scotthorrigan

So this is my first year attending the velodrome in my neck of the woods, Londonderry, NH is where it's located.

I started racing in the D catagory and i've been doing fairly well but I just need to work on tactics.

When and where to make the attack?

how long to draft?

when to track stand?


share with me, if you will, your past experiences with different moves and how they've helped and/or how they didn't.


matched sprints, olympic sprints, madisons, australian pursuits, miss and outs, win and outs.

i don't care, give them all to me. or I could just be the next Theo Boss and not have to worry about all of this.

ultraman6970

When and where to make the attack? <--- when u feel like it???? all is pure common sense, in my personal oppinion there are no thumb rules, besides... since u r just starting probably youll be hanging in the back of the peloton form your buggers hehehe

how long to draft? <-- it depends. Again... no rule of thumb

when to track stand? <--- u mean sprint match??? u can do that whenever u want. The idea is to be behind of the opponent to get some advantages. Sometimes is a really bad idea to do it... again, common sence...

Regarding all the races u mentioned, besides being strong u need to be smart, think what are u going to do in the race. Sometimes isnt necesary be the best to win a race. Many things make a lot of sense... for example in miss and outs it makes sense to go i nthe front of the peloton to be safe for a while... sprinters usually run from the back of the peloton eliminating slower people one by one but this in my opinion is too risky (i was a sprinter back in the day, now im a big fat cow!) so it really depends of your condition and what are u trying to acchieve u know. Probably you will plan something and the race is given in another way, in that case u have to improvise... I think u need to meditate in the type of race, how to ran it and figure it out your self.

I have seen weird racing planing that made us win a few Panam medals back in the day. The advice i could give you is polish your techniques riding the track and figure it out your self. posibly somebody will tell you do this or that but all depends of the situations and sometimes races are just like playing cards...

Nights...

bikejack

Just curious as I haven't heard of this event, how is it run?

mezza

You ride along gravel roads, dodging kangaroos to the finish line. The loser buys the beers.

Yoshi

Everyone one starts evenly spaced on the track with a holder. You ride until you get passed by the person behind you. The race ends when only one person is left on the track.

scotthorrigan

it takes forever. sometimes they'll pull the top 3 and have them do a matched sprint to determine the winner.

Yoshi

Yeah it's pretty exciting at first and then it becomes an unlimited distance pursuit.

yonderboy

When you're in a group on the front that has a slight gap on the main field, that is the time to attack. Unless you really like putting on the solo hurting, your chances of breaking away are better as a group. You'll see higher-level points races where guys can go on a flyer and lap the field, but as a new racer, you probably won't be able to pull that off. Otherwise, any event like unknown distance, scratch, or points, when and where to make the attack depends on your position, how you feel, and how strong the other riders are. Racing more is really the only way to learn when to attack.

If you're talking about match sprints, it all depends on your opponent. If they have a faster 200 time than you, they'll be able to beat you in the final sprint. Make an early attack to tire them out and maybe hold onto the lead. If you're the one with the faster 200, wait it out until the last lap and put the hammer down.

Draft all the time. If you're not drafting, take your pull and get back in the line.

If people are taking short pulls or skipping pulls, follow that wheel when he goes to pull off and leave him on the front for another half lap. If you can't get the guy behind you to pull through, gradually take the pack to the rail, preferrably in a corner to bait someone into taking the lead.

It depends on your track. Our track has a "walking pace" rule, so there's no track standing.

If you're riding in a match sprint, you drew for the front rider position, and you're not on a corner, you can try a track stand to force your opponent into the front position. Just remember that if you roll backwards, you'll have to reset and start from the front again.

Yoshi

The official USCF rules currently state that you cannot trackstand for longer than 30 seconds. At Kissena they also have a limit of 2 trackstands, though I'm not sure if that's an official rule or a local rule.

CafeRacer

The best advise is the same I was given. Keep going to races but sit yourself in the pits next to who looks like they know the most. Usualy its an old guy, with an old bike, but he's still winning. If your lucky you may get a coach of him like I did

In a match sprint avoid making a plan untill you get to know your oponants. Instead remember you have the whole tracks width to give yourself the advantage. Go where you think your going to be able to sprint and win from. Mostly have fun.

Voodoo76

And keep in mind that position up the track is important as you have more hill to accelerate down. Idealy if you are going to jump someone you want to get behind and above with a gap. There are so many things you can look for from that spot, eg if your opponent start to point up the track you have him dead.