18 WBCC'ers descended on the home of British cycling; "the HSBC UK National Cycling Centre" aka The Manchester Velodrome on a beautiful Friday evening.
I somehow managed to park in a completely different car park to everyone else but that did mean I got to witness a chap warming up next to his car on his BMX on a set of rollers!! I did have a little chuckle. It was great to see was how well our club was represented from all 4 rides, and with "6 svelte ladies" (I'll come back to that comment) we also showed how diverse we are as a club. Rental shoes and helmets collected, and after Peter nearly wiped himself out on the walk down the stairs, we were greeted by two staff members. They gave us the top tip that it would be easier to walk on the slippery surface in our socks then checked our height (or lack of in mine and Matt's case) and supplied us with Dolan track bikes. Richard was absolutely delighted that the bike was practically a carbon copy (pun intended) of his own road bike and we all headed up to meet our own personal coach for the evening, Geoff. This might not be his real name, but I forgot to take notes for this review so not all of it may be factually correct.
Anyway, Geoff was a top bloke, particularly fond of our "svelte ladies" as he referred to them (proof that British Cycling treat men and women equally) and he quickly split us into 2 groups; those who had ridden the boards before and the newbies. The split was about 50:50 until he offered those who had been before a little refresher of how to ride a fixie ("A 'fixed gear' bike which is one with just one gear and no freewheel. This means that when the back wheel turns, the pedals are always turning) and the experienced group became two; just Ben & Matt. After a quick bike-fit they were off onto the track showing us how it's done.
The rest of us listened intently, for a good 15 minutes - there really is more to track riding than you think. And having Geoff there gave us all the confidence we needed to get out there, so by the end of the talk and a quick seat height measure (10mm lower than your road bike by the way) we were all sent out to ride the inside of the track to get used to the fixies.
We had the whole track to ourselves - absolutely brilliant!
With "installation laps" under our belts we were back out after a short break onto the boards. Using the technique of increasing power into the bends and easing off on the straights we were soon overtaking each other on the outside using all of the banking. Some were going so fast that contact lenses were blown out from behind their Oakleys (Chris) and it was time for another drinks break and a snack. We were then offered the opportunity to practice group riding, and took part in a "skill drill" which saw us navigating our way through gates (think skiing slalom). Increasing our pace as we went until we were riding on each others wheels, the trust we have in each other was there to see, and we all got a great buzz from merely impersonating (albeit a lot slower) the great Team GB Olympic teams we've been fortunate to witness over the years.
Lastly (thank god for that I hear you cry - this review is going on and on) it was race time!! A one lap, standing start race, with our great leader Ben going first. Top tip from Geoff; "don't stop pedaling when you cross the finish line as if you do you'll hit the British Cycling sign at the top of the banking at the end of the straight!" safe to say we all followed instruction, rode as fast as we could, did our warm down laps (very pro) and awaited the results.
Ladies Results:
Bronze: Andrea Howard
Silver: Kirsty Merriman
Gold: Gill Halliday
Mens Results:
Bronze: Gavin Pailing
Silver: Ben Howard
Gold: Matt Derbyshire Pantani (is there any form of cycling that he's not good at!!!!)
Results announced, it was time to get showered and head home, where a table had been booked at Cardamon for 11pm for 5 of us (myself, Chris, Gary, Ben & Andrea). This quickly became a table for 9 when Wendy, Gill & Kirsty joined us and later on Ben & Andrea's daughter Libby. What a great way to end a fantastic evening! The first round of beers didn't touch the sides, a couple of bottles of wine were enjoyed by the ladies and as usual the food and service at Cardamon was second to none.
To finish things off, we played a very dangerous game of "guess my age" which worked out better for some than others, and eventually (after trying to order one for the road) we realised it was way past the midnight closing time (1am) and we all headed home agreeing that we should all do more to arrange club socials given the fantastic company and banter that had been enjoyed.
The final word is one of huge thanks, he tried to play it down that it had been easy to organise, but we all know that these things don't happen without one person arranging them, so chapeau, Ben - we all appreciate your efforts, bring on the next one!!
