Ok, posting this from holiday in France after a village bbq and maybe had a few too many bottles of rosé.

I’m a big lad who has been struggling with losing weight for quite some time, 20 stone +. The thing is I love riding and its when I ride regularly that I lose weight. I’m not a complete slouch when it comes to riding, I’ve ridden London to Paris twice in the last year and about 1000 road miles in between. Nothing compares to the MTB though and I’m happiest at Dalby or Gisburn etc and want to be quicker on a bike full stop.

York has recently opened its velodrome and I really want to get into track cycling as a fitness pastime but you have to go through all the courses to get to a point where they will let you just turn up and ride. The problem I have is this. I’m not fast. If i go on the courses am I just going to hold people up? My biggest hate in cycling is that people have to wait for me when I ride with friends. They are doing it because they are nice decent people but it is sometimes so demoralising that it has an adverse effect. Silly really, but I hate being the person that holds the group up.

With my job, I go to York most days and can pick the hours I work so I could feasibly get on the track 3 days a week and really improve my overall fitness and speed. I guess I’m just painfully embarrassed about doing the courses where I can get to the point where I can go and train on my own. My question of the stw mind is am I being daft? On the flat I can hold a 15-17 mph average but don’t want to go into a course with people I don’t know and hold them up. Has anyone else done similar?

Yes, the less pies and mtfu comments are welcome/expected but this how I want to improve. I have a close friend from the stw manor who has the patience of a saint with me when we go riding and my sole current aim is to make sure I’m snapping at his heels the whole way round the next time we ride together. I’m fed up with making him wait.

Just do it. Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks.

15-17 is fine, go for it.

APF

The beauty of the track is they never have to wait they just catch you up.

Cheers gents! Much appreciated. I know it sounds silly but what I wanted to hear. Really love the thought of being able to get out on a track a few mornings per week and really dropping some weight.

…. Oh and buying yet another bike of course 😀

Do it. You will love it. It’s like no other form of cycling. Speed is really not relevant, any structured training session will be tailored to the needs of those present. Also when learning, speed can mask skill, so sessions will be concentrating on technique not fitness.

And look before you move.

I did a session at the fancy new velodrome near where I live, as part of a team Friday outing at work. It was great, even though I hate road riding. As you say, to be allowed to go on the track unsupervised, you’ll need to get qualified, and you can do this through a couple of what are essentially lessons. It wasn’t many, from memory, and if you are reasonably competent on a bike you should fly through them.

I’d be surprised if the velodrome doesn’t hold beginner/give-it-a-go sessions on a fairly regular basis, with a closed track and an instructor. You’d be amongst other track novices, so no worries about holding folk up/getting in the way.

Once you can hold a line you can then go out and train on your own, if people want to get past they can overtake. There may be certain times of day that are set aside for newer riders. Best bet is to have a chat with someone at the velodrome, if they think you’re going to become a long-term customer they should be willing to give you some time and talk you through stuff.

Dont worry about speed (as long as you are goong fast enough to stay upright on the banking – 15mph will be more than enough for this). Being able to hold your line, checking your shoulder before moving up or down and generally being predictable are the things that are important, a fast rider would much rather share a track with a slow predictable rider than a fast rider who swings up or down without looking.

The beginners / accreditation sessions will cover the important do’s and don’ts

There is no way that I could ride around in circles like that! I’d get bored and lose interest real quick I think. 😡

But we all like different things, so give it a shot. 🙂

edit – just make sure to wear baggies and a camelbak! 😆

Omar Little – Member
Dont worry about speed (as long as you are goong fast enough to stay upright on the banking – 15mph will be more than enough for this). Being able to hold your line, checking your shoulder before moving up or down and generally being predictable are the things that are important, a fast rider would much rather share a track with a slow predictable rider than a fast rider who swings up or down without looking.

The beginners / accreditation sessions will cover the important do’s and don’ts

Says it all, sensible words.

The courses that lead you onto accreditation are not interested in how fast you can go. They should teach you how to be a safe rider (as Omar said above). Most of the drills will be done at a steady pace, anyone shooting off of the front will be shouted at, it is all about steady safe riding/awareness.

Go for it!

All said above, but JoeG might like to try it. It’s not as simple as riding round in circles.

my recent thread musing about getting back on the track highlghts some of the pitfalls, but as others have said, it can be great fun and certainly is a proper workout – there is nowhere to hide on a fixed wheel on a velodrome.

I’ve decided to get back onto the Glasgow track next month 🙂

Track is great fun and easily allows people of different speeds to ride together. There’s plenty of space to get round people and I’m sure you’ll find yourself overtaking people in due course anyway.

I was at the Manchester velodrome recently and there were a few old boys on the track a the same time as me. There was one guy. 70 ish years old, huge beer drinkers belly, couldn’t be further away from a cycling physique. He just sat on the track for 30 minutes at a steady but not slow pace, no acceleration, no deceleration. People who were faster went round him, people who were slower got overtaken, job done. He, as I was, was dripping with sweat at the end so it was definitely a good workout.

The beauty of track cycling is that it isn’t always the fastest rider who wins. If you ride smart you can beat people fitter than you On the flip side, you’ll probably lose to a 14 year old girl at some point, but nobody will care.

If your lack of fitness is a problem in the accreditation sessions, they’re not running the sessions right. Go have fun, if you like it, its a great way to get fit.

Go for it, assuming accreditation at your track follows a similar format as at Newport speed has very little to do with it. It’s all about safety and race awareness, it really helps with what to do in training and racing scenarios.

Once you’ve done accreditation you can usual just pop along to drop in sessions and usually you are free to do your own thing but be aware of others doing their thing

Track training is great fun and you can progress to track league if you like.