It鈥檚 not an easy thing to believe at first sight 鈥� that an average human with average cycling skills can ride a velodrome track. The corner banks of the wooden oval at the Burnaby Velodrome Club sit at 47 degrees, which means it鈥檚 so steep one could lean against it and still be mostly standing upright.
Yet, most of the cyclists that showed up to the Burnaby Velodrome鈥檚 annual open house this past weekend managed to get past their nerves and find their way to the blue pace line halfway up the 200-metre long track.
鈥淲e want to get people excited about riding the track and take away their fears,鈥� said Burnaby Velodrome Club coach Julian Base in between Saturday morning鈥檚 sessions. 鈥淧eople, they see the wall and get nervous so we take them through it with a step by step approach.鈥�
The level of expertise of those who showed up for the open house ranged from kitted-out road riders with sinewy calves and mountain bikers used to Evel Knievel-ing their way around park berms to beginners who were so new to bikes it was only a year ago they were flopped over the hood of a parked car on Adanac Street after an woeful attempt at unclipping from their peddles. (Full disclosure: that was me. I鈥檓 also a member of the BVC.)
Track bikes are single fixed gear bikes with no flywheel. This means as long as the bike is moving, so are the pedals. There鈥檚 no coasting and no brakes. The latter leads to the second biggest worry of how to get off the track once you鈥檙e on and riding the necessary 30 kilometres an hour so there鈥檚 no sliding off. Base understands this fear 鈥� his first track experience happened when his teenaged self visited the short and steep Fonthill, Ont. track and he couldn鈥檛 figure out how to come down so he stayed up for more than an hour. 鈥淏ut I was a BMX racer so when I came off, I went right across the centre of the track, went up the end, did a 180 and came down,鈥� he remembered. 鈥淭he coach was going, 鈥業鈥檝e never seen that before.鈥欌��
Once fears are squashed (getting off the track is no big deal, just deaden your weight and circle down) and basic skills are learned through the club鈥檚 affordable five-session Learn to Ride program, the track opens a whole new world of cycling.
There are the coached group workouts (one of the best fitness sessions this writer has experienced) open track (show up and ride at your own pace), racing programs, a junior development program and aboriginal youth cycling (started by former program director Kelyn Akuna).
Given the choices, the fact that the Burnaby Velodrome, located in the Harry Jerome Sports Centre bubble, is just one of three indoor tracks in the country, and the grim and grey weather 麻豆传媒映画is accustomed to, it鈥檚 astonishing the club doesn鈥檛 see more riders than its 160 members.
鈥淲hat I find more shocking,鈥� added Base who moved to 麻豆传媒映画from Ontario in 1996 to pursue skiing before discovering the local track, 鈥渋s the amount of cyclists we have, high-level cyclists, and we don鈥檛 have a world class facility to train at. This track is fun to ride, but it鈥檚 not anywhere near a world class facility. And the amount of track riders we have and people just looking to get healthy, we should have a new velodrome.鈥�
In comparison to top tracks in the U.S. and overseas, the Burnaby Velodrome is almost as rickety as the wooden rollercoaster at the PNE down the road (there are some similarities in that both appear to be patched together with miscellaneous pieces of wood 鈥� the track is finished with sheets of plywood at the rail).
Base and BVC program director Mike Rothengatter threw around names of note associated with the Burnaby Velodrome: Jasmin Glaesser and Gillian Carleton (bronze in women鈥檚 team pursuit at the 2012 London Olympics), Steph Roorda (bronze at the track cycling world championships in London last March), Zach Bell (gold in the 2013 National Road race Championships) and Svien Tuft (a two-time national road race champion and nine-time national time trial champion).
That鈥檚 not even scratching the surface of accomplishments of people who鈥檝e ridden the boards at the BVC.
麻豆传媒映画has a long history with track cycling. The 250-metre outdoor China Creek Cycle Track was built at the corner of Glenn Drive and East Broadway, where 麻豆传媒映画Community College is now, in 1954 for the Empire Games. It was torn down in 1980, and the Burnaby Velodrome was built as its replacement in the early 1990s, opening in 1997.
While it may not be a polished and duct tape-free world class track (the Burnaby Velodrome also shares the space with Volleyball B.C. which has multiple courts in the middle of the oval), it鈥檚 the hub of a strong cycling community, said Rothengatter.
鈥淚t鈥檚 what makes it so different, it鈥檚 a very grassroots facility,鈥� he said. 鈥淓veryone鈥檚 really friendly, super welcoming, and you鈥檙e going to have people who are Olympians training here along with people who just came through the Learn to Ride program. It鈥檚 a fun atmosphere so check your ego at the door.鈥�
@rebeccablissett
