2012 Herne Hill Velodrome Track League

Nice one Colin. Very much like my return about 5 years ago after 12 years off.

:-)

Re: no scrutiny
I believe this is due to our litigious society. If the organiser check the bike, and later that bike fails and causes injury, the injured party can sue the organizer for passing a bike that was in fact not safe.

Crazy... but that is what I was told when I asked the same question.

That's probably true. Riders are responsible for their own bikes and so they should be.

Far too many things are assumed to be 'someone else's job' these days as basic responsibility apparently becomes too much for many humans to bear. #oldgit

Next, Win-Out. Don't remember this one. Basically sprints every two laps, winner of the first sprint is the winner and drops out, 2nd sprint winner gets 2nd place and so on. Sat up after 4 laps. Hard to figure out a strategy for this, other than pick a lap and go for it.

Is there any viable strategy besides having better legs than whoever else picks 'your' lap? Only done one or two win-outs, not enough to figure it out. I hated them, in a 'when will the suffering end?' fun sort of way.

Go with the riders sprinting for the lap before the one you've chosen, but dont contest them.... just let them lead you out. Then just keep on going when they all back off after the sprint......Then hope to god your strategy works, and you can hold the break for the next two laps!

Win-outs are awesome BTW.
I'm putting them on the programme for the Grupetto Open Meeting.

My strategy was to sit in the wheels and watch as people haired off the front every second lap, then coast in when the bell rang.

Am I doing it wrong?

that's probably true. Riders are responsible for their own bikes and so they should be.

Far too many things are assumed to be 'someone else's job' these days as basic responsibility apparently becomes too much for many humans to bear. #oldgit

+1000

Go with the riders sprinting for the lap before the one you've chosen, but dont contest them.... just let them lead you out. Then just keep on going when they all back off after the sprint......Then hope to god your strategy works, and you can hold the break for the next two laps!

Yeah, that's pretty much what I did, by accident, for the 4th place. Made a half-hearted attempt to go with the 3rd place fella and ended up in no-man's-land. Somehow managed to hold it together for another two laps off the front. Presumably everyone else must have been watching each other, or had some false notion that I knew what I was doing. Funny old race! :)

Scrutiny back then, would've been to make sure you were riding the right gear ratio as a junior/schoolboy and to check your tubs were stuck on properly, and you didn't have anything loose or sticky-out bits such as QR's not taped up etc.

Kirkby was not exactly the most luxurious of locations back then. The track was in poor condition, and if it wasn't bits of loose tarmac and potholes you were dodging it was the house bricks. I do remember one balmy evening a volley of milk bottles complete with some sort of yellowish liquid coming over on to the track. Broken glass was de-rigueur in these parts.

Thanks for the compliments. If you ride the league, say hello to number 53.

So the advice for winouts is to race for second or third place? Pfffft... losers.

It's shit or bust for me, go for that first sprint every time. I'm here to win races not come second.

Obviously I haven't won a winout yet. Or come second or third.

^and you've lost your Glebe Way KOM on Strava
/offtopic

^and you've lost your Glebe Way KOM on Strava
/offtopic

Yer, I got the email. I'm such a loser. My only KOM gone to some fishy shenanigans. If you look at the comparison we're neck and neck then he suddenly takes 7 seconds out me in the last 80m to average 30.6mph. He must have been going some at the top to manage that. Or he was driving/GPS has buggered up.

Oh well, KOM chasing is bollocks so it doesn't matter.

This thread is for real life racing, Tom. Not make believe internet racing.
Strava 'racers'>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Just informing Rich of his second place destiny.

^^That's what I meant to say.

Just informing Rich of his second place destiny.

As oposed to your DNS destiny?

Road miles and TTs for me at the moment, and I'm not doing awfully, ta.

Pursuits tomorrow night Tom, just you against the clock. You know you want to.

Pursuits can GTFO.

Ooh tempting. Track bike is pretty much out of action until I can afford to stick some new cranks on it though, and I'm planning on TTing in Bexley in the middle of some evening mile-munching.
/excuses

Fair enough, one less person riding the pursuit means slightly less time for me with my feet up in the middle of the track waiting for them to effin' finish...

How many laps is the pursuit anyway?

6 laps. 6 lonely tedious laps.

I'm aware that you would probably consider that a sprint.

2.5k, ish? Thought they were longer. Aware that doing that so deep in the paincave is likely to take years off your life, mind.