Track Racing - Calshot Velodrome

Last week saw ten of us from the cycling club making our second ever visit to the velodrome. Well, Matt Welsh who organized the outing has been there quite a lot, but the rest of us are mere beginners.
We had the track to ourselves for 4 hours, and with an experienced coach 'Rick' we had an absolute wail of a time.

Rick taught us how to ride properly in a velodrome and he imparted much information and racing tactics. After a brief training period we were up & running and competing against each other in The 'Flying lap', The 'Kilo' and even the 'Team Pursuit! Albeit we were in three man teams not four.

To put our standard into perspective, Chris Hoy does the Kilo in around 59seconds, and I did it in 1min 29seconds. And I was pooped at the end of it!! I won't be in the Great Britain 2012 Olympic Track Team.

The riding was awesome and this time there were no spills or injuries. It has to be experienced before one can appreciate exactly how it feels. It's almost comparable to one of those adrenaline rides that are found at the theme parks........ only better!

Track racing is fast & exciting, and believe it or not its' actually more accessible than most would think. Yes you have to be prepared to travel, and currently Calshot (Southampton) is the nearest proper indoor velodrome. However after the 2012 Olympics, we'll have to see how accessible the new east London state of the art one is. My betting, it will be extremely busy for the first few months but will ease off afterwards.

In the meantime its a hour & half journey down to the south coast (each way), a £29 charge for the track & bike hire........ and the fun is all yours! A small price to pay.

Anyone who fancies joining me for a trip, just let me know.

Bye for now.