I think a flight start is what I referred to as a wave start. The ride starts as a left turn out of the high school. Last year, they had someone directing traffic at that intersection. They let a bunch of people go, waited 5 minutes, let more go, etc. I didn't notice if they were discouraging people from leaving early or not. But once it was close to the ride time, they were definitely controlling the release of the riders. I'm assuming they thought it was safer to have the riders spread out a little??

I kind of lined up in the middle of the pack as we were waiting for the start. I figured I'd let the faster riders go out first so I wouldn't be in their way. This year, I think I'll try to push my way up a little closer to the front at the start. I've been riding faster than I was this time last year but I still like the idea of having some margin on that cut-off time.