Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Advice on planning a singlespeed race.

Hey all,

So some friends and I are trying to plan a singlespeed race and I'd love to get any input from people who have participated in unsanctioned races.

We live 50 miles North of San Francisco in Santa Rosa, which is a big enough city for an alley cat style race, but we're not really interested in that sort of thing. There is a big mountain biking and hiking state park next to the city which has some cool paved trails that form a circuit. Ideally, we would like to use these for our race. Unfortunately, there is a lot of foot traffic on these trails and we don't want to irritate anyone too much by our fun and games.

There's a lot of open roads that are great for cycling, but I'm thinking that a singlespeed race needs more flair than a normal road race.

Would something like a high school or college track be good? There's a few of those around here.

Again, I'm just hoping to get some advice on planning this race. Information about what day of the week and timing would be very helpful, as well.

Thanks,
Jim

a bike path crit sounds, uuh, interesting

a bike path crit sounds, uuh, interesting

interesting...as in bad?

what's wrong with an alley cat? I've never not had fun in one.

Lots of tracks dont allow biking on them. It doesnt sound like the whole operation is going to be legal anyway, but if anyone important sees you they'll boot you from the track

If you want to stay squeaky clean with the law but still have a fun/safe race out of public view, find a nice straight strip of road somewhere and do a match sprints style race. I did this awhile back - 1 on 1, quarter mile and no drafting (purest form of a race there is). Actually I'd recommend having 3 people go off at a time, more fun that way for the crowd and the racers and it means you get through the rounds faster.

Or just throw an alleycat, more fun.

If you want to stay squeaky clean with the law but still have a fun/safe race out of public view, find a nice straight strip of road somewhere and do a match sprints style race. I did this awhile back - 1 on 1, quarter mile and no drafting (purest form of a race there is). Actually I'd recommend having 3 people go off at a time, more fun that way for the crowd and the racers and it means you get through the rounds faster.

Or just throw an alleycat, more fun.

Sounds great - can I play?

Last year for my birthday and end of season fun we staged a "get together" in an industrial park. It was a two mile loop and it worked real well because most warehouse/factory areas are shut down on the weekends. Do it early in the AM on a Sunday - The real trick is to find a place with live music on Sat night and buy your fellow racers as many pints of Guiness as it takes to ensure Victory...Glory is worth the price! S&F

Do it at night. We have flat track races every so often at a local high school track... No one really cares as long as we don't leave a mess.

interesting...as in bad?

on a public path, yes - just because of pedestrians and i'd imagine little room to maneuver. a circuit on a legit track sounds like it would be good though.