Author Topic: Liggett goes off on one  (Read 11767 times)

fuzzy

Re: Liggett goes off on one
« Reply #75 on: 06 August, 2012, 11:49:30 am »
Pimpin your ride was what it was all about in my yoof (cowhorn handlebars on my Raleigh Jeep etc) and then caneing it until it, or you, broke.

These days it seem sto be more about hacking or modding your drive etc.

mcshroom

  • Mushroom
Re: Liggett goes off on one
« Reply #76 on: 06 August, 2012, 11:55:25 am »
I was riding my BMX round the dirt track we* "built" up in the local woods before I even knew such a thing as a velodrome existed.

d.

*"we" being me and some other local kids.

I did exactly the same, then found out why it was a bad idea to ride the route backwards :facepalm:
Climbs like a sprinter, sprints like a climber!

Re: Liggett goes off on one
« Reply #77 on: 06 August, 2012, 12:07:57 pm »

I disagree that track is some weird sidewater -  it's been the basis of cycle racing for as long as there have been bikes. It's also much more easily understood and televised. Try explaining the whole load of tactics going on in the road race last week to someone who's never raced, or even never raced at a serious level.

But track cycling has been in decline since the 50 (?), with all the sponsorship money and fan interest on the road. Perhaps except for the winter sixes. Name all the post war cycling heroes, how many of them were track riders?

In the 70s and 80s the track events at a world level were dominated by the state sponsored riders from the Easter Bloc, then after 1989, aspiring riders would choose the road, same as in the West, because there was no money in track cycling.

Then British Cycling spotted a gap in the market, as it were, and now again state sponsored riders are
winning against track riders who have to to get private sponsorship.

Track cycling is easily televised, and some events are easy to understand. But some like the madison is almost impossible to show on TV and that's why it's been dropped. The individual pursuit and kilo  wer dropped because I guess a lone rider is seen as boring to the general public, the team pursuit is more of a spectacle.

Rig of Jarkness

  • An Englishman abroad
Re: Liggett goes off on one
« Reply #78 on: 06 August, 2012, 12:55:19 pm »
Track cycling is easily televised, and some events are easy to understand. But some like the madison is almost impossible to show on TV and that's why it's been dropped. The individual pursuit and kilo  wer dropped because I guess a lone rider is seen as boring to the general public, the team pursuit is more of a spectacle.

I suspect the IP was dropped because it was deemed to take too long to schedule.  I suspect the kilo was dropped because it was deemed to be 1 sprint event too many.
Aero but not dynamic

mattc

  • n.b. have grown beard since photo taken
    • Didcot Audaxes
Re: Liggett goes off on one
« Reply #79 on: 06 August, 2012, 01:19:14 pm »
slightly OT:
Watching the kilo in the Omnium, it struck me that the shorter event duration is much better than for the 4km events. I'll watch a longer event where there is some interaction (like the solo sprint, keirin or points* race), but a rider (or team) just belting round at constant pace, on their own, isn't as exciting.

The TP has the added interest of riders swinging off, and potentially 'dropping the baton', but when it goes perfectly it's actually kinda dull  :(


*Well, maybe ...  ;D
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

John Henry

Re: Liggett goes off on one
« Reply #80 on: 06 August, 2012, 06:30:40 pm »
I used the word 'accessible' upthread to describe track cycling in the sense that it's easy for non-cyclist spectators to understand, in comparison with road racing. It's only anecdata, but the non-cyclists at work seem to have picked up what's happening on the track fairly easily - but the tactics and outcome of the Olympic RR had them mystified and took a lot of explaining.

I don't see how you can argue that track cycling is 'accessible' in the sense of being easy to participate in. Even those people who are fortunate enough to live within sensible distance of a velodrome can't really just pitch up on spec and have a go.

Whether BMX should replace track events depends on what you think the Olympics are for, I guess. Are they a general celebration of sport aimed at inspiring grass-roots participation, or are they the pinnacle of 'pure' competition? In some sports - and cycling's one - those aims aren't always compatible. In other sports they might be.

BMX dirt tracks... those were the days. I bounced then. Stinging nettles hurt just as much, though!

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Liggett goes off on one
« Reply #81 on: 07 August, 2012, 01:08:39 am »
In the 70s and 80s the track events at a world level were dominated by the state sponsored riders from the Easter Bloc, then after 1989, aspiring riders would choose the road, same as in the West, because there was no money in track cycling.
They rode on oval tracks.  :D
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Liggett goes off on one
« Reply #82 on: 08 August, 2012, 01:19:05 pm »
Well according to Boardman and perhaps Porter, the individual pursuit was dropped to prevent the current British domination of Olympic track cycling.

fuzzy

Re: Liggett goes off on one
« Reply #83 on: 08 August, 2012, 01:29:51 pm »
Well according to Boardman and perhaps Porter, the individual pursuit was dropped to prevent the current British domination of Olympic track cycling.

A Fail of epic proportions?   :thumbsup: