With a relatively slight chance of rain and a bunch of "house" things I need to do, I've decided to call off the trip up to NH for tonight.
Although the site doesn't have a cancellation on it (as of 3 PM), I'm loathe to spend almost 3 hours driving up there only to get rained out or even have a shortened evening of racing. Plus it costs a toll, about $30 in gas money (at an optimistic 28-30 mpg), $10 in food (McDs both ways), and $20 entry (I typically donate $5 over the $15 fee). I didn't think of it that way, but my 20-30 (?) minutes of racing costs me about $65-70, depending on exactly what I get at McDs and the exact amount of the toll.
Maybe stage races aren't so expensive.
I am missing out on Match Sprints. Arg. I'll have to train some instead.
Anyway, I still want to get some other things done on the bike, so next week, watch out!
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Aki...for comparison, here's some average data for going to a track race here in Hokkaido:
Entry fee: about $40
Gas and tolls: about $160
Driving time: approx 6 hours
Accomodation: $50 (surprisingly!)
On a positive note, though, the events are never rained out - the surface of the track (a pro keirin track) is rubberized and grippy precisely for that reason.
Well I feel luckier at least. I feel like I should toughen up and drive down to T-Town!
Rubberized - I watched some Keirin races in Japan but didn't understand the tactics (certain riders have to attack during certain # of meters to go) so it was a bit disappointing. But I think it was slightly wet and I was surprised that they were still racing. I just chalked it up to the fact that it's a betting sport, and that someone wanted to make money.
re: Keirin tactics - Ben Kersten's Keirin diary is a good introduction to some of the methods behind the madness in a keirin race.
Simply put, each of the nine riders has to declare one of three strategies in advance (each strategy must be declared by three riders) - based on sprint distance. Impromptu teams and trains form, because if you're sprinting from 800 to 400 to go, you want your 300- and 150-meter men to protect your arse and not let the other trains come around you. Watching youtube videos after reading Kersten's diary, Japanese Keirin started to make a lot more sense to me.
I wasn't sure where I read the rules, but it was your link. Now I can refresh my memory :)
I wonder if such a thing would work here - I'm waiting for one of the casinos in Vegas to build a short velodrome for betting, and, maybe, racing too.
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