Worst track you know?

kik

my husband has been riding at welling here in england during the summer, and all i know is that he has spent a fortune on new tyres as they all puncture at welling, due to track surface..... (wife of kik)

maxmuse

Yeah - but some of them are fast - especially on a summers night when the sun has been on the asphalt all day and then later at night the air cools. Te Awamutu http://www.teacycling.org/templates...es/image_01.jpg - some of the fastest ten miles ever ridden in NZ have been raced there in those conditions - the old Wanganui track - the asphalt one - was lightening fast on the right night. But man thoat finishing straight was a killer in a kilo. And Denton Park was fast - if the wind ever died down and it didn't get to about 5 degrees temperature

Worst track?
Magenta Velodrome Noumea New Caldonia - before it was resurfaced. Rode a 6 day there in 93 (won by Stephen Pate) and the track surface was so bad we all switched to fast road typres. After a days training and blowing countless Conti's, Wolber Pistes, Vittorias Pistes etc it was a no brainer. You know what concrete looks like when it breaks open - well that was the surface in many patches. The guys who crashed were not a pretty picture I tell ya!
- http://www.tourcaledonie.com/2005/2309/magenta.jpg

And Manukau Velodrome in Auckland - http://manukau.velodrome.co.nz/images/photos/venue.jpg
used for the 90 Commonwealth Games - good design but very steep with not the best transitions from straight to steep when up high. Wish I had a dollar for every rider Ive seen slip down the trck when going too slow - it was a shocker for that. Plus small cracks on the surface not long after being finished provided some fun a few years later when they seeped moisture at strange times!

Ahh - ya gotta love it though

Jack-o

I was in that race!!! I can't remember the guy's name but we were in a keirin heat on a teams omnium night. I was third wheel in the last bend and myself and the guy second wheel were coming around another rider (best described as bannana brain ). We were coming over the top of him fast and looking pretty as first two went into the final. The guy we were overtaking hit the duckboard right at the steepest part of the bend...turned..and shot straight up the track between us.

I went over the top of him and every one behind swung up the track in an effort to avoid crashing. I think the entire field came down, except the last rider who was forced high and into the track fence. The perimiter fence (not the track fence) is very close at that point, he went flying over the track fence and smashed his back against a pole on the perimiter fence. He broke his back, I broke my wrist and I remember travelling in the ambulance to hospital, with him screaming in pain the whole way (and I don't blame him!). He was able to ride again, although I'm not sure he ever raced track again.

I was 22 at the time and didn't race track again until the Aussie Masters Titles last year (now that I'm 35). I am very glad to be back racing on the track, I didn't realise how much I missed the speed and excitement. Beats club road handicaps any day!!!

Lil_Lady_Lance

Mountbatten track in Portsmouth...resurfaced so many times you might as well ride a mountain bike around it...and only two banked corners...instead of four...

Billsworld

Thats what I though. Ill be there 2-3 times this year too