Track Cycling at the Milton (PanAm) Velodrome [photos added]

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La
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Track Cycling at the Milton (PanAm) Velodrome [photos added]

Postby La » Tue Oct 18, 2016 9:34 am

My friend sent an e-mail back in August asking if anyone was interested in going to get certified to ride the track at the PanAm Velodrome in Milton. The program consists of two parts: Certification A and Certification B. Last night was Cert A. If you pass that, then you can go on to Cert B, which lets you ride on your own on the track during any open/drop-in times. The cost for both parts was $85. Track bike rental is $10.

Cert A: We had a brief discussion about the different parts of the track, how track cycling works, how the bikes work, etc. Then we got on our bikes. If I'd been wearing my HRM I'm sure it would have been in the low 100s just standing there on the track with one foot clipped in. I was terrified!

Riding the track bike: It's a fixed gear (48/15, for those who are interested), so no coasting - you have to keep pedalling. Side note: having just watched Finding Dory on the plane back from Chicago, Dory's mantra of "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming..." came to mind. :lol:

I wasn't really worried about getting started and clipping in (you start with one foot clipped in - your power foot, which for me is my left), but I was really worried about how I was going to stop and not tip over! So we practiced that while riding in the Safety Zone (the flat blue part at the bottom of the track). Then we learned how to come to a stop: unclip one foot while it's in the 12 o'clock position, then get out of the saddle, stand and push down/back on the other foot while putting the unclipped foot onto the ground. You have to be going really slowly to do this, so you have to slow yourself right down before trying to stop. It wasn't pretty, but I survived without falling! We practiced this a couple of times.

Next up was riding the "Côte d’Azure" which is the next section of light blue track, about 18" wide, that's only banked about 11°of incline (the steepest part on the banks is 48°). You don't normally ride on this part other than to get on or off the track. The banking actually makes it easier to ride and to maintain your speed, especially in the corners. We learned to do a "rail stop" (i.e., stop and hold onto the side rail of the track), which is much easier than a full stop that we'd learned previously.

Now it was time to ride on the main part of the track, between the black and red lines. I can't recall the degree of incline on this part, but it wasn't very steep, just slightly more than the Côte d’Azure. Again, this section is about 18" wide (maybe 2 feet at the most). After going around the track a few times as a group (there were 2 groups of 10 riders, so while one group rode, the other would rest and get some instruction for the next drill - I was in group 2), we played "Follow the leader," which meant that the instructor would tell the first person in the group to go up the track by placing a small cone on the track, which we had to go around the outside of. This was on the straightaway, so the banking was less severe than in the corners. Each lap, she'd move the cone further and further up the track. We got within a few feet of the top rail, which is about 6' higher than the Safety Zone at the bottom.

The next drill had us riding above the blue line. This line separates the top half of the track from the bottom. During open rides, you'll have one lane of riders on the bottom half and another lane in the top half. The middle section (between the red and blue lines, which is several feet wide) is the passing zone, so you don't usually ride there. Riding way up there, especially on the corner banks was both scary and exhilarating. It wasn't as hard as I'd expected, and you didn't really have to ride all that fast to be able to stay up there. But it does require a fair amount of power output. This is where I started to feel my right quad cramping up. I was scared that I wouldn't be able to maintain the power required to stay up there, so that's where the "Just keep pedalling... just keep pedalling..." mantra came in handy. :lol:

Another point: when you go up the track (whether on the straighaways or in the corners) you're actually climbing, so it's not just about speed, but power output, like when you're climbing a hill. It's one full storey from the bottom of the track to the top at the highest point in the curve.

The final drill was riding in a rotating pace line. I was worried about this one as my quads (especially my right one) were very sore and I didn't have a lot of power. The instructor put an experienced rider at the front, I was second, a couple of other women were behind me, then some guys at the back. The idea was that she didn't want the pace line to go out too quickly (if the strongest guys were at the front) and drop all the other riders. For this one, you're riding within a foot or two of the wheel of the rider in front of you. Out on the road, this is a scary type of riding if you're not use to it, especially if you don't know/trust the riders in front of you. But on the track that isn't an issue because: a) there are no brakes and no coasting, so the person in front can't slam on their brakes, causing you to bump into them, b) everyone's bikes have the same gear ratio, so if you match the cadence of the rider in front, you'll be going the same speed, and c) if you felt you were getting too close to the rider ahead, you just had to move a few inches to the right and that little bit of extra distance you're riding outside of the pace line will slow you down (relative to the person in front of you). You're not actually going slower, you're riding extra distance, so you fall back from them.

The pace line: we were all riding between the black and red lines, which is o the lowest level of the track. As the lead rider would get to the end of the straightaway, they'd go up toward the blue line (but not go over it) and let the entire pace line pass them below, then you'd go back down and get onto the back of the pace line. It sometimes took an entire lap of the track to get back on the back. Since there were 10 riders in our group, we did 10 laps like that. My quad was quite sore at that point, so I pulled off and let the rest of the group do a few more laps.

After that, we were told that we all got our Cert A and were good to go for Cert B on Friday! :D The one piece of feedback I got from the instructor was that I had to remember to ALWAYS shoulder check before moving up or down the track. If I'm caught not checking during the Cert B course, I won't get certified. :? Doing a left shoulder check is natural for me (since while riding on the road people are always passing you on the left), but on the track, they are mostly passing you on the right (the outside of the track), though as you move up or down the track, you always have to shoulder check in the direction you're moving.

The session was booked for 2.5 hours (8:30-11), but we were a bit late starting and we finished around 10:45. Some people continued to ride the track until 11PM, but I wanted to save my quads for Friday.

If anyone in the Golden Horseshoe area is interested in trying it out, you just have to set up an account with the Town of Milton, then do your registration for the sessions on-line. It takes a few days to get your account set up. Here's the link: https://eservices.milton.ca/Start/Start.asp
Last edited by La on Thu Oct 20, 2016 7:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Jwolf
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Re: Track Cycling at the Milton (PanAm) Velodrome

Postby Jwolf » Wed Oct 19, 2016 12:50 pm

I have to say that sounds terrifying! :) I prefer my casual cycling, thank you very much!

But I'm glad you had fun-- good luck Friday, and don't forget that shoulder check.
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Re: Track Cycling at the Milton (PanAm) Velodrome

Postby jonovision_man » Wed Oct 19, 2016 1:53 pm

Sounds awesome! :dance:
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La
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Re: Track Cycling at the Milton (PanAm) Velodrome

Postby La » Wed Oct 19, 2016 6:14 pm

This will give some context to how I talked about the safety zone (darker blue), the Cote d'Azure (light blue), and the black, red and blue lines.
Image
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eme
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Re: Track Cycling at the Milton (PanAm) Velodrome

Postby eme » Wed Oct 19, 2016 8:20 pm

Wow!

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La
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Re: Track Cycling at the Milton (PanAm) Velodrome [photos ad

Postby La » Thu Oct 20, 2016 7:13 am

In case you haven't seen Rick Mercer's account of his experience on the track...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5K7aMLtElQ

I screamed a little bit less than he did. ;) :lol:
"Maybe I will be my own inspiration." - UltraMonk (Laura)
"Everywhere is walking distance if you have enough time." - Steven Wright


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