People who haven't ridden on or watched a race at a velodrome don't know what they are missing. Last year when the PFWs trip got rained out I started thinking about doing a trip out there and finally got one together this weekend sort of. Unfortunately the only people who could join me was Jack and Dorthy. Jack wanted to see the races this past because it was Tandemonium. Tandem bikes are not really that interesting to me but racing tandems going around a track, COOL, I'm in. A tandem bike breaking into pieces was an added bonus but I'll get to that later.
Since the races were Friday night we decided to go out on Friday morning and do a ride before the race. Luckily when we got there there were only a couple of riders on the track. One of the good things about the Trexlertown Velodrome is that it is open to the public and as long as there is no racing or training going on you can ride on the track. While the the riders finished a few laps on the track Jack and I road on the apron to warm up. Once the guys were off the track Jack and I went up the backing onto the track. Trexlertown has 28 degree banking in the corners and 12 degree on the straight aways. It is both an odd and cool feeling riding around a banked track where your bike is not perpendicular to the ground. The banking does make it easier to go fast, as I averaged 18.8 mph for the laps and I wasn't really trying to go fast but when your on the track you just feel like cranking. The coolest thing to do on the track is to ride high into the first corner then dive done the track in the second corner and try to stay as far down on the track as possible which isn't easy. The G forces try to push you up the wall of the track so you have to work hard to stay low.
The track is 333 meters in length so a spin around the oval is about a fifth of a mile. My fastest time around the track was about 38 seconds which is about 20 miles an hour. I'm sure I could do a little better if I tried but the racers do it in the low 20 second range which is close to 35 mph. I'll never get close to that.
After about 15 mins on the track we headed out for a real ride. Jack had suggested the doughnut derby ride. This is the bike event the Lehigh Valley Wheelmen put on every Labor Day. Although it is more a ride than a race they do measure the time it takes for each person to finish the ride and the winner is the person with the best time. A rider can reduce their total time by each doughnut they consume. The doughnut derby route is a nice route through the usual Pennsylvania farmland with quiet roads, a few rolling hills and some good scenery.
The only problem with the ride was that we had a nasty 15-20 mph head wind for the first half of the ride. It was also close to 90 degrees since it was the middle of the day. I was a beat by the end of the 37 mile ride.
We had a couple of hours break after the ride as we checked into the hotel and cleaned up to go to the race. I did not know what the expect for the Trexlertown races since I hadn't been to them before. I have watched the track cycling during the Olympics so understood some of the types of racing I would see. Although it was Tademonium night there was a mix of Tandem and single bike races. The first type of races were sprints where two bikes compete against each other with the winner going on to the next round.
These women kicked ass and left their competitors in the dust. Its hard to convey the power and speed of these riders. It was something to see. There were other types of races like scratch races where all the riders would go around the track and each lap the slowest person had the leave the track until only 3 were left and then they would all sprint one more lap to determine the winner.
There were a few interesting tandem bikes there like this one.
We sat in the grandstands and had a good view of the track. Here is the mass start of one of the women's races. They actually all grab the wall and then push off when they hear the gun.
Racing is a lot more than raw power. There is a lot or strategy involved. Most of the race is sizing up other riders and getting into the right position for the last lap.
This women timed her breakaway perfecting and ran away from the race even thought she may have not been the fastest.
It was her first win. There was an announcer explaining the races and doing interview with the winners.
Even though there was a lot of close racing there were no accidents until close to the end when one of the tandem's front wheel clipped the back wheel of the bike they were chasing.
The bike went down and pieces went flying. Both riders eventually got up but I'm not sure if the bike will every race again.
Not sure if there are any cracks in the frame but it definitely needs a new fork and front wheel.
The night was a series of short quick races so the two and half hours of races went by pretty quickly. It is definitely something I would do again.
The next day Jack and I did another ride in the area. Since we started early it was much cooler and there wasn't much wind. This ride was a little hillier. There was only one steep hill but it was short which was good because I had my Feather which isn't geared for steep climbs.
Once we climbed the hill we had some good views of the valley and had some long gentle downhills.
We also found a covered bridge along the way.
There were plenty of cows along the way so I had to take a picture of some of them for Laura.
There was a lot more trees along this route as well as a lot of small rivers and streams so it was a very enjoyable and scenic ride. There are a lot of other roads and routes that would be fun to do and since this area is only about a hour and a half away I can see doing a few more trips out here. Hopefully I can get a few more people to join me next time.
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