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Yesterday I - went to the London velodrome
Ride report - super amazing.
Taster session actually most tiring; wide range of abilities, from a 12 year old (actually pretty good by the end) to some non cyclist guys who worked there having a go to club riders like me. They get you on the bikes, explain how to fixie, safety, etc, then get you riding round further and further up the track and onto the banking and how to overtake undertake. So I spent the last 20 minutes ragging it round diving up and down around people.
Stage 2 was all about formation riding and being comfortable in close proximity. First half of the session has you in a pace line, with the lead rider peeling off up the banking to drop to the back each lap, then the second half is laps in a tight double pace line - if there's time you'll get to peeling off as pairs.
Not everyone passes (on the second there were four or so who weren't so comfortable being so close to other wheels, either out of practice or not enough group riding) but then they emphasise you don't need to - if you just want to do laps of the track you can keep doing the stage you're at, for funsies, as apparently many people do.
The velodrome itself is fantastic. The wood is beautiful to ride and really grippy, and the banking is daunting but so much fun at speed. I never hit the upper sections hard enough to be totally perpendicular, so it always felt like I might slide down spectacularly, but it was totally fine. They'll warn you if you need to pick up the pace. The speed you get coming off the top of the corner down to the sprinting line is awesome. Warning though, the air is quite dry, make sure you get some water in before heading on the track.
The hire Condors are lovely to ride. Good medium aggressive fit, bars are maybe a bit short reach but comfortable enough in the drops, saddles are decent fizik all rounders. However they're quite spinny, enough gear for the accreditation but I'd have been more comfortable with bigger. Keo pedals only; shoe hire is quite expensive so unless you don't mind clip and strap adapters take your own and stick some keo cleats on. Make sure to bring a tape measure for the saddle height too.
I didn't see them being super anal about inspecting people's own bikes, as long as the tyres are clean and the rest of the bike reasonably so, right crank lengths, no brakes and any pointy bits covered up etc.
All in all I had a fun day. Not the cheapest, but well worth it.
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Excellent cheers. Definitely want to give this a go some time.
In other news, I went out for a 40 mile loop this morning. Found some nice roads between Cawston & Aylsham that I hadn't ridden before. Was cold, warm, cold warm depending on whether the sun was out. Ate a lovely cheese scone. Chased down some geared roadies on the way back home on the Salhouse Road. A good morning.
jdp
TvH
thross
Scoot
Rikki
Wrongcog
sjc
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Today I...
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@Mark_Cult
That's a shame. Buy a shopper and keep that bike lean and mean.