Track cycling at Bellville velodrome, South Africa

Track cycling at Bellville velodrome, South Africa
Track cycling at Bellville velodrome, South Africa

Track cycling blog

Blog about the sport of track cycling where races are run on banked tracks or velodromes using fixed gear track bicycles.

Sunday 29 May 2011

Why track cycling?

Track cycling is fast paced and exciting. The riders pedal a fixed gear bike around tracks that are usually 250-333m in length. These bikes have no brakes and a fixed cog that allows no free wheeling and 100% pedalling :-)

The tracks have got embankments in the turns that allows the riders to keep a high speed around the corners. Racing on the track keeps the heart rate up since there are no down hills and because the bikes cannot free wheel.

Training on the track and especially inside a velodrome allows for controlled conditions where road conditions and traffic are removed from the equation. This allows for efficient training in a controlled environment.

Race meetings are fun since family, friends and supporters can follow all of the action as opposed to a road race where the riders set off only to return hours later. The various track cycling disciplines also allow spectators to see several races at one event.

It is fairly easy to get into the sport once one has signed up with a local development program or a local club that supports track cycling.

Ciao ciao

Jaco

What is TRACKCYCLINGSA about?

TRACKCYCLINGSA was founded more than 7 years ago as an online track cycling magazine. Since then TRACKCYCLINGSA has become involved in events, coaching and has also started a cycling club.

TRACKCYCLINGSA is based in the Western Cape, South Africa, but has an online following on Twitter, Facebook, www.trackcyclingsa.co.za and Blogger.