Q) What is a roller race?
A) Roller races are stationary bike races on rollers. Two or more competitors race side by side with a computer that calculates and displays the leader, the distance traveled, and the speed of each rider.
Q) What’s this for?
A) To develop community awareness and support for the Sacramento Valley Velodrome project which aims to build an Olympic-size cycling track, or velodrome in the Sacramento area.
Q) What’s a velodrome?
A) A velodrome is an oval-shaped sports arena with a smooth track of short distance (usually 250 meters, but can also be 333 or even 400 meters long) used for bike racing. It has steep banked corners of usually around 40 degrees.
Q) I’ve never seen that. What do they do?
A) Velodrome or track racing consists of shorter events than outdoor road events. From match sprint (3 laps) to points races (100 laps). But even a 100 lap points race is only 25 to 30K (or 15 to 20 miles.) The races are very spectator-friendly, fast-paced and exciting.
Q) I’ve never ridden rollers. I don’t think I can do the balance thing. Is that hard?
A) In roller racing, the front wheel is removed and the fork is bolted to a mount. So the balancing part is eliminated. Anyone can do it.
Q) Do I bring a bike?
A) No there are two permanently mounted bikes. Knowing your saddle height (from the center of the crank to the top of the saddle) helps but is not required. An easy quick-release seat post makes for easy adjustments.
Q) What do I wear?
A) While it’s a race on bikes, it’s a short effort. Loose pants or sweat pants and flat running shoes are best. Many people wear jeans. We’ve even see dress shoes, and one woman had boots w/a decent heel on them. Few wear cycling gear. It’s low key fun. Come in what you have on.
Q) How long is the race?
A) The race distance is a simulated 250 meters and takes about 10 to 15 seconds or so. You don’t have to be a sprinter to do well. Anyone can do it. Just tell yourself that no matter how hard it is it will all be over in about 15 seconds.
Q) How many people race at once?
A) There are two rollers set up side by side. The first races are a time trial to seed riders. So you are not “racing” the person next to you at this point. You are racing against the clock for the best time. Even if you don’t beat the person next to you, you could still advance to the bracket round if you have a good time. Then times are collected and seeded and the top 16 men and top 16 women advance to a normal bracket of eigth, quarter, semis and then a final pairing. At this point it’s a win or out format (single elimination) to get a winner.
Q) What does it cost to enter?
A) There is NO entry fee to attend, watch or even race. Hot Italian is sponsoring the event (fees). A donation to help kick-start the velodrome project is welcome but not required. Just sign a simple waiver.
Q) I got the fastest time at the last Savage Sprints event but you still show me in 6th place. What gives?
A) We’re keeping track of time for two reasons: 1) The fastest participant for the night is the winner for that night. You win bragging rights, any prize or awards that were announced, and a brief moment in front of the cameras. 2) The overall fastest time over a series of events will automatically advance to the championship round at the end of that series. So after any one event, we’ll list the winners for that event (like this one) where Bill had the fastest time with 8.783 seconds for that night. Then we’ll list the overall standings after that event (like this one) where we find that the fastest time overall for the series is actually Kevin with a 7.996 seconds. Usually the top 20 men and top 20 women will advance to the championships at the end of the series.
Have a question that’s not answered here? Please feel free to contact us and ask away!
Thanks to Vincent Gee for the Q’s and A’s.