Track cycling

Horselover fat

Well-Known Member
I don't watch sports really, but I do like some track cycling events. There are no velodromes here, but I'd love to have pint and watch people fly around the track.

Look at how steep the banks on a velodrome can be! Would you ride that?



Would you ride it 50kmh - 80kmh on a 200-250meter track with competitors so close to you? And the other riders will use their elbows and shoulders to push you around.



Did I say they ride fixed gear? No brakes. If the bike moves the pedals turn. The crashes are pretty spectacular. Remember no brakes. If you fall down in front of other riders they will ride over you...




1v1 sprint is loads of fun to watch. Different from any race you ever saw before. Three laps. First to cross line is winner. Going backwards not allowed. Stopping is allowed, but there may be time limits. Speeds upto 80km/h at finish. Take a look at this. It really is funny.



Madison is an awesome spectator sport too. Usually 50km. Tag teams of two. One rider is in the race and one rests riding higher up on the velodrome. Switching riders the resting rider drops down, the racing rider grabs their hand and slings them to high speed. Every 10th lap is a sprint and fastest teams get points. You also get points by lapping everyone else. In the end the team with most points wins. Remember they ride 50-60kmh and do sprints of over 70kmh. Utterly mad.



Lots of other great track cycling events, but those two are my favs.
 

weedstoner420

Well-Known Member
Wow, that 1v1 race was interesting. At first I wasn't sure if the race had actually started...clearly no one going for a PR in that one...

I love riding my fixie around town, riding on the velodrome track looks super fun
 

Horselover fat

Well-Known Member
Wow, that 1v1 race was interesting. At first I wasn't sure if the race had actually started...clearly no one going for a PR in that one...

I love riding my fixie around town, riding on the velodrome track looks super fun
Yup. You would have to be much, much stronger than your opponent to just pedal your way to victory. The drafting rider uses like half the power to ride at the same speed as the front rider. They should win almost every time by conserving energy and passing just before the finish. That's why the front rider tries to make the other rider pass them or tries some other tricks to win.

I would love to try it, but the fixie thing scares me :D
 

farmingfisherman

Well-Known Member
Velodromes are so scary the first time you ride on one. Our local track "Rip" had a 12 mph minimum otherwise you fell off the banking. It was a old concrete track so sliding down the banking wasn't something you wanted to do. First time I ever rode it I was on a geared bike, never been more nervous on 2 wheels.
 
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