2010 Open Season - Herne Hill Velodrome

As well as the usual open meetings at Herne Hill Velodrome this year, there will be regular open meetings on the first Saturday of every month throughout the season (1st May, 5th Jun, 3rd Jul, 7th Aug, 4th Sep and 2nd Oct)

Each event will be run by a local club who will each put their own stamp on the event. Some may add sprint events, some may add Madisons, each event will have its own personality.

Entry fee is the cheapest of all the open meetings this year:
Youths £3
Juniors £6
Seniors £10
Despite this, each event has a guaranteed £500 in prize money, with prizes being given for every race.

These events promise to have a great mix of racing entertainment so please come on down and take part, or if you really can't race, come along and watch!

Might try and ride the last couple. Give me something to aim at.

my season is looking busier and busier...

nice!

so no guaranteed sprint at each meeting? no sprint at the track league either? how exactly do sprinters get to race? how do new riders get to give it a go? does pe me off that track leagues and open track meets dont suport sprinting when we have so little oppertunities to race!! Surely sprinting should be a vital part of every track meet, baring in mind endurance riders can do road, circuit races and then have 3-4 races at a single track meet and time cant be found for one sprint event?!?

^ i feel your pain

Where does it say there's no sprints at track league?

These programme of these Open Season open meetings is left down to the promoting club to choose, with the emphasis on doing something different from usual.

Rollapaluza CC are promoting the first event (May 1st) and are including two sprint events.

We have two more dates to fill. One promoter has agreed to do one of them, but have no preference as to which one. Would Team Terminator like to take the 4th September, or 2nd October date?

3 lap dash is a sprint event.
500m handicap is a sprint event.

Just because there is no flying 200m and match sprint does not mean there are no sprint events.

Every meeting I have ever been to at Herne Hill has at least had a 3 lap dash.

JC - part-time cycling coach, part-time assertiveness maestro

Last years track league was thin on sprints, and when they emailed to say there would be one, or a team sprint (with about 18 hours notice) we would turn up and sign on, only to discover by the time the racing started they had decided not to bother and did another scratch race instead.

But this year, JC is bossing it so there will be plenty of notice , also some people (like me) will be giving up their racing time to act as holders and whips to keep it all running smoothly.

@Adam, 3 lap dash is only a sprint event if nobody decides to go from the gun ;)

I did the first half of the league before giving up because the sprint was cancelled every week. I only remember 1 in 3 months of league.

@Adam, 3 lap dash is only a sprint event if nobody decides to go from the gun ;)

Grr!

@Adam, 3 lap dash is only a sprint event if nobody decides to go from the gun ;)

Same applies to a match sprint. Don't be fooled into believing it does not happen. Hoy was knocked out at the Worlds because he was not expecting that.

Anyway 3 laps is not an endurance event. Its a sprint. Every Sprinter should be riding them and any "sprinter" who does not make the final has go work to do.

Adam,

the 3 lap dash is not a sprint, the tactics involved and the sheer physiology required for them is quite different, they are nearer to a kilo but often have repeated bursts.

The peak power i hit in 3 lap dashes is usually roughly 400 watts less than in a proper sprint which coincedently is roughly the same as I hit in a scratch race finish, so reallly 3 laps dashes are just a short scratch race.

oh and while I am at it (soap boxing) the handicap is also not a proper sprint, where is the tactical element in it???

Same applies to a match sprint. Don't be fooled into believing it does not happen. Hoy was knocked out at the Worlds because he was not expecting that.

Except a proper match sprint is two riders over 750m with best of three, not 6 or 8 over 13500, nearly twice the distance and over a third more than the longest sprint event, the kilo.

oh and while I am at it (soap boxing) the handicap is also not a proper sprint, where is the tactical element in it???

Bribing the handicappers so they don't put you next to or behind the favourites

you sprinters really are a winging bunch... so organise a sprint meeting then... hey, I'll even come done and race.

:-)

so the 1st one's on 1st of May, and not 8th as on BC calender?

Yep, definitely the 1st. There was a mistake made on the forms. BC are on the case to change it.

If three laps at HH isn't a sprint event, what would the sprinters here like to see? (Speaking as co-organiser of the 5 June event.)

Sprinters seem to like lengths given in meters, rather than laps ;)

It makes it sound further to the uninitiated.

If three laps at HH isn't a sprint event, what would the sprinters here like to see? (Speaking as co-organiser of the 5 June event.)

The sprinters want traditional match sprints. This would consist of the following:
Qualifying round - Flying 200m - Top 32 Qualify

The top 32 riders are seeded - meaning the first placed rider will face the 32nd placed and so on.

Followed by 1-on-1 knock out round leaving use with 16 riders

Followed by another 1-on-1 knock out round leaving use with 8 riders

Then onto a best-of three-race format. Riders defeated get another chance to continue in the competition through the repachage races.

It take a lot of time. And so lot of organising. This is why many event organisers don't bother. It can, and should, however be done... Even I would give it a go.

:-)

It take a lot of time. And so lot of organising. This is why many event organisers don't bother. It can, and should, however be done... Even I would give it a go.

:-)

And it is pretty boring to watch, even for those you are into sprinting.

Keirin's might be a good substitute to keep the sprinters happy?

6 at a time only 3 laps, so won't take long?

Would you get 32 sprinters rocking up though? Given how much racing the sprinters I know do you'd probably have a field of 4. ;-)