Velodrome cycling-who has done it?

[shootingstar]

This is a semi-educational comic videoclip on velodrome cycling. The feature person is well-known (to Canadians) comedian. I didn't realize he also was fit..he looks it.

I'm not sure I could get into it....I don't even cycle with drop-down handlebars nor do I go clipless. But fun to watch this since he learns to cycle around the velodrome track.
Am curious if anyone has done it and what it's like.

[Lesley_x]

I have done it. It is seriously terrifying at first but after a few laps it's really easy and addictive. Seriously hard work though, harder than any riding I've done - on or off road!

[shootingstar]

Kudos to you!
A long time ago in Toronto, I met a woman in her mid 70's, who did race around an indoor wood track in her youth , though not banked. She was the first Canadian women to win an indoor race of whatever distance I don't remember...I believe in the late 1930's. I recall seeing a photo of her at that time, she would have not had any gearing to help along.

[zoom-zoom]

Kudos to you!
A long time ago in Toronto, I met a woman in her mid 70's, who did race around an indoor wood track in her youth , though not banked. She was the first Canadian women to win an indoor race of whatever distance I don't remember...I believe in the late 1930's. I recall seeing a photo of her at that time, she would have not had any gearing to help along.

Modern track bikes don't have gears, either, I believe.

[pll]

Modern track bikes don't have gears, either, I believe.

No brakes, either. I kind'a like brakes....

[thekarens]

No brakes, either. I kind'a like brakes....

This!

We have a banked track here and our club has a race team. Regularly they will give free lessons for those who want to come out and give it a try... No thank you! To be fair though everyone I've met who has tried it thought it was fun.

[pll]

This!

We have a banked track here and our club has a race team. Regularly they will give free lessons for those who want to come out and give it a try... No thank you! To be fair though everyone I've met who has tried it thought it was fun.

Oh, I would most definitely try it if given the chance. However, I don't believe track racing would be something I would get into, and I would not buy a track bike. But riding on a track would be fun. The video shootingstar linked to is quite funny.

[Lesley_x]

The lack of brakes is not a problem really, it's quite easy to control your speed by just pulling back on the pedals (you're really attached to the bike that's for sure!)

Fixed gear is the biggest issue for me.

I would love to get my accreditation and ride over winter but they run mixed sessions and there's just now way I can keep up with the superfit, competitive guys who do these sessions even though I can ride the boards safely and competently. If you can't keep up with the group, they fail you.

It's great fun and I'd definitely recommend giving it a go if you can.

[PamNY]

Funny video. Not something I'd try, but it might be fun to watch.

[nuliajuk]

I raced in a track league for about 6 seasons back in the 80s and 90s, both sanctioned events and weekly league racing. It isn't really hard to learn, and the reason there aren't any brakes is precisely because you have a fixed gear - you slow yourself down by applying pressure on the pedal as it comes up on the back of the stroke. You really don't want to have someone slamming on a brake in front of you when you're on the steepest part of the banking because such a drastic loss of momentum can cause you to slide down the banking.

The hardest thing to learn is riding slowly in the match sprints - the more momentum you have, the more perpendicular you are to the banking (think of swinging pendulum around in a circle, the faster you swing it, the more horizontal it becomes.) Hitting a pedal on the banking is a concern when riding very slowly.

Track cycling is actually a lot of fun, and for people who work for a living, perhaps more accessible than road racing. The distances are shorter, so the training is short, fast, and furious with a lot of interval work, rather than very long road rides out on the highway all the time. Track bikes are dead simple, so the equipment required is not super expensive, either. Especially now that "fixies" are in every urban bike shop. I could only dream of having that much track equipment available to me back when I was racing!

[nuliajuk]

The lack of brakes is not a problem really, it's quite easy to control your speed by just pulling back on the pedals (you're really attached to the bike that's for sure!)

Fixed gear is the biggest issue for me.

I would love to get my accreditation and ride over winter but they run mixed sessions and there's just now way I can keep up with the superfit, competitive guys who do these sessions even though I can ride the boards safely and competently. If you can't keep up with the group, they fail you.

It's great fun and I'd definitely recommend giving it a go if you can.

Don't they have different groups for different ability levels? If not, they should. The track league that I rode in years ago had three categories, for fast, medium, and slower riders. If you won more than three races you got bumped up to a faster group.

[Lesley_x]

Don't they have different groups for different ability levels? If not, they should. The track league that I rode in years ago had three categories, for fast, medium, and slower riders. If you won more than three races you got bumped up to a faster group.

Nope, they only allow you to ride unaccompanied when you've passed accreditation. There are four accreditation sessions and they very much depend on who books in on the day. I found the people I was riding with last time lacking in the teamwork department to put it kindly (they were only interested in riding as fast as they wanted, not riding safely as a team or group (which is actually what accreditation should be about.) Also the first accreditations are very difficult to get booked into. I lost my confidence very quickly that session even though I know I can ride safely.

[nuliajuk]

Nope, they only allow you to ride unaccompanied when you've passed accreditation. There are four accreditation sessions and they very much depend on who books in on the day. I found the people I was riding with last time lacking in the teamwork department to put it kindly (they were only interested in riding as fast as they wanted, not riding safely as a team or group (which is actually what accreditation should be about.) Also the first accreditations are very difficult to get booked into. I lost my confidence very quickly that session even though I know I can ride safely.

That's too bad. If they're trying to encourage people to try track cycling, they couldn't be going about it in a worse way.