My First Ride at the Velodrome

Three riders on the track during a pursuit drill, while another uses the warmup loop in the foreground.

I can’t believe it has taken me this long to take advantage of an amazing cycling facility right here in the bay area. Hellyer Park Velodrome is only about 65 miles from my front door, and it’s been there waiting for nearly my entire life. Last weekend, friend and teammate, Jeff Kato and I found out how fun and easy it is to get access to this track. We participated in a beginners’ session (the first of 3 required for any new rider). The idea to go was spawned by our teammate Fred Proudman, who races on this track every week. At a recent team meeting, he encouraged us to come try out track riding. He offered to come along, ride the session, and give extra advice. $6 to park, $5 for the session, and $5 to rent a bike = $16. The class runs about three hours. This is amazing value! Bring your pedals, shoes, helmet, and be ready to pay attention.

About Hellyer Park Velodrome and the Northern California Velodrome Association 

http://www.ridethetrack.com

from the website:

The Hellyer County Park Velodrome was built in 1963 for an original investment of $25,000. Located in Hellyer County Park in San Jose, the velodrome is part of the Hellyer Park and the Coyote Creek Parkway; a 354-acre urban park in the heart of Santa Clara County’s regional park system. Today, Hellyer stands as the only velodrome in existence within Northern California.

Since opening, Hellyer has hosted a number of National cycling events including the 1972 US Olympic Bicycling Trials, Madison Race National Championships and several Master’s and Junior championships.

• Size: 335 meters

• Banking: 23 degrees

• Material: Concrete track, wood railing

• Seating: Stadium style for up to 200 people

• Only existing bicycle velodrome track in Northern CA today

• Built in 1963 for the Pan Am Games

• Hosted 1972 US Olympic Bicycling Trials and Madison Race National Championships

• Anyone over 9 years old is invited to learn and train at Hellyer

• Junior’s typically race for FREE

• World,-ranked nationally-ranked and Olympic athletes including 3-time Tour De France winner Greg Lemond, US Olympian GiddeonMassie, Ben Jacques-Maynes, and Shelley Olds and have all raced at Hellyer over the years

• Beginner Saturday AM session available year round

• Juniors (under 18) train, rent bikes and get coaching for FREE

• $5 fee + $5 bike rental for adults

• Additional Intermediate, Advanced and women’s training sessions available

• Spectating is FREE

• Racing starts in April and runs through August

• Novice to Elite racing available

• California Non-profit organization

• Dedicated to developing athletes in the community

• FREE programs for juniors (under 18)

• Working in partnership with the Santa Clara County Parks Recreation Department

Details from the website on the beginners’ sessions

When: 8:30-11:30a. The session will begin at 9:00a.

No rentals after 9:00a.

Who: For Beginner and Novice Riders

What: Instruction on Safety, Fixed Gear Riding, Velodrome Racing, and lots of practice and exercise.

Why: Because to ride the track you need to learn to ride safely — it’s a lot of fun when you know the basics.

What to Bring: Waiver, helmet, warm clothing, a snack, water, sunscreen. If you use clipless pedals and shoes, you may swap those out on the rental bike (all rentals have flat pedals with cages). If you have a track bike bring that also.

Cost: $5 Adults (Season Pass not Applicable), $0 Juniors

Bike Rental: $5 Adults, $0 Juniors. Rental bikes are distributed on a “first come, first served” basis. Be there at 8:30 AM for best rental bike selection.

Parking: $6 (Paid at park’s entrance)

NOTE: No gear, wheel or other changes allowed on rental bikes

Required: County of Santa Clara Park & Rec & NCVA Waiver. Must be on-file or handed in at each session.

Weather: Rain or wet track cancels the sessions.

Questions: email Elizabeth Hernandez-Jones bess29@gmail.com

Bob (right) during instruction. A county park ranger (left) treated a rider's scrape after a fall on the track. There was only one minor crash at the session.

About the instructor and volunteers

With impressive patience, Bob Cronin single-handedly wrangled the 30-plus session participants, many were first-timers like me. He expedited registration and at least twenty track bike rentals. Then he instructed the session. Several other experienced track riders volunteered to provide guidance during drills.

About the participants

There were at least thirty riders on the track for this session. A handful were velodrome regulars with enough experience that they were great assets to Bob, while running drills and they made themselves available for advice. It looked like there were a dozen or so first-timers like me among the crowd. Ages seemed to range from 11-ish to 55-ish.

My whip for the day, a steel Fuji with clinchers. The 80-inch gear felt like a good choice for the low speeds of these beginners' sessions.

