Top Track Cycling Tips for Beginners

Where can you find your nearest velodrome? Why are the bankings so steep? What are the different-coloured lines on the track for? Ex-Track Pro Manon and Alex are here to help you get into track cycling and talk you through your first track day!

If you’re interested in following track cycling more closely, make sure you catch the first round of the UCI Track Champions League from Mallorca on the 6th November on GCN+ or head over to https://ucitrackchampionsleague.com/ for more info!

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📹 Ollie Learns How to Ride on a Velodrome 👉 https://gcn.eu/trackschool

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In my opinion track cycling is the best form of cycling alex i kind of disagree i quite like having gears on my bike i call it having brakes but i i guess it could be cool too right it’s pretty cool it’s full of speed excitement adrenaline

The buzz you get from riding on those steep bankings is insane and today i want to show you how you can get into track cycling because i know you’re gonna love it First job is to find a velodrome when you head inside these tend to look a little bit like a pringle and they range in length from 200 meters up to around 400 meters this is an olympic sized velodrome so it’s 250 meters long and it’s typically located in doors there

Are of course outdoor velodromes which are a little bit longer in length and don’t feature the same steep bankings that we’ve got here talking of which what’s the reason for those super steep bankings if a rider was to ride round a flat circular track they would find it

Very hard to stay on the track especially at high speeds and it would be near impossible to actually turn around the corner the steep banking of the track creates a centripetal force pushing the riders inwards allowing the riders to hit really high speeds while staying on the track anyway back to the

Search for our velodrome in the uk we’re fortunate enough to have five olympic sized indoor velodromes and we have just over 20 outdoor velodromes and outdoor velodromes are a great place to start if you’re new to track cycling a quick search online and you will find your nearest belt room at most velodromes

You’ll be able to book a taster session so this is usually where you can hire a bike like i’ve done here today and then you’ll have a coach or instructor that is able to guide you around the track keep you nice and safe and give you the

Confidence to come from here up onto the track don’t bring your road bike to the track session and expect to use it track bikes are very different to road bikes yours is cool as well isn’t it it’s pretty cool isn’t it track bikes are amongst the simplest types of bikes

Available with no brakes and a single fixed gear meaning riders cannot freewheel some pro riders can actually reach speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour so the absence of brakes is vital to prevent crashes as riders are able to ride closely together at high speeds without the worry of someone ahead

Suddenly slamming on the brakes track bikes have just one gear and choosing that will depend on how fast you’re going to ride and also your personal preference a bigger gear will result in a slower cadence and a smaller gear will result in a faster cadence choosing the

Right size gear could be the difference between winning or losing a race but you don’t need to worry about that so what you need to take to your track session first off cycling kit is a good idea you don’t need any fancy skin suits shorts and jersey will do fine or whatever you

Prefer to ride in crucially you’re also going to need to take your cycling helmet you won’t be going far without that also particularly handy to have is a set of cycling glasses these could be clear or have a tinted lens as well and these will just keep the wind out of

Your eyes as you’re cycling around another thing is cycling shoes now you can bring your own cycling shoes and pedals to put on the higher bike they don’t sometimes let you change the pedals so be prepared to use either the shoes that they provide or bring your own trainers during your taster session

You’re going to be doing plenty of cycling so it’s a good idea to bring some water with you and also some snacks such as a banana or an energy bar because you’re going to be burning lots of calories off i also like to bring my sliders with me to the track session or

Some trainers to walk around in when you’re not on the bike because walking around in cycling shoes yeah it kind of end up in an accident like i’ve just found out but we won’t talk about that you could also bring a towel as well if you get a bit sweaty

Because truck cycling is hard work once you’ve arrived at the velodrome the coach will talk you through step by step what you’re going to be doing in the session but the trickiest bit will be getting on and off the track so we’re going to talk you through what to expect

