Track cycling in Manchester 2011

World Cup Cycling - That's the chap on my cereal packet
Sir Chris Hoy getting ready

We headed off to the Manchester Velodrome for an exciting day out. We had bought Day Tickets for the opening day of the World Cup meeting some time ago. It only costs £11 to see an international sport that the UK is actually rather good at. The Velodrome is a great facility. It was originally built for the Commonwealth Games. There was a big free Car Park a short walk away and a nearby Asda to pick up a cheap lunch. Only blot on the horizon is the Man. City stadium. We were there for about 6 hrs which sounds a lot. However, there is not much dead time as there many different events and multiple heats. You can get up and walk around the outside of the track so plenty of opportunity to stretch the legs.
Bit of a blurr...
TW managed to pick out Sir Chris Hoy, 'that's the man on my cereal box'!  Saw a few of the other stars, Geraint Thomas, Ben Swift etc.  Having tried out track riding we have a slight idea about how difficult and dangerous this sport is. The speed is just amazing and they ride within a cigarette paper of each other. 
Some events, like the sprints, are first across the line, others are time critical.
Geraint Thomas
For the time critical events a Swiss chappie drags out a stand and a hydraulic release mechanism. They hold the rear wheel with an external brake until the start when they release, in this case, our man Geraint and another guy 180 degrees around the track. 
The centre of the track is a hive of activity with teams bikes being prepared, riders warming up on rollers and cooling down on road bikes.
Track centre is a hive of activity
 Will definitely go again, maybe London next time?

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