Tactics
I haven't been involved in cycling for some time, due to raising a family(two kids). Now they are grown, and I am really enjoying following cycling again. I watched quite a bit of the sprint races at Beijing, and the track was beautiful. It looked to be very smooth and steeply banked. What suprised me was how fast the racers were going! I was also amazed at how they did it. When I was racing, we would slowly circle the track along the top near the rails, jockying for the best position, and then slowly pick up the pace until someone dropped down and the sprint would begin. When you drop down a steep banking, it is like getting shot out of a cannon, the speed increases so quickly. But this current set of sprinters start at the bottom of the track, then move halfway up the banking, pick up speed, and then drag race to the finish line. We were a lot more flashy and used the whole track. It seemed to me like a waste of banking the way the modern guys sprint, but you can't deny they are fast. My best times were in the mid 10's, on a good day. Usually an 11 or 12. These guys were posting in the 9's! WOW! I guess we looked cool, but we were doing it wrong! Maybe we should have done more strength training, and less partying!