Four go round at Herne Hill

When Adrian offered a chance to ride at Herne Hill velodrome in his newsletter recently, I jumped to my email keyboard and so found myself along with Andrew Saunders, Wolfgang Dotzek and Peter Tootill on a cool but dry Sunday lunchtime heading to south London.

A club booking by East Grinstead CC was generously extended to include a couple of riders from Oxted plus the Redhill four.

Finding the velodrome is tricky. It is tucked behind fine Victorian villas with only a narrow and barely signposted entrance. Built in 1891, it has been recently resurfaced and a new grandstand is being constructed. The track is 450m long, with banking which is 30 degrees at its steepest.

Track bikes were available for use and after swapping the pedals for our favourite clip-ins, we were out on the track for familiarisation with a fixie, which was a novelty for several of us. Stopping proved problematic!

A coach put us through some practice laps progressing up the banking, and then trying a chain gang but using the banking to return from the front to the back.

After a break, the racing started. First, a team elimination. Just like the Olympics, only slower! Changing leader every half lap, we got the transitions working well but a strong EGCC team had the better of us by a modest distance.

Finally, an Australian pursuit where we were started at intervals and had to catch the rider in front. A mixed bag for the RCC riders, with myself fourth from last to be eliminated (by Peter) who was next to fall to the youthful eventual winner.

A most enjoyable new experience for us all and thanks to EGCC for giving us the opportunity to join in the fun

Julian Hemsted

Event / Article Type
Herne Hill Track session
The gang take to the track at Herne Hill