Cycling report by Simon Foster - Andover Wheelers
A merry band of 16 cyclists made the trip to Calshot velodrome on the 2nd of Dec 2000. There was the usual mix of those who had been there before and conquered the steep daunting boards, and those who were to tackle them for the first time. For a laugh, Simon had brought down a low profile pursuit track bike to have a go on (complete with tri-bars!), and was soon on the track. After one full lap of the track he was straight on to the tri-bars and as he exited the second banking the back wheel became very light and stepped out, giving Simon quite shock! Simon came in straight away to change his rear wheel claiming a lack of grip to be the problem, (but we think he came in to change his shorts!!). After changing the wheel everything seemed fine with the bike.
There was a steady flow of cyclists on to the track with John Hayles giving each "novice" a brief instruction on the basics of riding "the wall of death," before dispatching them into the unknown. Two of these riders were Stuart Harrison and Matt Ricketts. Both seemed to take to it like a duck to water, although Stuart did have a slight bump with Lisa Baker in one of the bankings as he realised how hard it is to slow down without any brakes. (Lisa really should learn to pick on people her own size.) After a few words from Simon as they were going around they began to increase their speed and hold their line much better. (Not as easy as it looks).
The next person to be at the mercy of gravity was Glyn Evans. Glyn first off was riding on the "Cote D'Azure" (the blue bit at the bottom!) to get used to riding a fixed wheel, as he grew in confidence he started to move up and on to the banking, with Simon riding around just above and behind shouting instructions. After a few laps Glyn came down of the track with a natural buzz and confessing to Simon that he couldn't hear a word he was saying!
Meanwhile back at the bike race, the rest of the gang had got into a line and were riding around the track on the blue line. (About half way up the track.) The group would keep a steady tempo, and when John Hayles blew a whistle the front rider would attack off the front of the line and rejoin on the back, after gaining one lap on the group. For Steve Bungay this was to be an exciting experience! As he started his flying lap he crossed the finish line and went into the first banking, here he was caught out by the power of the "G" force and was pushed high up the track. He continued to rise until he made contact with the vertical wall at the top of the track. After a quick scrape along the top he carried on his merry way to rejoin the back of the line with a heart rate 10 beats higher than it would have been!!!
We then got ourselves into groups of four to have a go at team pursuiting. Some groups changed at 4 lap intervals and one at 1lap intervals. This caused some fun for John Hayles as he tried to count the laps and time keep. In the end he gave up trying to keep track of the group changing every lap.
Gary Richardson and Lee Gardner showed they are quick to learn about how to swing off the front of their group and rejoin the back. They both loved the feeling of swinging high up the banking and dropping down on the back of the line.
After a while the gang came in for a break and Simon persuaded Neil to give up trick cycling on the track (i.e. cycling one legged and breaking front axle's on previous visits) to have a go at riding a 3km pursuit on some schedules that Simon had prepared. After a brief discussion with Simon, Neil opted for the 4min43sec schedule with the option of changing to a quicker or slower one as needed.
Neil was loaned Ian Knights bike for the attempt. After a 9sec first half lap he was bang on schedule. At 1.5 laps he was 1 sec up. Simon had worked out the timings for the back straight, enabling him to lap the watch, look at the schedule, work out the difference then tell Neil if he was up, down or level as he passed Simon on the home straight. This was a first for both Neil and Simon, as Neil had never ridden a pursuit and Simon had never worked out schedules before! Neil gradually increased the advantage over the schedule until he was 5secs up.
At this point Simon changed the schedule to 4min 30sec. In the end Neil finished 6secs up in 4.24.00. Both were pleased with the outcome.
After the rest, the gang were back pounding the boards and it looked as if they would never come off the track! Everyone was having a great time, including John Foster who had an equally tiring time running around after Simon's daughter Emily! John didn't know what was more tiring, riding a bike or trying to keep up with Emily as she danced up the stairs of the grandstand.
During a break Sheila Evans was persuaded to have another go at conquering her fear of the track. After a few laps of the "Cote D'Azure" (yes, the blue bit,) and before anyone had really noticed she was riding on the sprinters line and loving every minute of it! Good on y' Sheila.
After another session Neil was persuaded to have another go at the 3km, only this time to use Simon's low-pro! After some beating he agreed and after a few laps to get used to riding tri-bars on a 43degrees banking he was off again! After another measured ride, taking lap times from Simon he finished an impressive 17 seconds up on schedule to record 4.13.01, at an average speed of 26.61 mph. And this on a gear of 82.5".
Before we knew it the 3hours had run out and it was time to get everyone off the track. This proved to be the hardest thing to do, as everyone was having a good time. There was group doing lap turns on the blue line under the watchful eye of John Anthony, Martin Reader doing an impression of Chris Boardman riding the hour in full Credit Agricole kit, (at least he didn't have to build this bike before rode it!!).
Looking towards next year Simon hopes to organise another session in late Jan, early Feb, and if enough people are interested a trip to Manchester Velodrome.