About the rental bikes

You’re on your own, switching out your pedals and setting up your fit on these (mostly inexpensive Fuji) rental track bikes. I keep my key fit measurements on my mobile phone, and I brought my own wrenches along with my pedals. My bike had a slack chain and loose rear bearing cones, which Fred remedied quickly for me. The bike itself rode nicely.

Fred Proudman (left) sharing what he knows with Jeff Kato (right). I should be paying attention.

A little about Fred

Fred Proudman is an amazing teammate. In fact he’ll be in the peloton with us at our next M45 race this weekend, even though he's nearly ten years my senior (we're both racing down in age). Currently he races at the velodrome every week. A month ago he scored a silver and a bronze medal at the district championships in the points race and the scratch race. At a recent team meeting, Fred mentioned this while encouraging us to contact him if we were interested in riding on the track. I knew at least one teammate from my town would love this, so we picked a date and contacted Fred, who graciously met us at the track and rode the session. When there were breaks, we grilled Fred for more tips.

I may have some of Fred's history wrong, but as I understand it, circa 1970, a (roughly 20-year-old) Fred Proudman collided with a semi-truck while training to qualify for the 1972 US Olympic Cycling team. Recovering from injuries, he moved to Europe, where he was picked up by a French (pro/amateir) team. He notes that his new French team managers and coaches accepted more accountability for developing skills of their riders than he experienced in the states. Therefore, with good coaching, he progressed rapidly, becoming a key member of the team in many stage races. I'm sure he'll scold me for blabbering, but I'm impressed and I'm likely omitting many details. But every time we talk, I learn a new chapter of his cycling career. He has several “racing with Hinault stories” that I have yet to pry out of him.

About the session

I’ve ridden fixed now and then over the past 3 years, but never on the track. I fully expected riding on the track would be like no other cycling I’ve ever done, so I came prepared to pay attention and respect to the etiquette of this new place to ride. The banking of the turns in velodromes corresponds to the length of the lap. Not all velodromes are equal in size. This one is about 335 meters (3 laps per kilometer), with banking of 23 degrees. When I saw it on this morning for the first time, the banking looked steep. I was glad the surface was concrete so the tires would grip at the slow speeds we were sure to ride at during this session.

Today there was a big group with wide-ranging levels of riding skills–from super-sketchy-squirrels to super-smooth intermediates. Some had never ridden a bike with fixed gearing. Bob gave a brief introduction to some essential rules of conduct, plus some explanation of what the different lines on the track surface represented. Then he told us to mount up and ride single file, getting used to the fixed gearing (and each other). We rode 35 laps at an easy 15mph-ish pace, which seemed to give everyone a good feel for the track.

There was some more instruction, then a “ribbon drill”. The big group was split in two, then led by experienced volunteers who took our lines up and down the banking as we rode around the track.

Next came a three-person, flying 100-meter sprint drill. 

The highlight for me was the final drill: two 3-person teams doing six lap pursuits. Experienced track riders will scoff at my "lingo" I know. Each team started from the rail (an actual handrail on the upper perimeter of the track–riders are clipped-into the pedals, ready to roll) doing exchanges (front rider pulling up-track, then dropping back down, onto the rear) every half lap. The goal is to catch the other team. For us roadies, just picture a 3-person pace line. I was lucky to be on a team with riders who had been to a few sessions before, and also happened to be quite fit. Jeff was on the other team, with two experienced track riders. My team actually gained on theirs during the first 4 laps, but by lap six, it was even. This drill was fun because we got to put everything we’d learned together, and we were actually racing for a short time. I learned that it was taking me longer to get back on after pulling up-track, because I wasn’t going high enough up the banking, scrubbing off enough speed. If you pull a little more up-track, your speed drops sooner due to gravity, then your teammates slip ahead sooner, so you can drop back down behind the last wheel. The faster the exchange, the more efficient, because you get back out of the wind.

What next?

Most track newbies start at cat 5 (there are some adjustments for allowing cat2 and above roadies to start higher than track cat 5). Before you’re allowed to race on this velodrome, you need to successfully complete three of these beginners’ sessions. Then you’ll be eligible to race in cat 5 track events. The more you race, you’ll work your way through the upgrade process. But the rental bikes aren’t available for racers (except by pre-arrangement for out of town travelers–another great component of velodrome riding, because if you travel for work or vacation, to an area with a velodrome, you can arrange some training time on one of their rental bikes). So in order to do your first race, you need a track bike. I’m not sure how far I’ll take this, since I can’t afford to buy another bike. I was just excited to try it once. I’m really glad Fred encouraged us to go. For now I’ll at least plan to complete the remaining two beginners’ sessions, then see what transpires. If they say my converted Raleigh with fixed gearing is ok to use on the track, maybe I can at least use it for some cat 5 races.