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Comment by ufo | Hacker News Reader

Does this ever devolve into something similar to bicycle with everyone going slow to avoid being first at the start and then doing a mad dash right at the end?

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Not exactly, since 4 out of 8 players are usually AIs, but yeah if everyone "figures it out" it does feel more like cycling. Sometimes someone tries to totally break ahead one lap in advance with the hope that the gap will simply be too big, even with a shell, which is kinda analogous to an "attack" in cycling.

I'm not a bicyclist; what is this strategy and why is it used? You can't aggressively impact another player's performance in bicycling as you can in Mario Kart, right? So what is the benefit?

Is it as simple as conserving effort to just match pace until you see who around you needs to be outpaced, or is there something more complex here?

I'm also not a bicycle racer, but as I understand it the problem with being in first is that you have to do all the work to get the air out of your way.

Also not a cyclist, but [1] is a good (and slightly comical) view of this technique. In Sprint cycling, which is just three laps, it was found to be a good technique to stay behind the lead rider, because you have the advantage of surprise, and can draft[2] in the last lap, passing them at the last second.

This strategy evolved, and then you end up with two bicyclists jockeying for last place, with bicycles nearly standing still.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkkTSVVrPYk

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drafting_(aerodynamics)

Yes, in the velodrome races. Here's a video from 2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAhlewcOxAI

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