First up you’re going to want to make sure your bike is set up correctly so you want to get your right pedals on for you get your saddle height right and make sure you can reach the bars after you’ve got everything set up correctly it’s worth having a little ride round in

The track center to make sure everything is set up correctly and get used to how to come to stop on the bike once you’re comfortable on the bike it’s time to hit the track you ready alex oh yeah come on let’s go when you first arrive at the track it

Can seem a little bit scary big steep bankings with all these different color lines but what do they all mean well this very bottom bit of the track this is your safety zone this is where you will get on your bike and set off onto the track and often where officials and

Coaches will stand when you’re racing to give instructions then you have the light blue part of the track now this is called the coat ashore and this acts as an access point onto the actual track and as a little bit of a safety zone if

You do slip off the actual track you can hit the coach’s shore and not slip off whereas if you hit the safety zone is quite slippery after the painted surface of the coat du we’ve got this our main area of the track which is used for racing first up down

Here we’ve got the black line which is the datum line this is where the measurement is actually taken to get the distance of our velodrome so this is 250 meters further up here we’ve got the red line which is known as the sprinters line and then further up still we’ve got

The blue line referred to as the stayers line and that’s where you’ll quite often find bunch races going around and there’s a good point for people to ride around regularly on so you’re going to make your way out of the track center onto this safety zone the track and the

First thing you’re going to need to do is to check to your right to make sure there’s no riders already using this area otherwise you run the risk of crashing into them so on the safety zone you can go a brisk walking pace to get yourself comfortable and confident on

The bike before heading towards the coat du jour once you’ve got your bearings on the safety zone you can then move on to the cope du jour so you want to check if the track is clear just by a quick look over your shoulder to make sure you’re

Not going to collide with anybody then just simply ride onto the coach’s jaw in the straight and start building up your speed to around 15 miles per hour once you’ve built up enough speed on the cottager you can then start to make your way onto the main track and we’re going

To start off on the black line so you want to hit the black line in the straights try and just hold the black line for just a straight and then you can dip back down in the corner onto the coat to shore and then eventually as you

Build up more confidence you’ll be able to hold the black line all the way around the track once you’re confident in the black line you can then move up to the red line and the blue line and before you know it you’ll be riding right at the top of the track having a

Whale the time so you’ve been riding around on the track you’ve built your confidence up you’ve done lap after lap after lap but eventually you’re gonna tie yourself out and you’re gonna need to know how to get from the main part of the track down to the safety of the

Track center without causing any problems and having any stress whatsoever yeah well one thing not to do is don’t stop pedaling because it will not end well your back wheel will flip up in the air and you’re probably gonna crash so what you need to do let everybody know that you’re gonna

Come off the track have a look over your shoulder and start moving down the track you can slowly move down to the black line and then you want to reduce your pedaling reduce the pressure that you’re applying in the pedals and you’re going to slowly slow down once you’ve built

Down to around 15 miles per hour you can then move on to the coachella when you’re at the cote du jour you need to regulate your speed even further so you can allow yourself a lap or so just to regulate those speeds down to almost to that brisk walking pace that we were

Transitioning from the safety zone onto the coaches so it’s a case of reversing that process as always we’re moving on to the track moving off we tend to do it on the straights of the velodrome because that’s the safest place to do so to get from here on to the main safety

Zone the track a quick glance over your left shoulder to make sure it’s nice and safe when you’re at that walking pace you can move on the straight onto the main safety zone and make your way back into the track centre so there you have it there’s a little

Explainer on what to expect when you first go to a velodrome i hope you enjoyed this video if you have please do give it a big thumbs up and why not let us know in the comments section down below if this has inspired you to find

Your local velodrome and give track a go for the first time i really hope it has you’re gonna love it i’ve had a good time good i’m glad if you have enjoyed this video and you are interested in track cycling then make sure you check out the brand new track champions league

A new exciting format featuring five events across four countries starting on november the 6th in majorca you can catch all the action on gcm plus