London Olympic velodrome accreditation

[zizou]

Just a heads up some of the details about cycling at the Olympic velodrome have been added to their website @ http://www.visitleevalley.org.uk/en/content/cms/london2012/velo-park/track/

Looks pretty steep to me at £30 for the taster session (by comparision it is £10/£11 in Glasgow and Manchester)

Bizarelly if you are an accredited rider at Manchester, Newport or Glasgow you've still got to go through the full accreditation process whereas if you are accredited at an outdoor velodrome like Herne Hill you can skip the first two and join the accreditation at stage 3.

 

[oldroadman]

Just a heads up some of the details about cycling at the Olympic velodrome have been added to their website @ http://www.visitleevalley.org.uk/en/content/cms/london2012/velo-park/track/

Looks pretty steep to me at £30 for the taster session (by comparision it is £10/£11 in Glasgow and Manchester)

Bizarelly if you are an accredited rider at Manchester, Newport or Glasgow you've still got to go through the full accreditation process whereas if you are accredited at an outdoor velodrome like Herne Hill you can skip the first two and join the accreditation at stage 3.

Most odd, Herne Hill is about as related to an indoor track as a dog is to an aeroplane.
A decent regular accredited rider from Manchester (for example) is likely to be a lot less of a risk than someone who has only ridden outdoors.
Then, take a look at the price list, someone can't even spell DERNY correctly!
Note too that the Oltmpic track s a slightly different design to some of the others, longer straights and tighter turns, not that that should make much difference to any half-competent rider who is used to indoor tracks.
I smell the smell of insurance companies in the background.

 

[dan_bo]

[QUOTEI smell the smell of insurance companies in the background.][/QUOTE]

I smell the smell of British Cycling not having its shoot together on this one.

 

[oldroadman]

[QUOTEI smell the smell of insurance companies in the background.]

I smell the smell of British Cycling not having its s*** together on this one.[/quote]
How so? BC does not run the velodromes. All are run by independent trusts or authorities, and they are able to set what rules they wish. Although I agree a nudge to point out the obvious (it's not only London that has tracks!!) might help.

 

[bianchi1]

You don't need to be 'accredited' to ride at Nemport. You only need it if you are riding the track league or taking part in the structured training session.

The drop is sessions are available if you are comfortable and competent riding on the track. The coach (and the other riders) will soon make it clear if they feel you are unsafe.

That said, simply getting on the track as a beginner is almost impossible. The best option seems to be hire the venue as club/group and split the cost. Not sure how expensive that's going to be in that there london!

 

[dan_bo]

I smell the smell of British Cycling not having its s*** together on this one.

How so? BC does not run the velodromes. All are run by independent trusts or authorities, and they are able to set what rules they wish. Although I agree a nudge to point out the obvious (it's not only London that has tracks!!) might help.[/quote]


Furry snuff.

 

[jdtate101]

You don't need to be 'accredited' to ride at Newport. You only need it if you are riding the track league or taking part in the structured training session.

The drop is sessions are available if you are comfortable and competent riding on the track. The coach (and the other riders) will soon make it clear if they feel you are unsafe.

That said, simply getting on the track as a beginner is almost impossible. The best option seems to be hire the venue as club/group and split the cost. Not sure how expensive that's going to be in that there london!

We did exactly that. 6x 3hr session with coach £15 each one as long as we had a minimum of 20 people attend (Newport). Bike hire another £7.50. We did have to book 6 months in advance and they have just performed a landgrab whereby BC wanted the track for one of our booked sessions so we got bumped off. Apparently because the track was part funded through BC and lottery funds they can run roughshod over people's bookings. Not impressed.

 

[HF2300]

I just had a look at Calshot, being nearest to me, and that seems relatively dear as well - £28 for the equivalent of a taster session (though it is 90 minutes), then £48 for the improver session, though oddly it drops after that if you progress