I'm off to London's Olympic Velodrome this evening. It's not called that any more; it's the Toilet Duck Velo-Excellium Experience or something.
One can't just pitch-up and "ride the boards" as we cyclists term it. You have to be accredited. This is a sensible precaution. Most every office Johnny of a certain age these days has access to a road bike courtesy of the bike-2-work scheme. Worse still - most think they can ride them. It is (just) possible to get away without causing a crash when you don't know what you're doing on the road, but the track is less forgiving. You're riding in a lot of traffic in a confined space. You're also riding a fixed-wheel bike with no (count 'em) brakes. It makes sense, then, to teach everyone some race craft before letting them off the leash.
Sadly, I've just learned that I cannot ride using my preferred pedals. There are several pedal systems for cyclists these days. They require matching shoes to work. I assumed that I'd be able to select the pedals of my choice for the hire bike I'll be riding. But, no. So the Lord alone knows what I'll be riding.
I'll report back tomorrow, but they're going to have to charm the shorts off me to get a decent write-up after this.
Absolute rotters.
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