Returning to the Velo! Velodrome Session - March 22
Back on the oval!
Midweek in March, location Stratford, our mission if we chose to accept it, was an evening of non-stop action, no this wasn’t a Mission impossible film, but a group of SCC riders at “the Pringle” or to normal folk the Lee valley velo park for an evening of Track cycling.
14 riders headed out onto the oval circuit on what I call “suicide bikes”, no brakes and if you stop pedalling you basically fall off, and that’s before you get to the steep banking!
The evening started with a little bit of tuition from our designated coach, to those new to track cycling, however the more confident riders made their way onto the track for a bit of a warmup, however Chris Bee didn’t need any of this as he had literally brought all of the gear, even some rollers!
Once everyone was sufficiently warmed up and acclimatised to the track, our coach Andy rallied the troops for our first track drill of the evening, and one person in the group asked “how slow can you go without coming off”, this is something that certainly got found out!. Anyway, back to the first drill which involved two groups of seven riders on opposite sides of the tracks and on the coach’s whistle, one rider from the front of each group would sprint and catch up to the back of the other group.
After a short little break, the intrepid riders headed out back onto the track and the dangers of track cycling where quickly made apparent. Franco came down on the banking and Steve westcough was the unlucky soul who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and got taken out. Franco had some nasty grazes and Steve W had to sadly sit out the rest of the session and left the velo park in a wheelchair, even the track got its very own sticking plaster, luckily however, no broken bones or anything major, which was a relief for everyone.
After the incident on the track there were certainly a few trepidations about heading back out onto the track, but head back out we did for a few more drills. The next drill involved the two groups of riders again but this time a number would be held up by the coach and whatever number be it, 1, 2, 3 etc that many riders would sprint off the front and catch up the other group. This seemingly went quite well, apart from Andy J who seemed to lose the ability to register the difference between 2 and 3.
After a few rounds of this exercise, the group reassembled in the track centre for the final time and were given the final challenge of the night. Each rider would be positioned approximately 15 metres from each other around the track and on the coach’s whistle, would set off however fast or slowly depending on their tactics and would attempt to overtake anyone ahead of them. Basically, as soon as someone from behind you got in front you were out. Sadly, for myself and quite a few others the challenge was all over within a lap and it quickly left 4 riders chasing each other around the track. Andy J, James, Alfie and Chris B “Mr all the Gear”, I knew he brought those rollers for a reason! This duel went on for quite a while, until we were left with Andy J, James and Alfie. James was desperately trying to reel in Andy J, however this left him vulnerable to Alfie who was in full attack mode hunting him down. It was the highlight of the evening as the epic duel seemed to go on for ages but eventually was won by Alfie, who overhauled James but couldn’t get Andy J, who secured top spot by never being overtaken.
That concluded the evening track session at the velo park. Finally a thank you to Andy J for sorting out another excellent evening, roll on the next one!
