Track Cycling (Not Wine) On My Mind In Bordeaux
http://www.byjamesraia.com/articles/35/1/Track-Cycling-Not-Wine-On-My-Mind-In-Bordeaux/Page1.html
By James Raia
Published on 06/21/2007
We're in the thick of the 2006 Tour de France now and I've got track cycling on my mind.
While the cyclists are approaching Dax, it's a good time reflect on the Bordeuax Stadium. It's where the press room was located yesterday during the race's first rest day. It's the same location used in past years when the Tour has visited Bordeaux — one of the Tour's seven original cities.
The track, located near a lake in an industrial area on the outskirts of Bordeaux, was the site of the track cycling World Championships last April. It's also the site where unique cycling records like the one-hour mark have been set through the years.
We're in the thick of the 2006 Tour de France now and I've got track cycling on my mind.While the cyclists are approaching Dax, it's a good time reflect on the Bordeuax Stadium. It's where the press room was located yesterday during the race's first rest day. It's the same location used in past years when the Tour has visited Bordeaux — one of the Tour's seven original cities.
The track, located near a lake in an industrial area on the outskirts of Bordeaux, was the site of the track cycling World Championships last April. It's also the site where unique cycling records like the one-hour mark have been set through the years.
(This article was originally published on Active.com during the 2006 Tour de France.)
BORDEAUX, France — We're in the thick of the Tour de France now and I've got track cycling on my mind.
While the cyclists are approaching Dax, it's a good time reflect on the Bordeuax Stadium. It's where the press room was located yesterday during the race's first rest day. It's the same location used in past years when the Tour has visited Bordeaux — one of the Tour's seven original cities.
The track, located near a lake in an industrial area on the outskirts of Bordeaux, was the site of the track cycling World Championships last April. It's also the site where unique cycling records like the one-hour mark have been set through the years.
When you walk into the track from a long tunnel, a wooden sign lists the various track records and the names of many cycling greats —Tony Rominger to Felicia Ballanger.
During the rest day, the media chairs were set up on the infield of the track and there were track bikes available in case reporters wanted to take a spin around the banked track. I remember taking a few laps around the facility the last time the Tour stopped in Bordeaux. I pedaled for about five laps in the lane nearest the infield, where there's no incline. Just as the bike came to a stop, I fell and it hurt like hell.
I mention all of this because I've often thought track cycling would be a great spectator sport in the United States. There's nothing more popular in the U.S. than NASCAR racing, right? It's a simple sport, really. Cars traveling at high speeds in circles. There are tactics and crashes.
Of course, NASCAR enthusiasts will say there's a lot more to the sport, but it does have similarities to track cycling. Riders travel at high speeds with tactics and crashes.
Since I began covering cycling about 25 years ago, the track worlds have been held in the U.S. twice, at the outdoor velodrome in Colorada Springs, Colo., in 1986 and in 2005 at the velodrome at California State University, Dominguez Hills, in Carson, Calif.
Twenty years ago, the track worlds were part of a month of cycling nirvana. The Coors International Bicycle Classic was in its heyday then. The race was 18 days or so and ended in Colorado. There was a one-day break and then 10 or 11 days of the World Championships, road and track. The track racing was ideal, replete with "track stands," explosive speeds, smart strategies and, yes, dynamic crashes.
Twenty years later, the event in Southern California just wasn't the same. Roger Young, the long-time track cycling entrepreneur, organized the event with USA Cycling and the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale). Track "junkies" attended the event, but overall it was poorly marketed, attendance wasn't great and media interest was marginal, with the exception of international journalists.
It's a shame really. Track cycling was vastly popular in the U.S. in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A new book, The Six-Day Bicycle Races: America's Jazz-Age Sport, has just been published. It's written by a long-time journalist acquaintance, Peter Nye. The book arrived just before I left for Tour and I haven't yet begun to read it.
But as a journalist and author, Nye has forgotten more about cycling than I'll ever know. The book details stories of many great pioneering riders of yesteryear and their exploits on various velodromes.
There aren't very many velodromes left in the U.S. The most well-known facility is likely in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania.
But if you have a chance and you're visiting an area with a track, take in a local race, whether it's in Pennsylvania or Bordeaux.
BORDEAUX, France — We're in the thick of the Tour de France now and I've got track cycling on my mind.
While the cyclists are approaching Dax, it's a good time reflect on the Bordeuax Stadium. It's where the press room was located yesterday during the race's first rest day. It's the same location used in past years when the Tour has visited Bordeaux — one of the Tour's seven original cities.
The track, located near a lake in an industrial area on the outskirts of Bordeaux, was the site of the track cycling World Championships last April. It's also the site where unique cycling records like the one-hour mark have been set through the years.When you walk into the track from a long tunnel, a wooden sign lists the various track records and the names of many cycling greats —Tony Rominger to Felicia Ballanger.
During the rest day, the media chairs were set up on the infield of the track and there were track bikes available in case reporters wanted to take a spin around the banked track. I remember taking a few laps around the facility the last time the Tour stopped in Bordeaux. I pedaled for about five laps in the lane nearest the infield, where there's no incline. Just as the bike came to a stop, I fell and it hurt like hell.
I mention all of this because I've often thought track cycling would be a great spectator sport in the United States. There's nothing more popular in the U.S. than NASCAR racing, right? It's a simple sport, really. Cars traveling at high speeds in circles. There are tactics and crashes.
Of course, NASCAR enthusiasts will say there's a lot more to the sport, but it does have similarities to track cycling. Riders travel at high speeds with tactics and crashes.
Since I began covering cycling about 25 years ago, the track worlds have been held in the U.S. twice, at the outdoor velodrome in Colorada Springs, Colo., in 1986 and in 2005 at the velodrome at California State University, Dominguez Hills, in Carson, Calif.
Twenty years ago, the track worlds were part of a month of cycling nirvana. The Coors International Bicycle Classic was in its heyday then. The race was 18 days or so and ended in Colorado. There was a one-day break and then 10 or 11 days of the World Championships, road and track. The track racing was ideal, replete with "track stands," explosive speeds, smart strategies and, yes, dynamic crashes.
Twenty years later, the event in Southern California just wasn't the same. Roger Young, the long-time track cycling entrepreneur, organized the event with USA Cycling and the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale). Track "junkies" attended the event, but overall it was poorly marketed, attendance wasn't great and media interest was marginal, with the exception of international journalists.
It's a shame really. Track cycling was vastly popular in the U.S. in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A new book, The Six-Day Bicycle Races: America's Jazz-Age Sport, has just been published. It's written by a long-time journalist acquaintance, Peter Nye. The book arrived just before I left for Tour and I haven't yet begun to read it.
But as a journalist and author, Nye has forgotten more about cycling than I'll ever know. The book details stories of many great pioneering riders of yesteryear and their exploits on various velodromes.
There aren't very many velodromes left in the U.S. The most well-known facility is likely in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania.
But if you have a chance and you're visiting an area with a track, take in a local race, whether it's in Pennsylvania or Bordeaux.