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| Taking a short break in the infield of the track. |
Monday was a great day to ride on the track. It was cloudy and a little windy when I started warming up on the track. The wind was a little tough on the back stretch of the track, but as my ride time wore on the wind died down and conditions were great. Not to hot and best of all NO RAIN!
To get things going I rode just above the stayer's line for twenty laps. The stayer's line is a blue line approximately in the middle of the track. It doesn't really mean anything. The line is just a point of reference. If you are just riding around on the track, like I was doing for my first twenty laps, riders are suppose to stay around the stayer's line. I rode just above it.
Once I was warmed up, I climbed high on the banking and then accelerated to the black measurement line at the bottom of the track. The top of the track, next to the rail, is called the rail. When you climb up to the rail and are about to sweep down the track, you yell out rail. Yelling out rail lets other riders on the track know what you are about to do and to look out for you as you accelerate down the banking. The black measurement line, at the bottom of the track, is where the track is measured to be two hundred and fifty meters around the track. In between turn one and two is a white line indicating that it is two hundred meters to the finish line. I alternated between doing flying two hundred meter efforts and just riding around the track. Hard efforts take a lot out of you. So after going all out for two hundred meters I was just riding at a speed that felt comfortable on the track.
There is not a start line on a velodrome. There is a finish line. There is no need for a starting line, because the banking is to steep to allow riders to line up on a line to start an event.
For over twenty years I have wanted to try out just riding on a velodrome. It was a dream come true when they built a track close enough for me to occasionally travel to for a day of riding.
In the early 1990s I put together a track bike and planned to go to the Dick Lane Velodrome in Eastpoint, GA. (Atlanta, GA) My work schedule just never allowed me to make the six hour drive to the Dick Lane Velodrome.
In January 2005 I realized while driving to Boston that I was passing by the Lehigh Valley Velodrome. I had a road bike with me so I drove to the location of the Lehigh Track and changed into riding gear. I rode my bike to the local bike shop and asked for information on the track. I found out that the Lehigh track is located in a public park. The Bob Rodale Park. I rode over there and rode right onto the track. After a few laps it dawned on me that my road bike was not designed to ride on a track. The bottom bracket was way to low and if I kept riding I would most likely hit a pedal on the track's surface and crash. It was thirty two degrees and there were a few light snow flurries at the time. If I had an accident no one would find me for days. I quickly rode off the track and went for a couple of hours ride on the roads of Pennsylvania.
I kept in the back of my mind that idea of getting on a velodrome and learning more about the bikes and riding on a track. Now that there the Giordana Velodrome is close enough for one day rides, I'll make the trip to Rock Hill as often as I can.
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| The Giordana Velodrome |
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