Post Covid lockdown track cycling

As we all know velodromes have been shut down for a number of months . In the last week Some have reopened , last week I rode at Derby and it was great to be back on the boards . Anyone else been back yet ? and what was the experience like ?

Change to Rule of 6 for indoor sports announced today may change things. Depends on if interpretation of "Team" includes group of cyclists in an SQT line etc.

Yep be interesting how it will be interpreted, hopefully sessions will continue 🤔

This doesn't look great for bunch stuff. 6 at a time = Keirin sessions!

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I'm hearing BC have been given clearance for all indoor activity to continue as before. Unverified but amazing if that is somehow the case.

That appears to be the case at Derby too , hopefully get a few more sessions in !

Possibly for discussion elsewhere bit I can imagine other sport NGB's being a bit pissed off by this if it is indeed true.

BC advise 30 can be on track, in separate groups of 6. Mcr will be capped at 18 for now.

In other news, I rode with 3 others on a quiet session tonight and it went ok.

Track racing is permitted with 24 on track per group too

I've booked in a few session at Lee Valley next month to get back on the boards after being away for quite a few years. The drop-in accredited sessions will continue to run under Stage 2 rules, but I had an Endurance SQT session booked as well and this was cancelled, however I managed to change it to another drop-in session. No idea why one type of session can run and not the other though.

Guidance from Sport England & B.C. changed last Thursday night. Except for Elite, U18, & Disabled riders, there is no sanctioned indoor group activity or coaching.

The tier 2 & 3 rule is no meeting or mixing indoors anywhere with non household/ bubble people.

This is a bit open to interpretation as "meeting & mixing" haven't been formally defined (beyond dictionary definition) for the purpose of the guidance from what I can see. There's also the age old "is it coaching or facilitation/ safety instruction" debate and so venues are doing their best to interpret it all and put on covid secure sessions within the spirit of the guidance rather than simply close.

From a few days ago if you live in a tier 2 or 3 area you cannot ride at Derby velodrome . So as with covid regulations generally its kind of a mixed set of rules at the various indoor tracks .

Is Glasgow open yet? Or if not, any idea when it might be?

Ta.

Not yet.

Was meant to be 31/10, that got pushed to 2/11 and now that we know the restrictions are staying the same (no indoor group exercise) it’s been bumped back again.

There has been chat of opening for individual riding but that seems somewhat impractical. With 10 riders on the session, you’d get 6 minutes on track even reducing it to 5 riders per session, you’d only get 12 minutes.

That also wouldn’t allow for any on track warm up so that’d have to be done via rollers which not everyone can do.

There’s also the question of whether the coaches are insured to coach. British cycling are not sanctioning any indoor cycling in tier 2 or 3 areas of England, Scottish cycling seem to be unaware there’s a velodrome right outside their office as they’re only issuing advice for outdoor cycling...

TLDR: don’t hold your breath.

Thanks for the information. Always good to hear it from someone on the inside as the website is vague at best.

Tell me about it!

I, personally, can see it being quite a while.

It seems like the buck will stop with us to ensure anyone coming to the velodrome is from within the council area so that we aren’t breaking the guidance on travel and stuff so working all that out is going to be a nightmare.

There has been chat of opening for individual riding but that seems somewhat impractical.

AIUI after clarification from bc individual riding doesn't mean solo on track, just staying apart on track with appropriate capacities to to make this practical. This is how it is being implemented at Derby & Mcr. Not sure about London, Newport, or Calshot (or what tier each is in).

There’s also the question of whether the coaches are insured to coach.

Depends on the venue but some will be running public sessions on their own liability insurance, not relying on BC's insurance, although the coaches are BC qualified.

The guidance still seems open to interpretation though.

Mcr (assuming all others too) closed after Weds.

Binge riding sessions yesterday, today & hopefully tomorrow too.

HHV closing as well. Had really hoped due to being outside they could keep running on a smaller group basis but no such luck.

Anyone got any info on Newport? I used to do sessions booked through PDQ who’s site says no track sessions for the time being. The Newport sports village site says it’s open but I can’t work out how to see what if any sessions are available.

Think it’s only open to Newport residents for now.

Ah ok that makes sense. I’m in tier 3 here in bristol so I was assuming it was going to be a while before I can go there anyway.

I got a few sessions in over summer/sept at HHV seniors intermediate. Was so good, it made me realise that although I hate being fat old and unfit, any progress on the track feels brilliant.

So grateful to coaches and everyone for doing their best while it was possible.

Lots of new rules about distancing. I did wonder though... once you’re riding in bunches, you’re not really distancing. If all this stuff about aerosol transmission is right, drafting can’t really be a good idea. Can it?

...drafting can’t really be a good idea. Can it?

When we went back to work and it looked like we were going to get punters back in at Glasgow I always thought people would probably feel like this and stay away.

Guess it depends how much you trust your fellow cyclists to not be coming to the track if they feel at all symptomatic and to not be doing anything that puts themselves at risk of infection when they’re not at the track.

Given that at track league up here there’s a well established habit of storing the safety pins for numbers on the floor which causes countless punctures of very expensive tubs, I’d trust track riders about as far as I could throw them.

Haha re: safety pins, yeah I've seen that ... divs

Never was a snotrocket less socially acceptable.