Alternative track races

othello

I help run the youth races at a track league and last season we mixed up the usual races (scratch, devil etc) with some unusual races. For example we did a Belgian Win and Out, which has become very popular, and a great leveller when you have mixed ability groups.

I'm always on the look out for new races, so if you know of any please post them here. Anything that isn't the usual scratch, devil, points.

giropaul

Unknown distance races were a feature of a lot of the old meets. Maybe unknown points lap race- laps drawn out of a hat? Lottery prizes - prizes for random finish numbers etc?

imposter2.0

There's a few variations on the madison, if the kids can hand-sling..

othello

Imposter wrote:

There's a few variations on the madison, if the kids can hand-sling..

Unfortunately we have mixed abilities, and while some can hand-sling, others can't. Would be carnage!

othello

giropaul wrote:

Unknown distance races were a feature of a lot of the old meets. Maybe unknown points lap race- laps drawn out of a hat? Lottery prizes - prizes for random finish numbers etc?

We regularly do unknown distance, often at the start of the evening to kick things off.

I like the idea of lottery prizes for finishing -- drawing finish numbers out of a hat.

Omar Little

course de prime / tempo race - points every lap. Or a variation of this being the snowball - point every lap but each sprint has one more point than the last. So someone can get a few early sprints but lose to someone that sits in and takes the later ones.

Combination devil / scratch - devil until it is down to 10 riders then it turns into a scratch for those remaining

othello

Omar Little wrote:

course de prime / tempo race - points every lap. Or a variation of this being the snowball - point every lap but each sprint has one more point than the last. So someone can get a few early sprints but lose to someone that sits in and takes the later ones.

Combination devil / scratch - devil until it is down to 10 riders then it turns into a scratch for those remaining

I tried the snowball last year and it was a total disaster! The fastest U12 rider sprinted off the fence and destroyed the field, spreading them all around the track and he proceeded to solo around and won every lap. We didn't repeat it again :?

We have a mixed ability of U12 and U10 riders, with a big speed difference. Which means some races just don't work, especially on a large outdoor velodrome. We try and control the races bit to stop the 4 or 5 super fast U12s from dropping the entire field in one lap and racing themselves every week. For example in the devil they cannot go more than a quarter of a lap ahead of the bunch, which keeps them together. In the hare and hounds we say both groups must stick together until the hare is caught, and then its a free-for-all.

I like the idea of the devil with more riders left in for the last lap. We usually go down to 3 or 4 riders for a last lap sprint, but going down to 10 or so would make the last lap very exciting.