Most soccer fans will never kick a ball at Wembley; most baseball lovers will never swing a bat in Yankee Stadium. But any keen cyclist can ride the roads of the Tour de France, and can also experience the unique buzz of riding the banked track of a top velodrome where Olympic medals may have been decided.
Velodromes - purpose-built banked cycling tracks - can be found in many cities around the world. Any city that has hosted an Olympics, or other major multi-sport championship, is almost certain to have one. All, of course, welcome spectators to their racing events and many also have introductory training for novices; all you need is to be able to ride a bike. Read a blog entry about just such an experience.
The majority of velodromes are outdoors and may have concrete, asphalt or wooden riding surface. Most of the top-ranked competition velodromes are indoors and normally have wooden tracks, which are still reckoned to be fastest. Where the climate is suitable, outdoor velodromes can also be world-class, like the short-lived 1996 Olympic Velodrome at Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta, Georgia.
In the UK there are nearly 20 velodromes in current use, but only two full-size indoor tracks, the National Cycling Centre in Manchester (website currently unavailable) and Newport in South Wales. Both welcome novices to introductory sessions and Manchester in particular regularly hosts world-class racing. A third is to be built in Stratford in London before the 2012 Olympics. There are also plans for a velodrome in Glasgow.
Bike-mad nations like France, Italy, Belgium and Spain naturally have numerous velodromes but Germany probably leads the field with at least half a dozen indoor tracks.
Australia probably has more velodromes per head of population than anywhere else, with at least one in every major city (there are three in Melbourne). Most are outdoors, but with their climate that’s not a problem.
Japan, where Keirin racing is hugely popular, has dozens of velodromes, most of them indoors.
Canada has a good spread of tracks with notable venues being at Burnaby, BC and London, Ontario, (Forest City Velodrome).
The United States has many more velodromes than most people realise including a state-of-the-art facility at ADT Event Center Velodrome in Carson, California. This hosts introductory classes, as do the following (all of which are outdoors):
National Sports Center, Blaine, Minnesota;
Superdrome, Frisco, Texas;
Marymoor Park Velodrome, Redmond, Washington;
San Diego Velodrome, San Diego, California.
These are just a small selection. Probably the most com,plete listing of velodromes around the world is at www.bikecult.com
