Velodrome Passport: 2013

Wednesday 4th December 2013
6.30pm this evening Ferran Bartolomé of Pista BCN and I met at Embankment Underground Station. From here we crossed Hungerford foot bridge over the Thames far a talk on the South-bank. It was a pleasure to show Ferran a little bit of London. We shared our views about how to bring on the Velodrome Passport idea. Before parting I let Ferran know that I am planning to visit Catalunya again in March 2014 - we agreed to meet in Mataro (30km up the coast from Barcelona) where Ferran said there is an open air velodrome that could use some support. Also in discussion was the location for the London round of the Red Hook urban criterium track races.

Hungerford bridge - Ferran is standing on the left

Ferran presented a custom key ring in the design of Pista BCN's club shirt - nice one.

MIND THE GAP

Keir Apperley

The aim of 'Velodrome Passport' (VP) is to create partnerships that make it easier (and more likely) for amateur track riders to participate in track training and racing while travelling to other countries.
Visited velodromes; Herne Hill 1948 Olympic, Newport, Manchester, Roubaix, London 2012 Olympic, Roubaix Stablinski, Ghent Eddy Merckx, Vélodrome de Toulon Provence Méditerranée Hyères, Velodrome Amsterdam, and Barcelona 1982 Olympic Horta. All of the people working and volunteering at these velodromes are supportive to this proposal.

Why & what for - Velodrome Passport?
If away on travels why not maintain fitness and track speed on the go? Getting onto tracks...how to do it varies from place to place. Racing against new faces and guests is interesting and adds variety to the track league for instance. Forging relations while participating helps to make networks for track users and velodromes without frontiers. 'Save the Velodrome' campaigns could be strengthened across boarders. New riders create a 'buzz' and make racing more interesting and most probably faster.
Safety first; to avoid unqualified riders reaching the track at the wrong time a 'passport' accreditation certificate in an ideal to work towards. This would be where participating velodromes will recognise and accept a qualified track cyclist as good to go.
Those with an interest in attracting visitors to velodrome venues may find this useful and offer support. Travelling youth and junior riders are inspired and further enthused about the sport, bringing with them a brighter future in track cycle training and racing.

Keir Apperley