2011-01-15 Sat - Redbull Minidrome

He also won the Red Bull Cobble Wobble hill climb thing recently

Was that the one in Bristol?

the bikes i saw getting unloaded from " team cars " outside were of the 26" jump bike variety ... or were there trick riders filling the gaps between the races ?

i can imagine a twitchy track bike being a bit of a nightmare on that track

Frome

Quality event! Cheers to everyone involved in making it happen. I've done a little write up of my day with a few pics and a vid here if you fancy a peep.

http://4416.co.uk/?p=3440

Nice little story there, and congrats on doing so well.

Frome

Oh year. There is a similar one in Bristol. Shame that it is pretty much invite only though.

Nice little story there, and congrats on doing so well.

Cheers! I don't think I'd have got quite so far if they had done the last 32 format properly, ie. 1st Vs 32nd, 2nd Vs 31st etc. I think that would have been a better way of doing it.

Almost, a Scottish rider in London for City of Edinburgh RC. I think the damage is terminal. Also, not sure i could ever really race 100% on it again knowing, even if it was fixed in some way.
I was surprised how easy the track was to ride so I thought I must not have been going fast enough and kept upping it until I discovered it's not so easy...
It's not a bad design IMO, but not perfect, all the fastest guys were running out close to the edge on the straights or off the edge in my case.
I think the stay impacted with the edge of the track. Photos of the damage below \/ :-)

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6208180&l=52c40aa139&id=586536482
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6208183&l=f7caf9052d&id=586536482
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6208189&l=e54ce1921f&id=586536482
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6208193&l=7619ecabe1&id=586536482

If anyone has any videos/photos it would be nice to have something to laugh at in return for a £450 frame write off

Ouch, Ouch, ouch and ouch.

Toby, I was the guy getting my hand sorted by the medical people after you crashed out. Real shame what happened to your bike. At least it's an excuse to get a Seta now ;)
And keepsake, nice writeup and well done on doing so well/not falling off the track.

That was a great event, although it was obviously funded by Red Bull it was clearly community-driven and well executed. The venue was excellent, I'd never been to York Hall before.

Me and my girl walked down to the event on account of me smashing myself in a pretty nasty crash a couple of weeks back.

We got the best seats in the house on the balcony just above and after the start line.
From there the track was slightly closer and you can clearly see the rider thinking, 'what the fuck have I gotten myself into?'

We watched about a third of the heats when the mc called out that there were still places at the back of the field vacated by no-shows.
The opportunity of riding that crazy mini track was too good to pass over so we went home to grab our bikes.

Came back and had to wait around nervously for about forty minutes at the track's edge. According to their skills the other riders, caned it, wobbled around or flew over the edge of the track.

In retrospect I believe it was more stressful being a spectator.
Watching some people have a momentary wobble with their steering or to see their back-wheel lose traction down the track or come millimetres away from the top edge.
The crashes over the edge or the heavy fall and slide down the banking.
Watching these are much more nerve-wracking than concentrating on riding someplace near or above a little red line.

I am grateful to have got my go but didn't push it too hard, I have been pissing blood recently and the novelty has quite worn off.

I think I was pretty solid and near enough the red line on my 75GI Bridge in my 16 laps, I wish I could have gone faster.

If the track ever comes back to London I think I will take down my bike with slightly lower GI and a 50mm stem.

I limped in at 57th place and my girl got 51st - We had an amazing night and were stoked to be able to have a spin on the mini-drome.

Me, just happy not to go over the edge.

Ha, that is when we'd just turned up as spectators.
Me and her are in the middle of the group behind the banking.

Incidentally, did a finishing times list get put up anyplace?

Don't know, but I'm pretty sure some of the UK-based organisers will publish the data at some point. Perhaps Andy will be able to get his hands on it?

snowy, tika, shoosh and hoops could rock this - short wheelbase ftw.

Short wheelbase + tight corners = scary toe overlap!

Also. The red line is the shortest, safest most comfortable line to ride, if anyone has ever taken an interest in riding on a track they would know this.

Err..d'you reckon?? What's that black line there for then?! :)

I'm sure I've read on here that by timing your pedalling and when you turn the front wheel you don't have to worry about toe overlap.

Did OOL make an appearance?

Please get of my DICK!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5quY17pbQ8

WHEEEE! looks like fun.

Short wheelbase + tight corners = scary toe overlap!

looking at the video, those whizzing around the track appear to be leaning more so than turning. . time to build a minidrome specific machine with 24 inch wheels especially if its going to become an olympic event.

you can't not lean, even the straight is at like 20 degrees

i know wht you mean but if you look at the video clip of the rider gong slow and the rider going rapid you see that rapid rider is not not actually turning the handlebars - if that makes sense.

i know wht you mean but if you look at the video clip of the rider gong slow and the rider going rapid you see that rapid rider is not not actually turning the handlebars - if that makes sense.

Its the same on most smaller velodromes. AT herne hill, you do need to turn your handle bars a bit, however, if you ride any indoor velodrome, whether it be Newport, Manchester, Calshot etc.. etc... you can easily lock out your headset so you cannot steer, and you would be able to fly round it without turning your bars at all.. ovbiously, if you were going slower you would need to steer a little bit, but if you are pelting round it there is no need.

On the subject of steering...

http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/videozone/MG_sportnieuws/MG_wielrennen/1.914393

Rear blow out at over 40mph...

This was more like carving a skatepark bowl on a BMX. Turning of the handlebars = certain pain!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0llEKVciH4

thats another angle, keep your eye on the rider in the green, second from the back.

good observation by the rider in blue. he realizes what could potentially happen and gets out of the way sharpish. smart.