hold your position. It does not mean, for instance, "look over your shoulder and try to get out of someone's way". Let the guy doing the passing figure out how to pass you. Your job is to become a perfectly stationary (laterally) obstacle.
Story time: I was warming up and winding up for a sprint opener. I'm high on the track, clear myself low and make a shallow, accelerating dive to the sprinters lane. Noob chooses at this time to come onto the track from the apron right as I launch. Not great, but I can get around. I yell "STAY" and he hears. He looks back, sees me, then turns his bike perpendicular to the track to try to get to the rail in an effort to get out of my way. But I've chosen a path which takes me over the top of him and I'm already going 30mph. I T-bone him and end up pile-driving him into the ground. Not fun for either of us, but I got the better end of the interaction.
Second story: my teammate and I are warming up. He's leading out a sprint opener. He clears himself, launches, and I'm on his wheel. I see a fairly experienced guy mess up and choose that moment to get onto the track right in front of my partner. I yell STAY and he IMMEDIATELY straightens his bike, jerking it straight, not even looking back. My partner clears him on the uptrack side by a handful of inches and everyone stays upright (I let off the gas as soon as I saw the impending crash develop). Talk to my partner later and he says he was bracing for impact before the guy straightened out.
So two stories, one who didn't do the right thing and one who did. Both made the same mistake getting onto the track: not clearing themselves of faster riders coming from behind. One guy dealt with it properly; one guy did not.