carleton

+1

Also, treat a 3 or 4-up as the last 3 laps of a Scratch race. Same rules for positioning and sprinting apply. Also, if you don't think you can beat them in a drag race...never let it become a drag race. Take them long.

Hida Yanra

Huh, that's almost sig worthy.

Brian Ratliff

2+

Don't necessarily go kilo from the gun, but stretch things out early and watch for the two others (who probably know you are not a pure sprinter) to be looking at each other. Don't make a big fuss about accelerating quickly. Accelerate from seated. Don't make a huge dramatic drop into the sprinters lane. Don't do the whole roadie-thrashing-bike thing. Think stealthy speed. Really try to fuzztz up their timing by continuously accelerating and encourage them to be looking at each other rather than you. Just remember, if there are two sprinters and you on the track, the biggest worry those sprinters have is each other. You can use that to your advantage. Just like in a road race, there will be some hesitation to chase you, since the guy doing the chasing is giving a very nice leadout to the other.

But, like others have said, a full second difference is a huge gap. It's going to be hard to overcome that disadvantage in such a short race. You need to encourage them to give you as much leash as possible, because a sprinter can close a huge gap in a hurry.

Quinn8it

Uhhhh...
If you are 3 seconds slower than me in the 200m- you can't beat me in a drag race, or a kilo... Long, short, it's not happening

Hermes

My apologies in advance but I do not get how a racer who is 3 seconds slower in a flying 200 gets matched against overwhelming competition. The sprint tournaments that I have done start with a flying 200 and IF there are 16 in the field, it is broken down into an A and B group by time. If there are slower riders, there may be a C group. The As can be 2 to 3 seconds faster than the Cs but they will never compete.

First, IMO, it is a little dangerous to put a really slow guy on the track with two really fast guys with the goal of the slow guy to be disruptive and not having a chance to even be competitive. I will admit that if the slow guy goes from the gun and picks up the pace, the remaining racers have fewer options. The cat and mouse nature of stalking is gone such that they have to decide immediately to chase. Once they are on the slow guys wheel, the next decision is when to pass him and where. I could see some argy bargy as they make the pass fighting for position and the slow guy always loses unless the fast guys crash each other out.

Quinn8it

First ride in a sprint tournament is always the fastest qualifier and the Slowest (to make the cut), 2nd fastest gets 2nd slowest... And so on..

carleton

I didn't say he'd win

That's just the best tactic he has at his disposal.

Hermes

In our open sprint tournaments, the flying 200 sets the A, B, and C groups and the fastest A competes against the slowest A.

Brian Ratliff

I don't think it is dangerous. I mean, at worse, there are only four guys on the track...

A keirin is different though. Having a slow guy or two in the mix... it can get crowded in a hurry once the motor leaves.

Quinn8it

Masters Nationals was 18 qualifiers..

carleton

We all have anecdotal stories. Here are two:

1st story:

I watched a 3-up sprint at TTown with Gideon Massie (Olympian), Njisane Phillip (Olympian), and a new unknown racer. Massie and Phillip knew that the race was really between themselves and they didn't pay any mind to the unknown guy. Massie and Phillip both like to play the "cat and mouse" tactics. While they were eyeing each other and doing that, the other guy took off and held on for dear life. Massie and Phillip saw him but didn't care. Eventually they broke their stalemate and raced each other to the finish and assumed that they'd catch the guy in the process. Nope. Unknown guy won.

2nd story:

Hoy was put out in the 1st round of a major event (European Championships) that he was favored to win. He was beaten by an "enduro" who was seeded last in the tournament. In the first round, 1 win takes the round and the winner advances. There is no best 2 out of 3.


As the saying goes, even the sun shines on a dog's arse some days.

Quinn8it

Do the math on top speeds.. If rider A does an 11.5" and rider B does a 14", rider B's top speed is like 32mph.. He can do as many laps as he wants at 32mph- rider A is winning..

So- yes it may be the best of his poor options.. But it likely didn't phase rider A and now rider B burned a match he needs for later rounds..

carleton

I agree.

But, if he's already in a 3-up and matched up against much faster riders, there likely are no rides after this. This is the repechage. If I were coaching, I'd say, "Give it all you got. Don't lay down for anybody."

Quinn8it

It is in my sprinter DNA to do my best to convince you you have zero shot before we even leave the warm-up circle..

noglider 

How about chains? When does it make sense to spend big money on a 1/8" chain? I have worked as a mechanic, and I haven't seen any catastrophic failures of 1/8" chains, even of the generic ones. 3/32" chains are a different matter.

Cantrackie

I have known a lot of sprinters in my career, and being one myself I can tell you that we are a lazy bunch(sort of), we want to do the least amount of work possible to get the "win", the last thing we really want to happen is a Kilo.
So my advice is much like the rest, take the snap out of a sprinters legs by dragging it out, don't make it steady as you 'll give a good lead out, instead give a few good accelerations to take the punch out of their legs, you might win, you might not, but at the very least you'll have a typically large ego maniacal person(as most sprinters are) very angry with you, and that can be rewarding in itself.

carleton

The point of diminishing returns comes very quickly when it comes to chains. An $80 chain doesn't perform much better (if at all) than a $15 chain. But, a $15 chain does perform better than an $10 chain.

Stretching is more of a concern than breaking. As you well know, a stretched chain will eat up the more expensive chainrings and cogs.

Cheap chains stretch faster and more than the others more expensive models.

A good track chain costs around $15-20 and will last years with proper routine maintenance (cleaning, oiling, etc...)

I have KMC K710 ($15-20) and Izumi ECO ($20-25) chains that I've been doing fat guy standing starts on for years and they show no signs of stretching via the chain-checker. But, a cheaper chain would have stretched within months.

There are lots of good chains out there: Izumi, KMC (certain models), D.I.D., Whipperman, etc... Maybe other people can mention chains that have treated them well.

Baby Puke

The HKK blue chain is the cheapest NJS chain at ~$25 (¥1500/$15 in Japan), has identical construction to the HKK gold (three times the price) and is the chain of choice among pro-keirin riders, many of whom are fat (and strong).

Hermes

Here are the flying 200 times for Nationals last year at Indy 40-44 with 22 competitors but the time spread was 11.4 to 12.9 or 1.5 seconds not 3 seconds and they run as two up head to head. https://www.usacycling.org/results/i...&info_id=67465 The 11.4 guy goes against the 12.9 which should be an easy win for the fast guy no matter what the slower racer does. But you will not see the two fastest guys on the track against the slowest guy in a 3 up.

Quinn8it

When coming up through the rounds- I will ride an 88" gear until I get to someone who rode a sub-12" 200.. The reason is- I know top end will not exceed my rpm-capacity and it allows me to be super responsive to the typical early attacks in these rounds.. The key for the big sprinter in this situation is not missing the move.. If a gap doesn't open, then drafting and coming around is not a problem..

Baby Puke

This is a great idea that I'd never considered.

Brian Ratliff

You know, it's just not fair. I went so much faster than the little snot in qualifying and he shoves off and goes hard when he isn't supposed to.

1+

Good to know some people still ride small gears.

Quinn8it

It was..

slindell

At some point being out gunned badly you may as well treat it as a learning experience and motor pacing session. If you can hang with the jump you will get some high speed training in and even if dropped you get to see the lead up to the jump and try to do better next time. Sometimes you can even get a second place out of 3.
Going off the front and getting passed at the end is more of the same practice and you don't get to see the tactics other than a blur going by. If you do a flier make sure to hold your line so if you do get passed you don't endanger anyone.

Brian Ratliff

With more than a second in 200m time differential, he won't be able to stay with the acceleration.