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On the track

Calshot VelodromeA surprising and very original birthday present gave me the chance to try out track riding on Monday for the first time in fifteen years [ thanks A & S !].

The velodrome is part of Calshot Activity Centre, situated right on the coast down past Southampton [ for more info see British Cycling ]. It's housed in an old aircraft hanger. The track is 140m and because it's shorter than usual the banking is steeper, which looked quite hairy from the track-side seating.

After some basics on track riding from the instructor we were let loose to try things out at our own pace. Man, what a blast! There were a few awkward moments when I forgot I was riding a fixed but other than that I managed to stay on the bike. I have a new respect for the track riders now, going that fast and keeping such a good line is a completely different cycling discipline. I thoroughly recommended it to any cyclist, road, MTB or otherwise, I'm definitely going to give it another go soon.

Great Giro pics from Phill. Jan Ullrich seems to be improving. It's hard to believe Basso can keep going like he is and still be in top form for the Tour, he must have incredible powers of recovery.


Comments:

Sounds like you had some fun! By the way, Happy Birthday and many more riding!
By Blogger Tom Stormcrowe
 
Cheers Tom, 30 yrs so far, hopefully I'll still be spinning at 60.
By Blogger iain
 
I think Basso's (and every other tour rider's) recovery secret came out yesterday.
By Anonymous Anonymous
 
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