Biking at the Velodrome

James, epic bike racer

Danielle, cautious bike racer

For the past five weeks, James and I have been taking a bike racing class. It has been a great experience and super fun (even given a few rainy, windy evenings). The class ended last Friday at the National Sports Center Velodrome*.

Riding the Velodrome was possibly one of the scariest things that I have ever done. While I am not adventurous, and that may not say much, but James agreed that it was extremely scary (and he is adventurous). In order to ride the Velodrome, we had to ride fixed speed bikes (that don't have breaks and don't allow for coasting... one must pedal the entire time). While riding on the track, if you aren't pedaling fast enough, you can feel the wheels sliding down the track, potential for a major wipe out, and the feeling is extra-ordinarily freaky. I initially thought that the rider was not in control; however, that is totally wrong. The rider is in complete control by maintaining a fast speed and counter-steering. Needless to say, it was quite the workout. By the end of it, we did get the hang of it and thought it was awesome... I suppose that having beers waiting for us and a great cheering section helped (thanks to Pat, Dan, and Kelly for the support)!

*Velodrome: an arena for track cycling; modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degress circular bends connected by two straights (the straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement curve

James & Danielle, bike racers

Pat & Dan, true champions

P.S. Pat, Dan, and Kelly took some videos of us biking. For your viewing pleasure, I will be posting them on the facebook!