In a fresh twist to Wednesday nights, the Essex peloton made their way to the Olympic Velodrome last night.
Although we were there with an official Witham Cycling party, the 28 strong group comprised a fair number of MEMWNS stalwarts.
Myself, Tomsk, Tippers, Huggy, Danbury Dogger, GavinSSN, the Hustler, DL, OD, Jiberjaber, Bobb, the BFC and Oaky all managed to make our way to the velodrome, which is surprisingly hard to locate for such a unique building
When you arrive at any of the legacy facilities from 2012, you realise just how much money was spent and what incredible facilities they are. This one seems well enough used but it really is huge so it feels very empty. Another thing it has in common with other facilities is excellent coaches and unexpectedly decent kit.
Once we had all been kitted out with our track bikes, oohed and aahed about not having any brakes and moaned about Keo cleats, the coaches split us into two groups. This proved to be an excellent move as both groups had 15 minutes on and 15 minutes off the track, meaning that we all had a full hour of riding and plenty of time for briefings, recovery and water in between.
It was amazing to see how those of us who hadn't ridden the track before went from cycling round the blue flat section and looking nervously at the seemingly vertical banking to riding up and down the banking moving around in groups.
Of course, the usual suspects proved to be quick on the track. BFC and DL were their usually rapid selves but we also had some serious power being laid down by Tippers, JJ and OD. Then there were the riders who seemed to be able to go fast by riding smoothly and quickly; Tomsk, Bobb, DD, the Hustler and GavinSSN being prime examples of the art. The other noticeable thing was just how much difference having a wheel to follow made to the effort required. I seemed to be playing catch up to the fast guys a lot which became a bit self-fulfilling in the end as you lost energy being off the wheel which made it harder to get on the wheel. Most of the sessions seemed to start with tight groups working together before the groups splintered as the quicker riders moved up a gear. The 4 man pursuit exercise was a particular favourite in my group as it involved tempo riding followed by sprinting then more tempo riding and plenty of swooping in and out of groups.
The post-ride debriefing took place in the Cow in Westfield where we finally got our well-deserved Essex energy drinks. London Gold was awarded the prestigious Quaffers Choice for the evening.
Hopefully we can find another slot, possibly even trying our hand at becoming accredited track riders. We may also have recruited another couple of Wednesday night riders and Darth Oaky is hopeful that he can bring a few of our number over to the fixed side.
Thanks to Huggy for arranging everything. He looked very official with his clipboard and was possibly slightly disappointed when the bureaucracy that he had been expecting at reception turned out to be a relaxed and friendly welcome
We will now permit Huggy to spend some time finalising his new 200 before pressing him into service again for another session.