Track Cycling: Velodrome Racing and Training Area - Gearing

I've been racing at Northbrook on Fridays on my road bike. I've never done anything long, since I race in the lowest possible category; my max has been 5 laps.

Anyways, there's always this one guy who beats me on the sprints. In one race I literally drafted off him for 4 and 3/4 laps, and then he pulled away. I was hardly expending any energy--I had to coast sometimes to keep from hitting his wheel. He dropped me on the sprint, though. I tried gearing up to a 52-14 for the next race (I was at 52-16 for the first) and it worked a lot better, although only if I could draft off someone.

Why does such a ridiculous gearing feel better? I was looking at track gears, and I saw 48-16 as the gearing (albeit for specialized track only). Do sprinters gear their chainrings differently, or am I just weird? Granted, I'm lousy at spinning, and I row, which is a much more of a low speed, high power sport than high-speed, low power sport.

Also, in the first race, did I get beat on tactics, strength, or gearing? Or, most likely, some combination?

Well what gear was he pushing? Was he on a track bike or road bike as well?

Either way you should work on your sprinting. I like to do some sprints from a stand still as well as accelerations while I'm already moving. Just go out and warm up thoroughly then do two or three of each. Use lower gearing when doing sprints from a standstill. Try something around 80 inches to see how it feels. Make sure you cool off and stretch when you get home. Don't try to do too many of these your first time out but make sure you really get the intensity up. Give it all you got for 10 seconds then coast and let you heart rate come down pedal for a minute or two then do it again. Take a day off the next day or make sure you take it real easy.

Jumps - practice jumps (good info below):
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showexcerpt.cfm?isbn=0736044744&excerpt_id=3254
I was shown seated jumps this weekend - pick two points. the first point should be approached at walking speed. once you hit that point - GO! (remain seated) and keep pushing as hard as possible until you cross the second point. This does not need to be a huge distance. maybe 1/4 to 1/2 of the track. At Northbrook, some people run from the 1st George Garner sign to the next.

']Jumps - practice jumps (good info below):
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showexcerpt.cfm?isbn=0736044744&excerpt_id=3254
I was shown seated jumps this weekend - pick two points. the first point should be approached at walking speed. once you hit that point - GO! (remain seated) and keep pushing as hard as possible until you cross the second point. This does not need to be a huge distance. maybe 1/4 to 1/2 of the track. At Northbrook, some people run from the 1st George Garner sign to the next.

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