2010 Herne Hill Velodrome Track League

why are half of them doing it the wrong way???

:-(

i would have had to have done it facing in the opposite direction. i find it difficult tracktanding with my wheel pointing to the right. also facing the opposite way with your wheel pointing to the left allows you to use the slight camber of the track to your advantage.

I just hate points races... they do my head in.

I allways just knacker myself out trying to get some points... and i never actually get anywhere near the money. They take far too much concentration for my liking.

Go from the gun. Works nearly every time in the B points race.

They sound like tactics i might be able to deal with...

Points races are confusing, I always end up killing myself racing against someone else for 5/6 position which gets no points, then realise that was stupid by which point I'm knackered. Although all the BC points I got last year were in the points race, they were in 1 race though!

Go from the gun. Works nearly every time in the B points race.

Isn't that what everyone else does in the B race? (edit: now I realise andy was joking)

So unless you think you can outsprint everyone else in the race first off it might be prudent to wait until some of them tire.

How you go about this is the important bit.

I was crap in the B points, then last year I was crap in the A points.
I just used it as training and to keep my legs moving between other races.
I also did this for the devil, 15 lap warm up scratch, and the 20k. The only race I didnt do this for was the sprint races. My tactic for these was to rest and not compete.

I wasn't joking. In my first year of track league, Jake used to go from the gun every week in the B points race and he invariably won it. Part of it was due to his ability, but part of it was that he'd score points in the first two sprints before everyone else chased him down. Then he just had to make sure he got points in one more sprint and he was guaranteed the win.

In my experience, getting points on the board early on is essential in a points race.

I think nearly all of it was down to his ability, and probably the lack of tactical knowledge from the other B riders.

Early points are not essential, merely one of several tactics.

Amusingly, Jake tried the same tactic in the As and it failed every time.

Yeah when you get old like us lot, you need to expend your energy wisely. This means sitting out the points race all together.

That's my excuse anyway :)
Nice to see this thread active again. I was in a very very dark mood for a week or so but I seem to have climbed the mountain

Poor Jake. His tactics were very basic but did work a lot of the time. Didnt make many friends doing it though. There was always a groan from the (us!) oldies at the back 'oh fucking hell Jake, not again!'

Yeah when you get old like us lot, you need to expend your energy wisely. This means sitting out the points race all together.

Good point of view. My advice from a coaching perspective would be to conserve energy during a points race by sitting trackside and eating.

Especially B points where the entire bunch thinks they can win the first sprint and go off like headless chickens.

(Edit: for the slow witted, I wouldn't seriously advise people like this!^)

Good point of view. My advice from a coaching perspective would be to conserve energy during a points race by sitting trackside and eating.

Especially B points where the entire bunch thinks they can win the first sprint and go off like headless chickens.

Kinda depends if you want to get any better or not. If you want to be crap at points races (and i'm guessing therefore crap at hard/fast scratch races & madisons) just sit on the side and decide it's not what you want to do.

Just tell yourself it's a scratch race. At least you' might finish - which is a lot closer to scoring points than sitting on the grass.

BAM! A double barrage of sense!

Kinda depends if you want to get any better or not. If you want to be crap at points races (and i'm guessing therefore crap at hard/fast scratch races & madisons) just sit on the side and decide it's not what you want to do.

I have to disagree. I find myself pretty good at hard scratch races as I have a pretty decent sprint on me if I can get with the lead bunch. However, after that one sprint I cannot recover for at least 5 mins. Its my aerobic fitness that is lacking you see, purely due to my lack of doing lots and lots of miles

Sense of humour fail, Iain?

Im pretty sure you can improve with good interval training, just a half hour fucking hard session with short recovery between efforts . Races never last much longer than this. Probably dont need to put in hours of base miles.

Points races are all about recovery from anaerobic efforts, not aerobic effort.

Oh dear.

oh darling.

Im pretty sure you can improve with good interval training, just a half hour fucking hard session with short recovery between efforts . Races never last much longer than this. Probably dont need to put in hours of base miles.

But in order to get the best out of "good interval training" you need a decent aerobic base.

That's why it's often called a "base" because you build the other training on top of it.

The amount of aerobic endurance work (usually taking the form of easy road miles) will vary depending on the rider and their chosen goals, but even sprinters who do no obvious aerobic racing need to have an aerobic base.

Old school thinking. 2011 is all about anaerobic base training.

Points races are all about recovery from anaerobic efforts, not aerobic effort.

Yes you are right.
Well whatever it is I don't have it, I hate them and I opt to wimp out of them
:)