Finally Made It Back To The Giordana Velodrome

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Finally made it back to the track.

It has been seven months since I have been to the Giordana Velodrome in Rockhill, SC. Last summer I was able to get to the track on a fairly consistent basis. There seems to have been one thing after another keeping me from going there. I finally made it there this Monday morning!

Riding on a Velodrome has been something I have wanted to do for many years. The closest track to me, before this one was built, is the Dick Lane Velodrome in East Point, GA (Atlanta). That is a hard dive of five and a half hours by car. Rockhill is just over an hour and half by car. There is a little traffic getting through Charlotte, NC, but it isn't very bad. I am grateful to be able to ride on this world class facility.

They have made a few improvements since I was last at the track. I noticed more aluminum benches for riders to sit on situated in several locations. The biggest change is a large sign above the track with a digital clock. The clock not only lets you know what time of day it is, but also provides an easy way to get an idea of your lap times.

My Argon 18 Electron

The temperatures were in the fifties with a strong head wind on the front stretch. 

It requires a good deal of power to ride high on the banking of a track. I could tell right away that I have some work to do to get back to where I was last summer. When I was last at the track I need to add one tooth to the gearing on the back of my bike. I changed out the cog on the rear wheel to a larger one, before going to the velodrome. With this larger gear I felt like I was getting bogged down and not able to keep my cadence in an efficient range. I'll switch back down one tooth before I head to Rockhill again. 

Hopefully I will be able to make it back to the Giordana Velodrome several times during the next few months. I look forward to each trip I make there and it is always a good time.

Looking across the infield of the velodrome at the third and forth turns.

The forty three degree banking between turns one and two.

Poor ole' Joe chewed on a stick while I cleaned my bike.

Giordana Velodrome, Rock Hill, SC 6/3/12

The Giordana Velodrome

Greg

I was lucky enough to make it down to the Giordana Velodrome again today for an afternoon of riding on the track. Last week I rode and talked bicycles with another rider, Greg, who was there to ride on the track. Greg was already there when I arrived today. We warmed up some and did a few laps and took a break. After several times of hard efforts followed by rest, we decided to ride for a while drafting off of each other. We came up with the ride format of each rider pulling for two laps and then pulling off as we entered turn one. A duration and pace for this ride was decided at thirty minutes at a pace of twenty two to twenty six miles per hour. Greg has a computer on his bike so he did the timing and said he would let me know if we started to ride too fast. We worked well together and were riding smoothly. After about 15 minutes of riding this way Mac Cannon joined us at the back of the line. Having three riders all on the same page made this even more fun. It's a blast to pull off to the right in the steep part of the banking and then drop in behind the last rider to sit in the draft. Riding in a single file rotating paceline is my favorite way to ride a bicycle, and it's even more fun on the track. Another fun day of riding a bicycle! I hope to make it down to Rock Hill again soon to do some more of this fun riding.

Giordana Velodrome 5/27/12

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Made it to the Velodrome again today!

I made it to the Velodrome again today.  The temperature was in the mid eighties with cloudy skies. A good group of other riders were trying to get in a workout before it started to rain. I had just finished my last few laps when rain drops started to fall. By the time I got from the infield of the track to my car, it was a hard down pour. Riding on the track is a great workout. I hope everyone got a chance to get out and ride their bike today.

I'm riding fairly high on the banking in this photo.
The effort required to maintain your speed increases with however high you are on the banking.

Giordana Velodrome - Track Certification

I spent most of today at the Giordana Velodrome in Rock Hill, SC taking a course to become certified to ride on the track. This involved several hours of riding and doing different drills on the track. At the end of the day we even did a few mass start races. Tracy was our instructor for the day and did a great job! The weather was perfect. I had a lot of fun and felt good about riding and racing on a velodrome by the end of the day. I recommend you go down and check out the velodrome for yourself. Click here to learn more about the Giordana Velodrome.

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Giordana Velodrome

Tracy - Our instructor for the day.

Phat Gold Chain on my bike.

Riders four abreast high on the track.

Joey and Tracy with Joey's cool bike a friend in Japan sent him.

Joey has some cool 1976 reproduction cycling shoes.

Poor Ole' Joe didn't seem to intested in my Certification Card .