Jack at Manchester Velodrome

There are some really good benefit from being a member of a bike club. Jack is eligible to attend sessions at Manchester Velodrome, became he's a member of East Bradford Cycle Club he has the opportunity to attend regional training sessions. I booked him onto this session via the British Cycling website, so we set off to Manchester not knowing what to expect.

On arriving we headed for the main reception we were asked to go into the velodrome down the staircase opposite the reception.

It was one of those cool moments when we entered the track. Emerging from under the track the first visible part of the track that we could see was the steep part of the bend, because we were several feet below the track it made everything much more dramatic.

The first thing Jack had to do was pick a bike, we used the height chart to tell us that Jack needed the smallest bike! (what a surprise). It only took a moment to adjust the seat and alter the straps on the peddles.,, Next we signed in at the desk in the centre of the track. There was a couple of Juts friends from bike club, this put Jack at ease straight away.

The coaches began by splitting the kids by ability, naturally Jack was in with people who hadn't done it before. The first thing the kids had to do was mange to get going. The bikes have a single cog and it is fixed so you can't stop peddling. There isn't any brakes either so it's one of those things that you have to get used to.

All the kids started cautiously, working in pairs. Initially they didn't even get onto the wooden boards, they simply ran around on the inside of the track, nice and flat. Jack soon started to use the very bottom of the track.

The first session was soon over, the coach spent time with the kids explaining what they needed to do next. the tuition was spot on, there were 4 kids to each coach. After the de-brief we wait e) far the other kids to finish there sessions. All together there was 3 groups so Jack had about half an hour before his next session.

As the afternoon went on Jack more and more confident he was soon pretty high up on the banking an enjoying the experience, by the end he. J got above the blue line, something that is a bit of a badge of honour, he was chuffed.

I went for a walk with Finlay, we went up into the stands and took photos. Finlay posed by the statue of Reg Harris and ran a full lap around the outside of the track.

After Jack finished we went to have a look at the inside BMX track, this is pretty impressive, the Facilities are amazing.

Jack had a really good positive experience, and of course wants to do it again in the near future.