Those bankings at Manchester or Newport – or even an outdoor velodrome such as Welwyn or Halesowen – may look daunting, but get it right and soon you too could be swooping up, down and round the track with confidence.
There are certain ground rules to be followed, however, when stepping on to the track. Some velodromes, such as Newport and Manchester, offer hire bikes for novices, but if you have just got your own bike you need to think about what gearing and tyres (the choice is stuck-on tubulars or wired-on clinchers) are best for the velodrome you are planning to use, and you should seek advice from the coaches there.
Getting geared up
Whatever the bike you are riding, even if it is a hired machine, check the tyres, urges Rod Ellingsworth, the national endurance coach dealing with skills. “You need them much harder on the track than the road – 8-9 bars. If they are tubulars they have to be stuck-on properly [so there is no chance of movement] and you should check them regularly for signs they may be coming unstuck … sandpaper the tread of the tyre just a little bit before you go on to take off any shine, and don’t mix the tyres you use on indoor and outdoor tracks. Don’t even wheel the bike outdoors. Always carry it. Check them every time you ride.”
A helmet is obligatory, and track mitts – which protect the hands in a crash – are a must. “If you fall and get gravel or splinters in your hands, you won’t want to ride for a while,” says gold medallist, Victoria Pendelton. “My dad used to send me home if I had no gloves with me.”
Track bikes differ from road in two key ways: there’s just one single, fixed gear, which means you can’t stop pedalling, and there are no brakes other than the gear itself. To slow down, you push back as the pedals rise. “Don’t try to freewheel!” laughs Victoria. “Everyone does it when they begin. You have to accelerate and decelerate gradually. It can help to have a go on a fixed gear on the road first.”
Braving the bankings
What about those bankings? Take the gradual approach, says Victoria. “As a novice, you can just go a metre or so higher each time you are on the track. I wouldn’t go straight up first time. You can get to the top of the track in a lap, but I always do a couple of laps on the bottom of the track, just to get up speed, and gradually move up.”
What about the chance of sliding off what looks, to the uninitiated, like the side of a house? “The bankings are no steeper at the top than the bottom,” says the Olympic champion. “You are no more likely to slide down a metre from the bottom than up by the hoardings at the top. I’ve ridden some dirty, steep tracks and the most important thing is to keep an even pressure on the pedals. Pedal right round the revolution, pull up as hard as you are pushing down. Think about pedalling in circles, rather than stamping down. If the wheel slides a little, don’t panic. Put the pressure on and you will catch it again.”
The other important thing is to see the track as an oval, says Rod. “You can relax down the straight a little, then press down again on the bankings. I tell riders to go a little wider down the straights, then come down diagonally as you hit the transition” – where the straight begins to turn – “that way you get a little acceleration into the bankings.”
String theory
Most track sessions involve riding in a string – usually either on the black line at the foot of the track, or the blue, midway up – and for the novice, that can be more daunting than cycling on your own.
“Keep your head up, look ahead, not at the lines on the track,” says Victoria. “You need to keep an eye on the person in front, but try to look at their seat pillar, not their tyre: forwards, not down.
“I wouldn’t expect a novice to be closer than a bike length behind the rider in front to start with, or at most a wheel’s length if you are confident. Don’t ever get too close, and the golden rule is never, ever overlap. If you are gaining speed on the wheel in front, take a little height to slow down: never kick back.”
The basic rules on the track when riding in company are the same as driving on the motorway: mirror, signal, manoeuvre. “Always check over your shoulder before moving, give a little flick of the elbow to indicate and if someone is in the way, go higher, not underneath,” says Victoria. “In a group you’ll be on the black or the blue lines, so don’t drift between the two.”
• Victoria Pendleton has won three match sprint world titles since 2005. In 2007 she won all three world championships available to women sprinters. In Beijing she won Olympic gold in the women’s sprint track cycling.
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