Velodrome cycling is very very dull..........yes or no ?

[Coffee Snob]

What do you think ?

In my opinion it bores me rigid so im saying a firm YES

[mattc]

Nope.

In fact its possibly the best format of bike-racing for spectating.*

(I'm assuming you mean as a spectator - if not,  youll have to wait about 3 weeks for my answer ... )

*except the madison on telly.

[Coffee Snob]

Round and round and r zzzz-zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Ian H]

It's a fun way to turn your lungs inside-out.

[hubner]

For watching, I think you have to be there to watch it properly.

On TV, the madison is unwatchable, so is the points race, in the sense you can't follow what's going on.

But I think the pursuits have to be the most boring races, they're just like robots going round and round. Time trails are boring as well, to watch.

The best to watch, live and on telly, are the shorter events like the sprint and kilo.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

CS, you are a philistine. Track is the purest form of cycle racing.

The problem is the same as for porn films. It is much more fun to participate than to watch.

[Basil]

Never been to a live event.  If I do watch on the telly, which is quite rare - the Olympics for instance, I mostly enjoy watching the team sprint and team pursuit.  The technical precision impresses me.

[Karla]

Given that I've just this minute come back from a session at Herne Hill, you can probably guess my answer.

[Jaded]

Done the Paralympics (one legged riders not far off the two legged pace! Also Jody Cundy's memorable outburst ) and Commonwealth games (go Trotty!) and I've ridden a couple of times. The difference between my speed, skill and stamina compared with those doing it properly is stunning.

It's fun.

[Chris S]

Mr Snob. Have you ever been to a velodrome event?

[Vs4b]

i recently took my lad (9yrs) to the Olympic velodrome in London for the revolution series. Neither of us had been before or even watched it on tv. We had a fantastic time, would highly recommend it. Not at all dull and very engaging. now really keen to try it (both of us) but he'll have to wait 3 years till he is 12, me on the other hand....

[IanDG]

My favourite form of racing as a yoof. Having spent most of my cycling time in my late teens/early 20s on open-air 400m+ ashphalt velodromes, I have a longing to go and ride the new indoor velodromes that are springing up around the country (there's even been discussion of one being built in Inverness). So a big NO CS, velodrome cycling is not being condemned to room 101

[Andrij]

In Kyiv, local activists have grown tired of waiting for the authorities and developers and have begun to restore an outdoor velodrome themselves.  Article (in Ukrainian) with picutres.

[mzjo]

NO NO NO NO

Live any short circuit racing beats a big road race anytime for me. I don't know if anyone on here remembers the Cheltenham town centre races. They were great watching - all action, primes in the heat of the action, lots of categories and races - and free, apart from the cash you put in the prime box when it passed. On the other hand the most boring race that I know is the Limoges Semi-Nocturne - straight down, straight up on a section of dual-carriageway ring-road. The participants might get something from it but otherwise it is for the local fans to watch their individual riders and if you are not in a racing club the action is non-existent - I usually wander up to have a look because it is only 200m from where I live but I have never managed to stay to the finish (and no hope of actually seeing it anyway). All you see is 5 seconds up followed by 5 seconds down repeated every 2 or 3 minutes.

The best racing experience we have ever had was going down to watch the Open des Nations when it was at Bordeaux. Laurence is not a cyclist of any sort at all but she loved the spectacle. 100% thrills, excitement and entertainment. The second time we did it we had a hotel within walking distance but the first time we had to wait 40minutes just to get out of the carpark (explains the hotel, first time we got home at 4am). I would go again if it came back or if there was a six to watch.

The Bergerac-Périgeux TT in the last TdF was pretty good watching as well but only because the action was non-stop (once it started) and the show put on in the little town where we were watching was even more non-stop. Having printed out the starting order was a help as well.

[Karla]

There's a new outdoor 250m track in York.  I'm moving back to York with work.  Hmmm, n+1 time ... where shall I put it?

[P Walsh]

Cycling for me is all about being outdoors and going places. I'm not interested in sports that are confined to small arenas: tennis, snooker, darts, swimming and track cycling. Even football and rugby are a bit hemmed in.

[bikenrrd]

The 6 days in Ghent is very far from being boring.  All cyclists should make the pilgrimage at least once.

[bobb]

I like watching track racing on telly and at events themselves. I understand some people don't.

I'm not really sure what the purpose of these opinion threads is. It's not as if anyone who likes/dislikes it is going to suddenly change their mind because of what somebody else thinks...

[Wobbly John]

Another new velodrome opens in Derby in just-over-a-week. 

[Coffee Snob]

I can understandable somebody getting carried away whilst being at an event,but dear god is it tedious to watch on telly imo. Watching the sufferring on insane mountain gradients a la alto de l`angliru or monte zoncolan us what truly floats my boat andtI can understand we all like what we like.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Bollocks. Gradients never look as steep on the gogglebox as they feel in real life. Mostly, TV road racing (which is generally stage racing) are one-dimensional grinds that are stretched out for hours. Track racing is concentrated to just the bare essence of competition.

[Ham]

The paralympics in the Velodrome was the best sporting event I have ever been to. I think I can still hear the cheers, the photos bring it back as if it were yesterday. Yes, they rode around in circles.

[P Walsh]

I give all cycle sport a wide berth these days. Partly it's the drugs issue, but mainly it's the feeling that what I do on the bike myself is what counts. I'm more impressed by a 75 year old dragging himself around the Brevet Cymru than by some skinny young athlete racing up some Alpine pass.

[Jurek]

As someone who has never done it, it looks ver' exciting.
I look forward to the day I get on the boards at Lee Valley Park (aka Stratford Olympic Stadium) or (More local to me) Herne Hill Velodrome.
Watching it on the box?
Makes me want to do it.
As does any other genre of bicycle racing.
Really not interested in watching.
Very interested in doing.

[benborp]

Jurek, if you are ever free of a Wednesday morning the Women's and over forty's session at Herne Hill is brilliant. £4, a session that may last three hours, induction included if necessary. Just riding round in circles is a thrill. It is a magical place.