The London Olympic Velodrome just finished hosting the final round of the Track Cycling World Cup. This was one of many test events for the London Olympics, held in the run-up to this summer that tests venues as they come online.
Although we live within walking distance of the western edge of the Olympic complex, the site is still very much under construction, so to get to the Velodrome we had to take a bus to the opposite side of the site, in Stratford, walk through the new Westfield shopping centre [yeah, it's tacky that the transit hub and the Olympic site are linked via a shopping mall], enter the site near the aquatics centre, then take a shuttle bus to the velodrome.
The velodrome itself is fantastic. Seats around 6000. It's a 250m track that's getting good reviews from the cyclists, and seems to be very fast. I hadn't thought about it, but the track is kept warm and airflow is well managed, to the point of people manning double doorways for ingress and egress to avoid any errant airflow especially during timed events. It looks great on the outside and in.
Fun crowd and exciting racing. I'd never seen track cycling in person. The quality of competition was outstanding. Everyone wanted track time before the olympics. We didn't manage to get cycling tickets for the olympics, but anyone who did will not be disappointed.
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| Sir Chris easing around the track in the Individual Sprint quarterfinal. He went on to win gold. |
Looks very nice. The only other velodrome I've been to was IU's Bill Armstrong Stadium (built in 1981), 25 years ago, which doubles as an open air soccer stadium that seats 6500. Looks like London's greatly improved on that design.
ReplyDeleteLondon's new velodrome is just a stunning success. Looks great on the outside, wonderful on the inside, and all evidence suggest it functions perfectly as a competition venue.
ReplyDeleteThat IU velodrome is weird. Is it just a flat track around a soccer field?
London's track is finely crafted out of siberian pine, with a maximum bank angle of 42 degrees.
IN the Breaking Away movie (1979) they raced on a flat track. In the 1981 refurb, I think they banked the curves, but the straight aways were flat as best I remember them - it has been 25 years, so my memory is not as sharp.
ReplyDeletePerhaps IU alum can answer more succinctly? =)
I've seen some really cool velodromes around France (driven past them, or rode a train past them) but have not been in them.e
I can't be arsed to listen to the podcast I did in 2010, but is the Pringle (love that nickname for it) one of the venues that will be dismantled and moved elsewhere after this summer? I know that's true of some of the venues, just can't remember whether the velo is one of them.
ReplyDeleteAre you planning to stick around through this Summer's madness?
No, the pringle s permanent. Might become a yearly ritual to go (walk, in the future) to an event there.
ReplyDeleteI will be here for the madness! Have tickets to the first day of swimming, but failed in bds for other events. Family won't be around, though, since it bisects sumer hol.