The Marymoor Crawl

[redir]

LOL check this out. Pretty cool idea for a track race.

http://road.cc/content/news/133166-v...s-your-giggles

The idea is simple. Riders have to stay upright - no feet on ground, no interfering with other riders, no holding the rail on the side of the track, no crossing the finish line – for up to four minutes before the bell rings, then the ones left in go hell for leather for a single lap of the velodrome.

[Limonade]

hahaha...I love this idea, I was really rooting for that guy in the khaki shorts and teva sandals who made it till about 3:30 mark.

Not really sure I understand why the guys who made it till 4minutes, but werent right on the line, didn't start riding towards the line as the 4 minute mark approached. This is like the start is a sailing race (except you're on a track bike and have limited space to move around). everybody in a sailing race tries to time it so that you hit the line in the optimal position at top speed just as the bell rings. Didn't see anything against that in the write up of this race, but maybe its not allowed...

[nooneline]

Originally Posted by Limonade

Not really sure I understand why the guys who made it till 4minutes, but werent right on the line, didn't start riding towards the line as the 4 minute mark approached. This is like the start is a sailing race (except you're on a track bike and have limited space to move around). everybody in a sailing race tries to time it so that you hit the line in the optimal position at top speed just as the bell rings. Didn't see anything against that in the write up of this race, but maybe its not allowed...

A few reasons:
1. You don't know how much time has elapsed
2. You don't know when the officials are going to fire the gun
3. If you start creeping to the line you risk needing to come to another stop, running out of room, and having your legs in the wrong spot in the rotation.

They ran the Crawl for both days of the Marymoor GP this year. Fun to be there for it.

We did a similar thing at the NSC Velodrome on the last night of racing this year, except we ran it backwards on the track. It was unpleasant.

[redir]

Originally Posted by Limonade

hahaha...I love this idea, I was really rooting for that guy in the khaki shorts and teva sandals who made it till about 3:30 mark.

Not really sure I understand why the guys who made it till 4minutes, but werent right on the line, didn't start riding towards the line as the 4 minute mark approached. This is like the start is a sailing race (except you're on a track bike and have limited space to move around). everybody in a sailing race tries to time it so that you hit the line in the optimal position at top speed just as the bell rings. Didn't see anything against that in the write up of this race, but maybe its not allowed...

Yup. Reminds of the days when I used to race my Laser. I never was good at starts.

[tv_vt]

Fun! Was that a woman who won?

[shovelhd]

Originally Posted by redir

Yup. Reminds of the days when I used to race my Laser. I never was good at starts.

I used to race a Sunfish at the club level when I was a kid. We weren't club members so I raced unofficial. I used to nail the starts. The trick is to practice off course and time it with your stopwatch. While the other guys were luffing with 30s to go I was hitting the line at full tilt. I had enough unofficial wins to become the club commodore at 15. The old guys hated me.

This track race looks like fun.

[nooneline]

Originally Posted by tv_vt

Fun! Was that a woman who won?

No, that's Zak Kovalcik.

[redir]

Originally Posted by shovelhd

I used to race a Sunfish at the club level when I was a kid. We weren't club members so I raced unofficial. I used to nail the starts. The trick is to practice off course and time it with your stopwatch. While the other guys were luffing with 30s to go I was hitting the line at full tilt. I had enough unofficial wins to become the club commodore at 15. The old guys hated me.

This track race looks like fun.

That's a good idea using the stop watch. I'm not a very good sailor, not enough experience really, but it sure is fun.

[Limonade]

Yea, when you get it right its the best feeling. with the good racers it really comes down to the start, just like the hole shot in some other forms of racing...

had some fun times on the big boats with starts...we got t-boned right out of the start on a starboard tack. the other guy was an idiot and our cap was stubborn...glad i was just crew on that boat.....



I totally missed the original explanation that it was UP TO 4 minutes...i thought it was a 4minute track stand test that you could just time on your wrist...

Originally Posted by shovelhd

I used to race a Sunfish at the club level when I was a kid. We weren't club members so I raced unofficial. I used to nail the starts. The trick is to practice off course and time it with your stopwatch. While the other guys were luffing with 30s to go I was hitting the line at full tilt. I had enough unofficial wins to become the club commodore at 15. The old guys hated me.

This track race looks like fun.

[eippo1]

Hah, perfect lunch watching. Surprised nobody really took anyone else out (of their track stand). With the exception of a couple guys who got to the front too early, most really had a good sense of their space.