Originally Posted by
benjovland
166? I'm curious about the technical logistics to set up and use the track. I'm interested in starting a grass track series in Minneapolis, since the NSC is closing at the end of this year. How'd you decide on 166 vs 333? And generally, what kinds of bike setups/gearing are folks running?
A couple of reasons we went with a 166.
Since we're using it as a lead it to the cyclocross season, we wanted to make it so you have to be a decent bike handler. We tried a 250 and even that felt like a drag race. With a 166 you have to plan your moves and get used to your bike drifting in the turns.
The other reason is lack of room. The biggest course we could set up was a 250 and that had to be on a soccer field. They're still playing soccer in August, but the baseball fields are free.
We do all of the normal mass start track races; points, miss and out, tempo, point a lap, etc. One of the favorites is the team sprint, we do that almost every time. We also do a TT every week, more so everyone can gauge their fitness than as a competition.
Setting up the track is easy. I use a 100' tape measure to mark 2 points 82' away from each other and swing a half circle with a 60' 5/8" radius using those points as the center. That gives you 58 meter turns and 25 meter straights, which adds up to 166 meters. I used an online circle calculator and foot to meter calculator to figure out the distances. We've tried different turn radiuses and settled on this. The turns ride well and the straights are just long enough to allow for some tight finishes.
I use small orange cones to mark the inside of the track, putting one every 5 paces as I swing the arcs. Having the cones a consistent distance apart makes it easy to stage a handicap race. I don't bother marking the outside of the track. If you want to ride 10' away from the cones, go for it.
The necessary equipment is minimal, about 50 cones, a can of upside down spray paint to mark the finish line, a chair for the scorekeeper and a stop watch to time the time trial and team sprint.
We just use our cyclocross bikes. If its legal for cross, it's good here. Sometimes we'll run a "pick a gear you like" race where no shifting is allowed, but shifting gears and having brakes hasn't been a problem.
Cross is pretty popular here. Almost everyone who does any kind of racing has a cross bike. That makes it easy. If everyone needed to buy a specific bike no one would do it.
It's exciting that you want to get grass track going in Minneapolis! I'd love to hear how it goes when you get it running! If you have any more questions or I can help in any way I'm happy to!
Paul