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Olympics 2012.
The road To Take To be The nexT bradley WigginS or lizzie armiTSTeadTeam GB’s cyclists will inspire a new genera-tion. It is becoming a regular, four-yearly oc-currence around the UK: the British cycling team collect a clutch of OlwWympic medals and suddenly velodromes and bike clubs are inundated with interested newcomers. So, if your 12-year-old son or daughter has decided they want to become the next Bradley Wig-gins or Lizzie Armitstead – or, indeed, if you fancy your chances – where to begin?
BEINGWIGGO
“That whooshing feeling made the whole journey worthwhile. If I can get on any more sessions, I’ll definitely be back.”
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The Cycle - Bieng Wiggo
How do I start? By far the best way to get involved in
competitive cycling is to join a local club. As well as
providing people to ride with, and sometimes facilities,
clubs have on tap decades of collective knowledge and
experience. If you’re not sure what sort of cycling is for
you, or what bike to buy, this is the place to start. Brit-
ish Cycling, the sport’s governing body in this country,
has around 1,400 clubs affiliated to it, and a facility on
its website to find your local one. It recommends calling
the secretary of a local club to discuss what sort of
things they do, and whether this suits you. A few clubs
can be a bit fixated on very competitive, high-speed
events, but increasing numbers offer rides for more or
less every ability and experience level. What sorts of cy-
cling can I do? The list is very long. Traditionally, clubs
tend to specialise in road racing and/or time trials, the
latter being the flat out, against the clock contest in
which Wiggins triumphed on Wednesday. Alternative-
ly, those with access to a velodrome or outside track
will often be geared towards that. But there are plenty
of ther competitive options – mountain biking, wheth-
er cross country (up and down) or downhill (just the
latter); BMX, usually undertaken on a specially-built
circuit; and cyclocross, the increasingly popular chal-
lenge is which riders race thick-tyred road-type bikes
over muddy ground and hills. Each has its particular
quirks and appeals – try more than one out if you can.
How can I try track cycling? There are two options: the
indoor velodromes of the type used in the Olympics,
surfaced in polished wood, or outdoor tracks, again
usually oval and banked, but more often concrete or as-
phalt. They’re both essentially the same thing, although
velodromes clearly have an advantage if it’s raining, or
winter. There are more than a dozen outdoor tracks of
various sorts spread around the UK, and a handful of
velodromes, for example in Manchester and – once the
Olympics are over – east London. You can’t just begin
track cycling without supervision.
“It’s really weird. It feels wrong that you’re defying gravity and
going against all the laws of physics when you ride around those
bends. It’s a real adrenaline rush.”
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Relaxing after another win.
Mod
for
bike
s.
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The Cycle - Bieng WiggoWorking hard.