Last night’s experimental track meet on IndieVelo worked well.
Not everyone who signed up managed to make the start line but I had 7 riders in total. Of those only 2 rode at least 3 races so I sneaked in a victory! 😁
Race 1 was a points race, 2 humans and 28 bots. The other human entry was in a different pen, the way it works is we are matched with riders of similar abilities and then each pen is filled with bots also of similar ability. Geoff (VCLE) and I went off a little too fast taking the max points in the first 2 sprints, but then were passed by a group of 17 riders which neither of us managed to latch onto. I did tag onto the next group of 7 and through careful riding did manage to pick up what few points were left available for 18-20th over the line each lap. In the end I finished in 18th position for 3 pts.
My second race was a 2km 3-up sprint. Likewise spaces are filled with bots so all 3 of us were in different pens racing against 2 bots each and we all managed to win so getting 10 pts each.
Race 3 was a 1km TT, no drafting but everyone together and no bots. 4 humans now, I came third for 8pts just behind Malc (Fenland Clarion). Going into the last race I was 1 point ahead of Geoff, the others hadn’t done enough of the earlier races to win overall so as long as I beat Geoff in this 4000m pursuit…
Geoff took a substantial early lead but I concentrated on my pacing and brought him back just before halfway. We were both shattered by now, the earlier races had taken it out of us and with 2 laps to go Geoff was coming back but I just hung on to finish 4th in the race and 1st Overall. 😁
Portuguese visitor Joao P won both TTs but because he only rode 2 races finished joint 3rd on 20pts with German visitor Oliver (Moonriders) who won the Elimination and his sprint.
Based on how this worked out the points system in the future will be:
Elimination, Points and TTs – 20pts for 1st down to 1pt for 20th.
4-up sprints – 20, 12, 6, 0 or Keirin (8 riders) – 20, 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3, 0
You must ride either the points or elimination to qualify for overall and 3 races to count.
Next meet will be New Year’s Day, same time with first race at 6pm.