Cycling with the Stars
While the Boulder bike community basks in the collective excitement of its new velodrome (featured in the April issue of Elevation Outdoors), riders in Colorado Springs have been racing fixed-gear bikes on a big banked track for years.
In 1982, the U.S. Olympic Committee built the 7-Eleven United States Olympic Training Center Velodrome on leased land in Colorado Springs’ Memorial Park. This track, which is about four blocks from the USOC Training Center campus, was built as a replica of the Los Angeles track that would be the venue for the 1984 Olympics. Its primary purpose was—and still is—for training resident and guest athletes at the center, but there are plenty of hours during which it sits idle, at which time it opens up to the public.
Open April through October, weather permitting (it’s outside), the track is 333 meters and banks up to 35 degrees in the corners. It costs a mere $5 to ride, for basically as long as you want, and another $5 to rent a track bike. This bargain pricing comes with the caveat that you agree to come down off the track for 20 or 30 minutes should a national champion need to log a few sprints.
According to the USOC’s John Cotton, who is in charge of operations for the track, most riders are more star struck than bothered when an Olympian does pull rank. And sometimes the coaches even chat up the recreational riders and offer bits of advice. “Local riders are willing to work around this,” Cotton says. “They can come talk to the national team coach. We are like one big happy family.”
It’s not uncommon for tourists to drop by and want to try it out. As long as they can keep the bike going at least 12 miles per hour, Cotton says they are welcome to give it a whirl. He familiarizes them with a fixed-gear bike and explains the basic etiquette of track riding. Then he sets them loose. “It takes me 10 to 15 minutes to get them orientated to the track,” Cotton says. “Sometimes I have people who come in and ride for one hour—that’s enough to do them for a lifetime.”
For experienced riders, the Colorado Velodrome Association hosts a race series on Tuesday and Thursday nights. The schedule includes developmental races for those just getting into the sport, all the way up to A level races, which may include some of the world’s best.
For a schedule of drop-in hours and public racing, visit www.coloradousac.org/track/
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Okay, so we don’t have an *actual* velodrome, but we’re working on that — and we DO have the beautiful CSU Oval to stand in for a banked track, in a pinch.
Hope you might be able to attend this fun, family and newbie friendly event . . . .
Thanks much.
Brad
Fort Collins Velodrome Association Bicycle Track
Racing Returns to the CSU Oval for Second Summer
6-Day Races bring back free, family-friendly fun
every Sunday from July 12 to August 16, 3:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Fort Collins, Colorado – The Fort Collins Velodrome Association (www.FCVelodrome.org) proudly presents its second annual 6 Days of Velodrome Style Racing at the CSU Oval. Similar to last year, racing will be held each Sunday from July 12 to August 16. Registration and warm-up begins at 3:00 p.m., and racing is from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. In addition to free, family-friendly fun and fast-paced excitement for spectators, there will be a wide variety of race categories for all ages and abilities again this year, including kids to novice racers to experienced cyclists, on everything from big wheels and tricycles, to custom fixed-gear and freewheeling bicycles.
News 4 Critic at Large, devoted cyclist and velodrome trainer Greg Moody, attended as a special guest announcer at last year’s Fort Collins Velodrome Association’s Associates in Family Medicine 6-Day Races at the CSU Oval event, coining the event as “bicycle racing for everybody”. He is expected back this year as part of a series of weekly special guest announcers.
Those interested in racing should arrive early on July 12 for registration, safety instructions and pointers, a skills clinic for new riders, bike inspection and warm-up. The event is free for spectators. Race fees are free for kids and teens, and just $10 per category for racers 18 and older. A one-time $5 individual or $10 family membership to the Fort Collins Velodrome Association is suggested. Volunteers to help with the event, especially those with cycling experience, are welcome.
What is Track Racing?
Bicycle track racing is typically done on a velodrome, a banked, oval track where racers put their strength, speed, endurance and tactics to the test in multi-lap races. Six-day races were originally just that – single riders, or teams of two, would ride as many laps of the track as they could in a six-day period. From 1890 until 1935, the Jazz Age, six-day bicycle racing was America’s most popular sport, run in front of packed houses at Madison Square Garden and other major venues around the country, with riders earning a handsome living. Events will be shorter in time and duration for the 6-Day Races at the CSU Oval, but racing will be held for six consecutive Sundays.
Sponsors for this year’s race include Associates in Family Medicine, Lee’s Cyclery, Chipotle, Jimmy John’s, PVH EMT Reserves, Shaped Music, and Shannon Marketing Communications. Supporters include CSU RAMS Cycling, Bike Fort Collins, FCBikes, Flood and Peterson, KUNC, the Coloradoan, UniverCity Connections.
For more information on the non-profit Fort Collins Velodrome Association or the race series, visit http://www.fcvelodrome.org.