Whilst the fellowship of road fixers enjoys seemingly ever fertile ranks, the disciples of UK track racing, despite enjoying an elevated profile thanks to recent Olympic success feel something of a poor relation at grass roots level. The disciplines and rituals being treated with a suspicion usually reserved for religious cults rather than an exciting and relatively inexpensive branch of the sport.
Herne Hill velodrome is situated in an affluent, leafy suburb of an otherwise tough and uncompromising inner London Borough. A far cry from the post war hey days where it regularly enthralled crowds in their thousands-especially at Good Friday meets, it now limps from funding crisis to threatened closure. Casting sentiment aside for a moment, balance sheet valuation would suggest turning the site over to a developer for luxury housing-infinitely more profitable, even in the present economic climate.
Weary porta cabins soldier on as Spartan, yet serviceable office and toilet blocks. Behind lie huge steel containers playing host to a tired, unglamorous but reliable gas-pipe hire/training fleet, nine Meriden built Triumph Thunderbird 650cc motorcycles from a by-gone era where riders drafted behind, turning knee shattering gears in the hope of setting/breaking speed/distance records.
Another entertains motorised two-stroke bicycles known generically as "Dernys" originating in France and are now manufactured in the Netherlands. These were designed to pace the riders along- a common sight at six-day races and still do a turn at club-track meets thanks to the skill of some endearing, fanatical and dare I say, pleasantly eccentric pilots.
I have a certain fondness for the spectacle and excitement that such racing presents but through critical eyes, I can appreciate in these image conscious times how this might be perceived as quaint and comical-especially amongst a teenage audience where image is nigh on paramount.
I taught the rudiments of track racing (in an assistant capacity) for a couple of years-predominantly to this age group. Some were from very affluent homes and rode top-end Merlin’s, Trek, Specialized etc to school and at the other extreme were kids from the school of the streets- Tough, knowing and yet curiously naive/vulnerable at the same time.
Getting past the latter group's surly insolence; wise cracking and persuading them aboard the hard used track iron brought a miraculous transformation. Initially, it was outright fear that gripped them, their veins coursing with adrenalin and a sense of the unknown as they held tentatively to the guard rail. One by one, they gingerly set off, the fixed transmission responding to their every pedal stroke. Even the most nonchalant cultivated ear-to ear grins, their hardened devil-may-care cynicism replaced by a new found sense of wonder as they powered with escalating confidence around the circuit.
It was ironic, if unsurprising that the fastest learners were often the biggest pains in the ass and this occasionally leads to misadventure… One such convert in a moment of euphoria, threw his arms skyward in a victory celebration that would’ve rivalled a pro’s…For a split second he attempted to freewheel across the line, locking the transmission and pitching himself unceremoniously over the bars. Aside from shock and some minor laceration, he went on to compete in another race.
Most of those I tutored rapidly developed a new found respect and fascination for cycling and indeed, themselves-even the more timid and those with self-esteem difficulties came out of their shells to ride as if their lives depended on it, begging for that “One last lap” before the session closed. For this audience, I think the displays of velodrome tradition would’ve alienated as many as it inspired, leaving impressions of an elitist and eccentric activity that fails to connect with their view of the world.
The all weather surface lain in 1994 was designed for low maintenance as removed from four season’s competition and takes several days to blast clean with high pressure water jets come the spring. There’s been much talk of reconstruction involving an enclosed stadium rather like Manchester, catering for year round racing, a much higher profile and revenue to boot. However, cycling and niche disciplines are funded accordingly.
Let’s be clear, I am in no way detracting from the phenomenal time and energy put into the site by clubs such as VC Londres, Friends of Herne Hill Velodrome and many, many others. However, I am hoping that the resurgence in the road scene, courier chic and the underground alley cats, messenger Olympics etc might inspire more to give track a try.
Affordable machines like Fuji’s aptly named track are venerable, road-legal mounts more than capable of velodrome duties straight from the crate. Purists will doubtless disagree but for me, the messenger racing scene is a force for good and has the power through the medium of "cool" to bring about a marked turnaround in fortunes for struggling stadiums.
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