Tag: velodrome

No time for cycling and Six Day London

by Keane Ingram

I haven’t been for a proper bike ride since 14th September. I’ve been very busy with work and other things, and my legs haven’t been feeling good. I’m determined to start running but I seem to always push myself too far. I had managed a few 5k runs without any difficulty but halfway through a 7k run I pulled a calf muscle. I think I had started out too quickly so my calf tired more quickly. It didn’t help that I was in the middle of nowhere (at my Mum’s house) so had to limp all the way back home! I’m going to get a gait analysis and some decent running shoes soon so hopefully that will do the trick, I may also buy some calf guards.

I’ve got the Carrera TdF all ready for the winter, but the rear wheel is slightly buckled and needs truing. The last time I attempted this, a spoke snapped when I was miles from home, so I think I’ll get a shop to do it for me this time! I’ve not been well over the last week but I’m hoping next week will see some action on the bike.

Six Day London

Last night Nicky and I went to the first night of the Six Day London event at Lee Valley Velodrome. Unfortunately, Mark Cavendish had to pull out through injury, and I must admit to only knowing a few of the riders, but we had a great time. We’ve been three times and I think this was the best yet – the music has been toned down a bit and there were fewer gaps waiting for something to happen on track. We also had front row seats this time so Nicky got a few high-fives from the sprinters!

The view from our seat in the velodrome

Nicky also had a go on the roller bike races, they had to race over 250m to see who would get the fastest time. He was behind the entire race but managed to overtake just in the last few seconds!

There was some great racing on the track too, the first Madison saw far more attacks than usual and I think only one or two teams didn’t get a lap! Adam Blythe won the first derny race with a superb late effort, and the sprinter races were all lots of fun. We’ll definitely be back next year!

Six Day London

by Keane Ingram

Last week I took Nicky to see the first day of Six Day London at the Lee Valley VeloPark. I’d been looking forward to it for ages, and was excited to finally get a chance to see Cav and Wiggo in action after they both missed out on the 2014 Tour de France stage 3 for various reasons. I’d been keeping my fingers crossed that Cav came through the Abu Dhabi Tour and the World Road Championships without getting injured and thankfully he came through unscathed (although unluckily missed out on the rainbow jersey to Peter Sagan).

We got to the Olympic Park twenty minutes before the doors opened but there was already a massive queue:

Queue to get into the velodrome
Queue queue queue…

We didn’t get in until after six but they started with the junior Madison race and the elite men didn’t get started until around 7.30pm. We had some great seats at the top of the bottom tier, and it transpired that several in-crowd TV segments with OJ Borg and Rob Hayles were shot right next to us – Nicky was very excited to see himself on the big screens inside!

It did take a while to get the elite events properly going and it soon became clear that this was very much a home crowd – any time Cav or Wiggo made a move the crowd went wild! When they took a lap in the Madison Chase it was amazing, although Nicky was a little confused by the proceedings. He still enjoyed himself though.

Cav and Wiggo
Cav and Wiggo resplendent in their rainbow jerseys

It was a very enjoyable evening and on the way out Nicky was demanding that we try to get tickets for the remaining nights (they were all sold out though!) He definitely wants a go on the velodrome once he’s old enough, so for his 12th birthday we might both sign up for the starter session. The only criticism of the evening I’d have is perhaps the music, sometimes it was a bit too loud and we couldn’t hear the commentary. The sprinters were enjoyable and they did well in getting the crowd worked up, especially when one of the Rotherham brothers won an event.

I’d definitely go again, although I wonder if Cav will do it next year assuming that Wiggo does retire. It’d be good to see some other big names taking part too.

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