I took part in a couple "Street Sprints". I figured I'd do well because I have a good jump, but it takes more than a good jump.

I warmed up okay, did a few jumps. At one event I did my best jump in warm up. Don't do that.

I usually started in a 53x19 or so. Big ring but not the biggest cog. Big ring because you end up going pretty fast. Not biggest cog because if you backpedal a bit you derail, but you want a low gear so you can get off the line well.

The sprints are won in the last 100 meters (duh). Seriously though the guys that won were winning at the end, when the others were topped out the winners were still accelerating.

The lightest wheels help. Aero front if you have a light one.

Learn to shift while sprinting hard. My aim was to have a max jump for each sprint. In normal sprints this doesn't work because I'm already tired, but rested legs means I should be able to do a triple peak jump, maybe a quad peak. Then go super hard to the end.

I tried using small ring (better off line, 53x14 equivalent is 39x11). That failed. Junior had a 46, he did well but was out-geared at the end. Fixed gear didn't work - gearing is better, gets you a better top speed.

Overall I found that I had a good jump but faltered badly before the line. I didn't have the condition to follow up on the jump.

Good luck
cdr