A new year and already things in my head are swirling around like bike racers rolling around a velodrome.  New years bring new starts? No?  If that is the case than I would like to put 2010 behind and perhaps forget about it.  It was an interesting year with extreme highs and extreme lows.  So,  with all the new thoughts swirling around my head I decided that my body needed to swirl around and around as well.

I have given great thought to get myself some time on a velodrome,  learn the ins and out of riding on a track.  When I lived back in Philly the Lehigh Valley Velodrome was just a bit to far for me to take advantage of.  The plans were always hatched but in the end things just never worked out – logistically it was to far, the beginner class was to early and on and on.  When we moved to Boulder at the end of 2009 I had a renewed interest in riding a velodrome especially with a indoor velo just a few miles away. I hatched another plan,  made a visit to the velo, watched in awe as riders whipped around on the super steep banks of the Boulder Indoor Cycling Velodrome.  I was frightened just standing there and watching as 8 second laps were thrown down at high speeds.  Just like anything new there is a sort of childish excitement that engulfs my body,  this anxious nervousness to wrap my head and brain around something new,  something fresh.  I think that is the buzz that I search for everyday whether it is from cycling, music, art, design, this unknown is what keeps me young. So,  with the newness and buzz of  the unknown my plan was falling together. I secured a bike from Cannondale and Caffeinated Cyclist,  I rode it around a bit and then I inquired about getting on the track only to be halted in my tracks by classes, certifications and calendar conflicts.  I understand the need for these things especially on such a small and fast track but regardless I ran out of steam and just as the excitement came it also went.  I can also loose interest very quickly.

Fast forward 1 year and a few personal connections later and some good timing and I was on my way to the BIC for my intro session.  My bike dusty and still in the shed,  no handlebars or pedals,  my track bike from a year ago was not to be on this day.  I arrived at BIC and got all the details ironed out in a nervousness I have not experienced in sometime.  The smell of the track,  the thundering sounds of the wood velo being used all made me giddy with excitement and I babbled like an idiot.  My friend and teammate Nick whom is a instructor there got me out this day and was to certify me and teach me the basics.  With no bike in tow I was at the mercy of the BIC‘s bike selection which was pretty decent and I choose the most basic steel Fuji to ride,  it is more my style – no frills, slightly tattered and far-from-anything-RAPHA that I could find.

I was scared.  I was scared for the people on the track and for Nick.  I felt as if I had never ridden a bike.

The velo intimidated me:
Construction: Wood
Overall Length: 142 meters
Maximum Banking (corners): 45 degrees<
Minimum Banking (straights): 16 degrees

We ran through some basics and rode around the apron, not knowing that in my past life I rode around Philly on a lame excuse for a hipster fixie that eventually got hit by a car as it was parked on the sidewalk. So, I was able to get going pretty quickly and within 10 minutes I was zipping around the track, white knuckled and scared stiff. It took a bunch of laps to relax a little bit and get into the flow.Nick jumped on the track with his buddy Walt and we rode a paceline at tempo and they ran over the details of pulling off and flowing around the track. It was nerve-wracking speeding around the track with a few others in tow, the laps were so fast and my head was swirling. After a dozen or so laps we exited the track and my head and body were a tad wobbly from going around in circles so many times but I was overwhelmed with excitement and for that moment everything was new and fresh.

I enter 2011 with something new to write about,  something fresh to hold onto for just a little bit as all the thoughts, dreams and plans for 2011 swirl around in my head.  I got bitten by the velo and I have now enrolled in an 8 week class,  I hope to attend every session and write more about this new experience.

Stick!