You have to mash, no 2 ways about it. I have clocked a 48kph (30mph) at a crit finish and a 56kph (35mph) at a flying 200 track finish. And I'm just a little girl. 150m out from the crit finishm you click it up into the next gear (or two) and mash as hard as you can, going thru the tunnel of red pain and no vision until you are going to puke. Then you finish. And then you drink beer. :P

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

Yes, yes, thats it. Right before the world goes black and you realize that I better slow down before I go down.

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Ironmarc

Spinning.

I'll let the techy guys give you the exact figure....but with a 53x11 at 45mph, it would be darn hard to be below 100 cadence!

That's the irony behind "Lance's cadence". Sure...his cadence is high, but he is ALSO using a high gear!!!!!

what a great feeling.

As per Smitty's reply, you know I have no idea what cadence I'd actually be pedalling at... it may well be high, but if you try and spin your way up, I find that you get dropped... you're going fast enough, the speed gradually increasing throughout the race, then all of a sudden, BAM you start hammering or you go to the back. The feeling of that hammering is not of spinning but of mashing. As a former masher turned spinner, it feels like my old pedal stroke. Of course, I may be completely wrong here, but that's my perception...

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

I think track and road sprinting are quite different. On the track it is all about a bizillion rpms. If I am lucky enough to make it to the end for a road sprint not totally shelled enough to be able to stand up, then it is like Andy the Pants says. Click into one big gear and mash till you smash. Even the good track sprinters tend to use a bigger gear on the road. That is my story and I'm sticking to it.