| Re: Drag racing on bicycles.
Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> In article <Tmzvh.39780$Gr2.35457@newssvr21.news.prodigy.net> ,
> Bill Baka <bbaka@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> This one is my pet. Since all the car freaks like to do drag races, both
>> at stop lights and at a track, why not have the same event for bicycle
>> riders. A quarter mile is a good distance for a healthy rider to cover
>> at 110% effort and the finishing speed should be about 40 MPH for a
>> really fit rider. Given an average of 30 MPH that would give 30 seconds
>> of pure leg busting effort and a near heart attack at the end.
>> I know that a rider set a record by riding at 35 MPH for one full hour
>> in a velodrome so it can be done, although that record may have been on
>> a 'bent.
>>
>> New sport anyone?
>>
>> Bill Baka
>
> Several track events (match sprints, chariot races, pursuit, kilo) are
> essentially drag races of one form or another.
>
> kilos are 1000m standing-start time trials. It's probably the closest to
> a standing-start low-et race, though it is not normally done heads-up.
>
> Match sprints are heads-up standing-start races, but the first three
> laps (of four) are usually purely tactical, as riders compete for track
> position at speeds as slow as a walking pace.
>
> A chariot race is a 3-up match sprint, and the dynamic of the extra
> rider means that such races are, while still tactical, usually
> faster-moving from the start.
>
> If you've never seen a match sprint before, it is the definitive track
> event, and as exciting as a drag race. Less noisy, though.
>
Total agreement with you.
The quarter mile thing I have in mind is just so that everyone can
participate, and not just the elite.
Of course, if it became a popular event, I have a feeling that it would
splinter into elites and average casual riders.
Bill Baka
|