Track Cycling – Scary (but thrilling!)

I love watching track cycling on TV. The variety of race types and the clever ways in which the sport has optimised itself for viewing means it’s really easy to get sucked in and watch ‘just one more race’ until it’s done. It’s always painful even watching the crashes where one slip results in a rider taking out a whole bunch on the track. Today I was lucky enough to join my tri club on a trip to Newport Velodrome (now nattily renamed and rebranded as the ‘Geraint Thomas National Velodrome of Wales’) and give it a go myself.

Although we are based just outside London, after a swift sprint down the M4 Newport took no longer to get to than the Lee Valley Velopark would have and was a lot cheaper.

Of the ten of us attending, only a couple had ever been on a track before. As soon as we arrived, we were irresistibly drawn to the spectator area to take our first look at the track; at this point there was quite a lot of swearing and white faces. The banking was incredibly steep, dropping at an angle that looks even steeper than the actual 42 degrees at each end (coincidentally the same as London). How on earth were we going to be able to make it round without sliding to the concrete at the bottom of the track?

It was especially frustrating that every photo I took of the banking somehow flattened out the gradient – I could look at the photo I’d just taken with the actual track in the background and it didn’t look like the same place at all.

My club is an awesome place to be – it’s incredibly warm and welcoming but still includes a phenomenal percentage of amazing athletes; we had a good range at the track today, but even if confidence in bike handling varied everyone was capable of propelling a bike at significant speed. We were collectively pretty nervous at this point, however.

Things got slightly more stressful when we went to collect the hired track bikes. You know on a intellectual level that you are about to be riding a bike with no freewheel (you cannot stop pedalling – if the wheels are going around, so are the pedals) and no gears, but the lack of brake levers really drives home the fact that this was not going to be anything like riding the bikes we have in the garage at home. The handlebar tape felt minimal and thin and the saddle lacked padding in a way I’ve not experienced for years.

It’s worth bearing in mind that if you want to use your clipless pedals the rental bikes use Look pedals and it’s well worth investing in a pair of cleats online and setting up before you arrive to maximise your time on the track.

Making our way through the tunnel into the center of the track we were introduced to our coach, Owen who was at once really warm and friendly but at the same time was clearly not going to give us the chance for panic to build. In a matter of moments we were lined up against the rail at the bottom of the track, clipped into both pedals and wobbling in turn uncertainly away. We started slowly and progressively building speed, and height (!) and angle (!!!) on the banking.

Thanks to some well structured exercises, within a few minutes the entire group was barrelling around the track at speeds around 20 mph and riding well towards the top of the track. Trepidation and concern changed quickly to exhilaration and delight, but although thoroughly enjoying myself I was panting hard by the time we were called back in to regroup and take a breather. I’d had to mentally adjust from riding at a speed I could sustain for an hour or two or four to one that I was only going to have to hold for five minutes at a time before dropping back down to recover – just like the sprinting professionals.

Before we’d even had a chance to fully process what we’d just achieved we were out again. Everyone felt really good at this point, and knowing up front we could each defy common sense and ride the top of the track made it so much easier to get straight back up there and we quickly picked up speed.

I was starting to enjoy using the banking to control my speed rather than wasting energy – instead of slowing down, just gain a little more height; need to close a gap, drop back down again. The exercise Owen had given us this time was for the entire group to ride in a train and when he rang the bell, the rider at the front would take off like a rocket, sprinting until they caught the tail of the group a lap or two later and dropping back in to wait their turn for the front again.

This is where I nearly caused a cataclysm.

I’d sprinted off as instructed and it felt like I’d picked up a huge amount of speed. I barrelled up and over the blue line and kept going towards the top. As I slingshot(ed?) myself out of the second set of banking, having peaked very high up I realised I was catching the tail of the group and needed to quickly slow and drop back towards the bottom of the track. I was using the pedals to slow myself down as fast as I could but the issue was it wasn’t enough. In moments I had scrubbed off most of my speed and was midway around the bank at the other end of the track, still slowing, but poised a metre and half above the tightly grouped train of riders.

Mentally overloaded and looking down, I was taking an eternity (still slowing) to realise there was no place for me to drop into and that physics was about to tap me on the shoulder and remind me where I was and what I no longer had to keep me up. Owen was pretty much having kittens around the other side of the track – he’d been yelling at me to speed up (I didn’t hear this at all, focused on finding a gap) for a while and by this point was not only cringing he was literally doubled up with the anticipation of the crash he knew was coming.

Realising just how stupid I was being I stamped on the pedals to try to pick up speed again and somehow – I genuinely don’t know how (and after the fact Owen agreed with me on this one) given the fact I was moving much slower than the group below – without falling off the track I managed to drag myself up to speed again. I was painfully able to move past the group before dropping down and eventually behind. I found timing my drop in behind the train really difficult and basically continued to mess it up every time we did this – but forewarned I never managed to take so long to adjust speed and height again.

Our two hour session continued with Owen throwing new exercises at us to develop new skills, including a go at team pursuit skills, and we finished off with a race.  Despite the clear potential for disaster it came off without actual incident although there was plenty of drama (and some light hearted handbags) as victory was snatched at the line from one already celebrating rider by another. I was right at the back although I’m claiming the fact I’d been leading the train for a number of laps before the race start as my excuse. It is properly thrilling to have riders come over the top of you moving so quickly and we were all diving for the bottom of the track to cover the laps in the shortest possible distance as we started to work out how the different parts of the track changed the way we could ride the race.

Everyone tried to ease off on the pedals at some point during the session and rather than being violently thrown off like I kind of expected, the bike just reminded you that you needed to keep pedalling. I still think a brake would be a good idea, but I guess at the pro level, the aerodynamics (as these guys fly around at over double our speeds) make that a bad long term idea. We only had one fall, at very low speed as a member of the group stopping lost concentration, and despite friction doing a good job of removing some skin he was up immediately and his performance was unaffected.

The staff at the velodrome were really friendly and helpful, logistics were simple and painless and it’s an incredible facility that cries out to be used. Owen kept us safe, kept us calm and kept us trying new things throughout – he was brilliant. We barely scratched the surface of what is possible and track is brilliant training exercise . We pushed ourselves over threshold limits every time we hit the banking and recovered by dropping only slightly under on the straights, then went deeply into the red for the sprints.

Adrenaline was flowing freely, initially from the fear of the unknown and later from the surge of competition, but most importantly today for a relatively small sum of money I was able to try something I’ve never done before. Every one of us loved it. We were still all talking about tiny incidents as we got back home a couple of hours later.

If you’re tempted to give it a go, don’t hesitate. Get a gang together (apparently 8-12 riders is ideal) and get to a velodrome to try out the track.