Old Olympic Track Continues To Provide For School Pupils
News Posted 3rd November 2008
After successful Physical Education School Sport Club Link (PESSCL) sessions at the Priory School in Bromley, London. The London Go-Ride Coach Ric Jamieson took the young riders from year 7 to the Herne Hill stadium for a day of track skills. The summer weather didn’t play ball so 2 sessions planned before the summer break had to be cancelled because this stadium which is a legacy of the 1948 London Olympic Games is a 450 outdoor velodrome. Unfortunately, unlike the indoor velodromes at Newport, Calshot and Manchester, when it rains it is unsafe to use the facility meaning the Priory pupils had to wait a little longer to be let loose on the track of this remarkable velodorome. This was a blow to the Go-Ride Team because the coaches work hard during the brief PESSCL visits to inspire young people to take up the sport and directing them to a local facility is a vital aspect of ensuring that they then stay in the sport. Thankfully, early autumn weather proved to be a lot kinder. With a dry track on arrival and a good forecast, everything was set for a good day and with 22 pupils attending the bad weather had not resulted in the riders forgetting about the fun they had during the PESSCL sessions. The students who were now year 8 pupils attended the day along with one teacher. After an initial introduction to track racing and a brief history of Herne Hill, the pupils were given bikes and helmets and then lead out to the track.
All had watched the enormous success of the GB squad in Beijing and knowing that a certain Mr Wiggins had ‘cut his track teeth’ here spurred them on as they were challenged in refining the basics of track racing. Riders were taught how to hold the fence and how to set off safely and correctly before completing laps at the various levels of the track, datum line sprinters line and then stayers’ line. One of the big challenges was using the whole track. Initially there was some concern about riding along the top of the track and the youngsters stayed on the datum (black) line. The banking has the same gradient all the way up; therefore if you are able to ride at the bottom you can ride at the top. After reassuring the riders of this fact all riders completed laps close to the fence. Now that the youngsters could ride safely on the track at various levels and in large groups, the next challenge was to learn the skills that enable them to race. These came after an important rest for lunch with everyone pleased of a rest and some refuelling!
The hard aspect of track racing is learning the skills required to be successful. However learning these skills is really fun and challenging. It is what keeps thousands of people coming back to the tracks around the country week after week. The Go-Ride Coach was confident that with their new awareness of track riding the young riders was capable of riding a flying 200 and a Scratch race. Therefore, the afternoon session exposed the riders to both the sprint and endurance aspects of the track and meant that they had the chance to attack the times set by Chris Hoy and emulate the fantastic rides of Chris Newton in the bunch races. Realistically the records of these Olympians were never going to be broken but that didn’t stop them from trying, and they all have new Personal Bests that can be challenged at every subsequent visit to the track. These races were the ideal way to introduce the new riders to racing on the track because they require a small extension of the safety techniques learnt in the morning.
The young riders had all been proficient at those and so their confidence quickly grew. For example the flying 200 required a rider to ride around on the top of the banking just like in the morning session. Then winding up the pace they check the track is clear and dive down the banking, using the free speed of the slope to propel them. Next time these Priory pupils attend the track they will begin to expand on these basic skills with techniques such as bunch positioning and pursuiting.
The track riding was followed by Q&A and the presentations. The mini bus returning the Priory students to school was a little late so the day was rounded off with a Derny exhibition by Alastair Findlay who is also a Go-Ride Coach and gave a glimpse of what the young riders could progress too with more time spent staying involved in Go-Ride sessions.
