Wheels, Pedals, Person

Last night I was at the new Olympic Velodrome to see the qualifying for the women's and men's team pursuit for the UCI Track Cycling World Cup. It's fair to say I was pretty excitied!

About a week beforehand I got an email instructing me that bicycles were not allowed onto the Olympic Park which I thought was a bit odd at the time. Although it was really me living in some kind of dream-world where you can cycle to the velodrome, lock your bike outside and go in to watch the cycling. Should have realised that you need to go through the huge security theatre before even getting onto the park. So we were all corralled into a large queue and lead through security looking more like Heathrow Airport than a sports event! Though the staff were all pretty nice, maybe lacking the jaded, misanthropic view of many airport security staff.

So after security we were corralled again and shoved onto a fleet of assorted buses and driven the few hundred meters to the velodrome. This took about ten minutes and the entire time we passed through what can only be described as post-apocalyptic corporate hospitality. There really is a huge amount of work still to be done, but sure in 5 months it'll be done.

So we arrived at the velodrome (after an hour from the main gate) to see a truly spectacular building!

The surroundings may seem sterile but the building itself is really warm and a lovely shape! Walking in, you're imediately given a spectacular view of the track! As I arrived the place was buzzing with the US women's team on the track.

The view is almost overwhelming when you first arrive and try to find your seat and surprisingly warm, of course to keep the track at 28 degrees for perfect track-speeds!

The best part of being at a live event is being able to see the teams warming-up and warming-down, the mechanics working on the bikes and the general organised chaos of the infield.

There was also regular interviews from the riders and team members which was broadcast on the main screen. Even Boris Johnson showed his face although I suspect he did hear the booing from the crowd. You also get to watch the teams prepare for their starts.

It's fair to say I would love to have a few runs around the track, and I tweeted about that during the event which ended up on the huge screen track-side.

Both Team GB women and men had the most amazing runs and the crowd definitely tested the integrity of the roof! According to the riders it was a "like a constant wall of noise"! GB men were running 13th and managed to beat all previous times by some 8 seconds coming only second to Australia who ran after them. So, both GB women and men in the gold medal race!

The velodrome is apparently the most sustainable venue and it's such a lovely design! I'm really hoping that it continues to be used, after the Olympics, to help get more people into cycling. It's such a great facility...here's hoping!