SheCycles.com Track Day at Newport Velodrome

Janet Birkmyre explains how to use the track properly

SheCycles readers benefited from an exclusive session with an experienced coach at Newport Velodrome last month. On 31st March we rented out Newport Track and a coach and took it over for a fun filled evening of riding, training and a spot of racing.

The session was led by top coach and velodrome manager, Courtney Rowe. Courtney's credentials are first rate and as if to underline that, one of his protégés, Katie Curtis, was making her senior World Championship debut in Palma de Mallorca actually while our session was taking place. She even text her result, a respectable 8th place, to Courtney while we were there!

The track itself is 250m around the bottom line, made of Siberian Pine and is steeply banked on the corners. When you first walk into track centre it is quite an intimidating view, with the bends rising at an angle of 46 degrees off the vertical at each end.

The session was split into two groups, so that while the first time track riders could get used to riding a fixed wheel bike around the inside of the track, while the more experienced riders rode the track to warm up.

The next step for the new comers was to get up on the track proper and after a few laps riding around on the un-banked wooden 'cote d'azur' at the bottom of the track, the group was led up onto the banked section of the track. After just a few laps the group was then taken up even further to the red line, approximately 18 inches from the bottom and once everyone was comfortable there it was time to swap over with the experienced group.

By the end of the session the first time track riders had advanced so quickly that they all rode a flying 200m TT. This is the seeding event for a sprint competition and is a highly technical exercise, that involves riding at the very top of the track and then dropping down, using gravity to build up speed, for the final 200m distance. The group also rode a team pursuit drill and a lap gaining exercise with the experienced riders.

Janet Birkmyre explains how to use the track properly

It is unusual to advance so quickly that these exercises can be safely incorporated with a new group, but Courtney inspired such confidence in the riders that they never hesitated to rise to the next challenge.

One of the first time riders commented 'the session was amazing, I never believed I could have so much fun riding indoors! Courtney was great, he made me feel very safe and gave me the confidence to ride on the track, when my first thought when I got here was that it was all a bit scary. I even got a good work out as well!'

If you would like to try track cycling yourself, SheCycles.com will be organising a session later in the year, but you can also contact Newport (easily the friendliest velodrome in the UK) direct at: