After learning the basics of track riding in classes one, two and three, it is finally time to put all that you have learned together and get some actual racing under your belt. This final class will take you through some of the most common races and allow you to test your skills on the track.
The evening begins as all race nights will, with a pace-line warm up. In this case, Brian has his students run through a full-lap pull for 15 laps. He decides that the last lap will be an individual sprint lap if the students wish. That just means that the final lap of the warm-up can be ridden with all out effort if the student decides.
After the warm-up, the races begin. To start off, Brian explains the first race; A 6 lap scratch race. A scratch race finds all the riders on the boards. At this point, the order of the racers doesn’t matter; once they roll off the riders have to group themselves up before the race can officially begin. Therefore, if the two riders take off right away, there is a good chance the group will have a neutral lap, or a throw-away lap, before the race actually begins. After the riders are grouped and the whistle has blown to start the race, it is simply the first one across the line wins.
After the scratch race, Brain has his students participate in a Win-N-Out race. This race finds the students riding 5 laps at a normal pace. On the sixth lap, the first across the line is done while the others must keep going, then, on the seventh lap, the first across the line claims second place and is done. This continues until there is no one left on the track. A similar race is the Miss-N-Out, which operates under the same idea, but the person in last place on each lap is eliminated.
The last race of the night is called the Unknown Scratch which begins exactly as the 6 lap scratch, but with a catch: only one person knows the total number of laps. That person is the race official, in this case, Brian. These races can last anywhere between 2-100 laps depending on the official's mood at the time. An Unknown Scratch requires a lot of patience and daring on the part of the rider. Patience as they must wait out the others in order to have enough left to sprint for the win and daring to make a move on the hopes that the final lap bell will be rung. It provides some interesting challenges to the racers to say the least.
And that concludes the four week beginner's class at the Dick Lane Velodrome. Now that that you have the information, why not give it a try yourself. You can email Brian or check out the beginner's page on the DLV's website. Otherwise, send me an email and I will do what I can to help out. Also, check out my own trips around the track at The Ultimate Penultimate. And finally, the great photo was captured by Grant Surratt. You can find more of his work here if you want to check it out.
Comments