So I sucked it up last Friday and went to the velodrome. As it stands I'm trying to figure out what "outfit" to wear tomorrow.

I have to admit I was insanely nervous! The track itself is visually intimidating. It's pretty short, like 140 meters? And has 45 degree banking. Oh, and I did I mention this was a crash course in fixie and track? Yeah baby! I cannot get on a bike without gripping the brakes, it's a mental thing but ugh, so hard.

We got a basic primer about track safety and Staci and I played with the fixies while the boys went out on the track. Problem number one was the idea of pedaling through a corner. Body says NO! We glide through corners on the bike, slow the horse down before them. That out of the way track bikes handle funky on the flats. I was pretty content to stay on the infield but I couldn't suss out.

Once we got on the côte d'azur which is just barely banked I felt much better. This what the bike wants to be one, okay, cool. At that point I didn't want to go slow and check it out, I wanted to get it. When it came time to get up on the track I was chomping hard at the bit.

I must say it was like a roller coaster, a tilt-a-whirl and a bike all in one. The girl who was scared to get up there was all about getting up high on the rails. We did some drills and some follow the leader getting high in the corners and low on the straight. Fun stuff especially when all your internal organs drop back into place only to be spun back up again!

Anyway, it's super dark in there so pics kind of suck, but here is proof I did it! I'm the chubster in blue/black in the front.



There are lots of pics of the track here so you can get an idea of what the whole freegin scary thing looks like.

http://www.boulderindoorcycling.com/...ling-News.aspx