Saturday 29 March 2008

TRACK

" I believe that children are our future,
teach them well and let them lead the way" *




I can see the headline now. Dad of four in midweek night out shocker.
Alan phoned me Thursday morning ,did I fancy a night out in Manchester,type thing.Velodrome,world champs.

We got there about 7.00 after a bit of multi lingual car park faffery.I couldnt understand it ,but it only took half an hour to get to the other side of manchester instead of the usual day and a half.Anyway ,straight in ,last ones there as usual ,sat down ,starters orders ,GO ! ,British mens team sprint,gold medal.World record.How good's that?We'd only been in 5 mins.
More of the same was to follow.Rebecca Romero beat some yank bird in the individual thing pursuit final. Gold.Shanaze Reade led out Vicky Pendleton to take the win in the womens team sprint.Gold. In between all that there was some excellent racing with the crowd really getting behind the riders to create a brilliant atmosphere.


Shanaze ,3rd left has done brilliant.I remember her as a kid( she still is a kid) at Crewe BMX,struggling to even get a bike.She was blowing them away on a borrowed bike.With spades of determination and no doubt some natural abilityand some support she has turned into a genuine world champion cyclist.It makes you proud.

All in all a good night. The riders make it look easy.Too easy. After having had a go I can assure you it is most definitely not. Not just in terms of fitness. It's those stupid short fixed wheel brakeless tall geared bikes.bonkers . When I had a go it took me 2k to stop one. A dozen of us booked out the entire place one evening .Bike hire ,all the kit, some good coaching ,2+ hrs ,£20quid each.Give it a whirl if you can.Go and watch ,that's good too.

* Oh come on !

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