Races
Cycle speedway is raced by individuals, pairs or teams. Each race is contested by up to four riders, and a match normally consists of eight to 24 races. Points are awarded for placings in each race. A race day fixture might take in up to two, three or more matches. In a team event, the winning team is the one with most points at the end of the day.
Races involve up to four riders racing anticlockwise round four laps of the track, the winner being the first across the line. The number of laps varies with the age of the riders but is usually 4 laps for a single race. Competitors use a lightweight single-speed bicycle equipped with a freewheel but without brakes, often a stripped-down mountain bike frame is adequate for beginners although specialist machines are used by the top racers. Riders slide their left foot along the track as they race round turns. Physical contact is legal and often necessary; clothing usually covers the whole body from the neck down, with padding for knees, elbows and hips; helmets are also required since their introduction in 1999, there has never been an accident in cycle speedway resulting in serious injury or death.
Read more about this topic: Cycle Speedway
Famous quotes containing the word races:
“The so called white races are really pinko-grey.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“There are only two races on this planetthe intelligent and the stupid.”
—John Fowles (b. 1926)
“Listen, my friend, there are two races of beings. The masses teeming and happycommon clay, if you likeeating, breeding, working, counting their pennies; people who just live; ordinary people; people you cant imagine dead. And then there are the othersthe noble ones, the heroes. The ones you can quite well imagine lying shot, pale and tragic; one minute triumphant with a guard of honor, and the next being marched away between two gendarmes.”
—Jean Anouilh (19101987)