Originally Posted by
noglider
I used to ride that way, challenging myself to use the brake only in emergencies. Then I went to a track racing clinic, and the instructor was a bike messenger in the city. He said he has to work harder to teach messengers to break their leg-braking habits than other riders. Someone asked him what he does on the street. He said he uses his brake. That changed things for me. From now on, I use my brake primarily and my legs secondarily.
Oh yeah, I most definitely don't leg brake when actually riding on the track. Learned just to float, or go up track to scrub speed, early on. But it doesn't stop me from still having fun doing it on my city fixed gear bike... I'm pretty good at keeping the two riding styles separate!