On Sat/Sun Feb 22/23  party of 27 of us went down to the Calshot Velodrome near Southampton for a great weekend of track riding. The group comprised a few riders with track experience and loads of  beginners of all ages and abilities, the youngest rider just 7 and the oldest 65! These included three guests from Sudbury CC and one for the Eagle Road Club and expert coach Keith Wilmot ably assisted by our own Geoff Byne. The Saturday session saw the newcomers being thoroughly instructed how to ride fixed wheel, no brakes and how to cope with Calshot’s steeply banked 147 metre oval.

We all enjoyed an excellent pub meal that evening and stayed in the Calshot B&B hostel, ready for another session on Sunday morning. This saw everyone riding with great confidence and lapping at speed and taking part in group riding exercises. We all also took part in a flying lap competition with Matt Denny fastest of the adults and Oscar Woodward fastest of the youngsters.

Everyone enjoyed themselves immensely and want to know when the next one is!

The answer is probably next year, but we will probably organise a day at Welwyn during the summer.

~ Barry Denny