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@BringMeMyFix
Short indoor tracks usually mean gearing lower e.g. Calshot @ ~150m, the hire bike gearing is 81" (48x16).
It's worth experimenting with lower gearing, and allowing yourself a few months to do this, so that you have time to adapt physiologically. It may 'feel' too easy, but the likelihood is you're going just as fast, legs stay fresher longer, acceleration is quicker, you never have to walk a hill, etc.
If after 3 months on something like 48x18, you fail to perceive any advantages, it's easy to swap back - very easy if your chain length/trackend length allows you to run 48x15 and 48x18 with the same chain.
Many high cat/elite racing cyclists make sacrifices regarding their longterm knee health/ability to walk later in life, but most people are put off by the idea of varicose veins and eroded cartilage. Even in my granddad's era (he rode fixed in the first half of the 20th century), the mantra was "better to pedal than to push".