Originally Posted by
queerpunk
...
there's another thing to do that's not so much about changing your speed and elevation; there's also trying to keep it consistent by varying your lateral location on the track; when i'm tired and saving every ounce of energy while in relief in a madison, i go to the rail on the straights, and then when the track lifts up in the corners, i head down to the stayer's line; and then back to the rail on the next straight. i try to ride a line that is all at a consistent elevation.
This works only if you are committed to not being anywhere close to the sprinters lane. After all, the elevation change on the pursuit line is pretty much zero.
The straightforward explanation is simply that the rider is trying to make the track more like a circle than an oval. Riding that line makes the entry line into the turns straighter. For some riders, it might also be that exiting the turn wide simply allows them to apply more power as they don't have to "flip" their bike vertical as fast as they exit the turn.
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Cat 2 Track, Cat 3 Road.
"If you’re new enough [to racing] that you would ask such question, then i would hazard a guess that if you just made up a workout that sounded hard to do, and did it, you’d probably get faster." --
the tiniest sprinter