Sprint races - Match Sprint, Team Sprint, Kilo, Keirin.

Simply, for the Team Sprint and Kilo, the races are timed from a standing start. Kilo is best time wins. 

the main endurance races are Scratch and Points.

Scratch race - a set distance or number of laps. First to win, wins. That simple.

Points race - a set distance or laps with certain numbered laps (e.g., every 10 to receive points). On those designated laps, points are awarded - typically 5,3,2,1. Sometimes the final sprint will have double points. Most points wins! If you lap the field, you either gain 20 points or are up a lap and your points don't matter because you are up a lap. The 20 point bonus is the new rule, the up a lap is the old rule.

Madison - points race with a teammate. I can explicate more, but that's the simplest explanation.

Omnium - kilo, pursuit, scratch race, flying 200mTT, points race and an elimination race. More points are scored as you go further away from 1st. Thus 1st=1. 2nd=2, etc... Lowest points in the end wins.

Keeping the basic races in mind - sprint and endurance, the local races are easier to understand:

Elimination, miss and out, devil take the hindmost - all of these are the same, just different name. Mass start, each lap, the last rider to cross the finish line is pulled from the race. It is that riders rear wheel that determines if they are pulled. Really difficult race at the higher levels - either ride tempo at the front, steadily increasing your speed from the middle of the back stretch through the finish and ease off until you repeat that again and again, or you race from the rear and accelerate time and again to pop someone from the rear. Either way, I hate these. I've done them where our neutral laps are over 35mph. Just brutal.

Chariot Race - sprint event where a number of riders are held on the line, start signal given and it's a one lap race - just sprint or slot in and try to sprint at the end of the lap.

Tempo - points race - typically, each lap is worth 2-1 points for 1st and 2nd. Accumulate enough points over the set number of laps and you win. Sometimes the last sprint is worth more points.

Win and Out - 10 lap race. Win with 7 to go - take first, retire from the race, hence "out". Finish second in that sprint = nothing. 4 laps to go - win that and take 2nd place.Win the final lap - take 3rd. After that, 4th, 5th, etc...

Snowball - a points race where each lap is worth one more point than the prior. 1st lap = one point, second = two points, etc... Tactically - go on an early break and scoop up points, or try to snag points later?

Point a Lap - just like it sounds...

I think that takes care of all the races except for pursuit and team pursuit.

Race 1: 9-lap Points Race with points to the top four on laps 3, 6, and 9

Ros took the first sprint decisively while I was on second wheel of a hard attacker. Ros blew our doors off so hard I forgot to come around my guy for second. My guy (who took second) peeled up the track and I pressed hard up to Ros and told him, "Here we go." I did a big pull to get us a nice gap, Ros came through, did another, we traded a few more, then I took the front for the drive to the second sprint. Two guys got up to us with half a lap to the sprint. So I yelled back to Ros (on my wheel) that we had company and led it out to turn 4, when Ros put on the afterburners and smoked the other two. This gapped me and I never quite made it back. Ros won this race. I got a few points, but don't know whether I got enough to get any omnium points for the evening -- we'll see in the morning when Allan posts results.

Race 3: Miss-N-Out with about 15 dudes

I missed and was out. Skunked for points. Ros and Wilson both made it to the final three (who duke out the last two laps like a mini scratch race). Ros took second and Wilson third. They raced REALLY WELL and tactically during this race. Mad props to them both.

SO MANY. I'm such a track n00b, I'm learning lessons by the bushel each time I roll off the rail.

I was very happy with the first (Points) race; a golden opportunity presented itself to help out a teammate in great position and I executed while getting some points for myself. I didn't go out there planning to sacrifice myself to get Ros points, but the chance arose to deliver him the race win and get a good placing for myself. Yeah, I got gapped for the last batch of points, but that's what happens when you suck wind and don't make a big enough gap for your effort. No regrets in that race. It's pretty hard to do work AND place for yourself and I just didn't quite pull it off.

The second (Point-a-Lap) race was a big learning experience, in that I made a fairly bad blunder. Yes, I won. Fairly decisively. But I fucked up. Ros took the first point. I took the second, third, and fourth points. After I had my insurmountable three points, I hedged my pace. I was thinking back to how blown I was after that first race and that there was still a third race to come. I had already won; I had the maximum omnium points from this race already. My cross-eyed brain couldn't think of a reason to keep going balls-out. But then a guy bridged up to me and took the last point in the last 50 feet of the race. I didn't care, I won. But then during the time milling around waiting for our third race, I realized I let this guy tie Ros for second in that race with one point each. I should have kept my TT going and taken the last point so Ros would have gotten the only second-place omnium points.

In the third (Miss-N-Out) race, I out-foxed myself. This is a tactical race. You want to conserve as much as possible without crossing the line last on any lap. A few laps in, I played it coy and smashed out a few hard pedal strokes at the end of the lap to edge out a guy across from me who was boxed, but Allan called my number. BIG lesson learned. We all know on the bike when we beat someone, but when it's dusk and it's just Allan up on the platform eyeballing it, you shouldn't leave it within any margin of error. I had plenty of legs and space to shoot across the line first if I wanted. But my number got called and I got zero points. Won't be fooling around in the margin of error again in a Miss-N-Out. So I already mentioned that Ros got second (and Wilson third) in this race. What I haven't mentioned yet is that the guy who nabbed the final point in the second race won this one. So Ros won the first race, tied for second in the second race (because I didn't finish it off), and got second in the last race. This guy tied for second in the second race and won the last race. In the event of a tie on omnium points, the higher scorer in the last race wins the omnium. So the reason I said that Ros probably won the omnium is that if this dude got second in the first race (which Ros won) he won the omnium. And it's pretty much my fault!

The biggest realization of the evening, though, is that I need to figure out a way to win that isn't a multi-lap solo break. To put it mildly, that tactic doesn't always work.

Damn it, I missed the Omnium by 2 points...

I got the win in the first Points race, but was really trying to focus on managing my efforts to get the Omnium win. I felt I managed myself well, but didn't pay attention the points game (hard to keep track of all the other riders at times). Lesson learned: learn the competition. This guy who took first place was not even on my radar until the end of the race. 

@Andy, waiting for results is the worst! As I was sure I had it in the bag   

I definitely brought good legs to this race and my new gearing setup (92") was really the trick. It allowed me to jump and keep my speed up, without spinning out like I did the opening week of racing (90"). My legs were also not totally fried by end of race #3, so that's a good sign.

I won't be writing a race report, as Jeff's pretty much covers the bases in vivid beauty. I had a blast racing with Wilson & him, and watching Kayt do her thing (she won a few points there with a nail-biting sprint in her Points race!). 

I also still feel like a noob at this, but am feeling a lot more comfortable every race. Good times.

I like this one. It's between turns 3 and 4 on the first sprint of the evening, when Ros came by us so fast I got flummoxed and forgot to go around my guy for second.