Originally Posted by
bitingduck
After re-reading your post, I think you have a fairly big misunderstanding about how bicycle track racing works. Time trials are about getting the highest average speed possible over a distance, which generally is done by riding at the highest possible constant speed. Accelerations cost a *lot* of energy, so TT riders generally avoid them. Mass start racing is about crossing the line first, which means either winning sprints from a pack (positioning and tactics) or getting the jump on other riders and getting and maintaining a gap (positioning and tactics followed by sticking to the measurement line at constant speed). You can use the track geometry to help get the jump, but every track is different (all three in SoCal are drastically different) and racers will adjust quickly to whatever the track characteristics are.
I haven't ridden the HDC but I did ride the other two tracks. Completely different. You get so much less speed buildup at the Sandy Eggo track than Encino when you're dropping off the rail. I'd jacked up my back and didn't ride a bicycle for a few years. That was right when HDC first opened. :cry
For the most part, guys that are TTing stick to the blue line on the bottom of the track to get the shortest laps possible. The rest of us are riding around where we're riding around based on what's going on tactically at the time. (If that makes sense) Really no such thing as apexing a turn on a track.
HTH
M