Dheorl

I'm kinda curious as to how fast track races are, and I was wondering if anyone knew of a list, or could type a quick one of distance of race against time?

Baby Puke

You can find the times for the World Championships here:
https://www.tissottiming.com/index.htm

efficiency

Are you talking about time trials or mass start races?

woodduck

I did a 30 lap scratch race last week. So 7.5km and it was in 8.56 min, so almost 51kmph avg speed.

in American that would be, 30 laps = 4.66 miles in 8.56 min, so 31.69 mph avg.

but really only Timed events would matter eg, flying 200m, 1km tt and 4km tt.

Dheorl

Well what time would these be done in, looking at the results posted about the 1km was a bit over a min, what about for amatures though?

carpediemracing 

At a rough track, not banked much, I did a 4:41 3k (3k, not 4k) pursuit. I think I was the slowest of them all. I also think I was given a mercy half minute because the guy I rode against almost lapped me twice on a 28-30 second lap 318m track, and he did a 4:11. So I think I really did a 5:20 or so.

The reasonably fit guys all did 3:53 - 4:15 for 3k. A couple had aero bars and maybe an aero wheel (I had a front TriSpoke not that it made a difference, no aero anything else). I'd say the guys ranged from relatively fit but new Cat 4s to seasoned Cat 2s.

I was really, really bad. And I don't foresee myself going too much faster, i.e. taking a minute off my time wouldn't be very realistic. Even half a minute would be very hard.

I think the 200m times are in the mid 13s for the average guys. I did a high 13 the first time I went hard on the track. I think I would be faster now simply because I won't ride halfway up the track on the final turn. I almost crashed myself when I did that flying 200 as it was the first time I sprinted on that track, only 5-10 minutes after getting on a fixed gear for the first time in 17 years, and I only rode track twice before that in '92. I don't know if I'd be able to break into the 12s, but I also don't know what I've been doing when fooling around before and between doing different events there. Maybe I'm doing 13.9s and thinking I'm going fast, I don't know.

Not sure of kilo times.

All at NE Velodrome in NH, 318m, 14 deg (so not enough for extreme speeds on the banking - TTown, in comparison, I think is 28 deg for 333m), asphalt surface, rough. I run a 50x15 but I can't spin. A lot of guys run 48 or 49 x 15. The local pro runs something smaller, maybe a 47x15? He runs a mid 80" gear and spanks everyone. He also does Fri nights at T-Town so he's really good.

As a comparison, Woodduck's scratch race speed would be really, really high for NEV. He'd have been doing 23 second laps at NEV, and anything below 26 gets my attention. When the moto goes out he goes 28-ish mph for higher speeds.

You can visit your local track's website. Usually there'll be a section for track records. It'll give you an idea of what the best riders are doing there versus other tracks, especially for tracks not optimally configured (250m with steep banking seems optimal?).

cdr

Baby Puke

Dheorl,

I'm 40, some road racing background, been on track less than a year. My kilo is now 1:12, my 200 is 12 flat. These are maybe average or so for a half-way committed master. In my neck of the woods, if you are under 1:10 and 11.5 respectively, you are one of the "fast guys". I know some collegiate racers and guys in the keirin school pipeline who are doing 1:05 and 11 flat or thereabouts.

Hope that helps.

mezza

I do a kilo in 59 and 200m in under 10....

carleton

To put things into layman's terms:

200M Time Trial:
Travel the length of 2 football fields (including end zones) in around 12 seconds at an AVERAGE speed of 37MPH (meaning that you will likely hit around 40 as a max).

1KM Time Trial
Travel a bit over 1/2 Mile in a little over a minute.

10 Mile Scratch Race:
Travel 10 miles in just over 20 minutes (average 30MPH over 10 miles using one gear)


Keep in mind that ALL of these are on a banked track which by nature eats up speed as you enter the banked curves twice per lap. So, anything you do on the road takes about 20% more effort to reproduce on the track. If you can max out at 25MPH on the road, that would be a max of 20MPH on the track...generally speaking

TejanoTrackie 

You Aussies are all on something......

Baby Puke

Hmm, I never thought of it like that. You must be right, but the track certainly FEELS a lot faster than the road to me.

TejanoTrackie 

Actually, the effect of the turns depends on the tightness and banking in the turns. A 333m track with wide turns and shallow banking will scrub off a lot more speed than a 250m track with tight turns and steep banking because at speed the rider is much closer to perpendicular to the track surface, especially at the bottom of the track in the sprinter's lane. I'm not sure about the 20% figure that carlton has mentioned; I personally find that I go as fast or faster on the track than the road and that the average speed of mass-start races are faster than the fastest road crits. I think part of it is due to the flywheel effect of a fixed gear, where the rotary inertia stored in the wheel helps carry the pedals past the dead spots in the stroke, permitting a higher cadence, which results in more power output. Of course, I am speaking about outdoor tracks at sea level. Indoor tracks and tracks at altitude are faster. My home track is an outdoor 250m with a wood surface and 44 degree banking in the turns. My 200m TT is faster on my home track than the other 333m tracks, however, my 500m TT is about the same.