Lee Valley VeloPark, Stratford

Enjoyment - 95%

Success - 60%

Will try again - Yes

First timer’s recommendation – Practice on a fixed gear bike before you go to the track, and try not to think about the 42 degree angle on the bends – if you’re going fast enough, you’ll get round no problem.

It’s been almost four years since the 2012 Olympics, and this was my first ever trip to the Velodrome, and it showed, as I walked straight to the Aquatics Centre from the tube. The line-up was me, my brother-in-law Jonathan who is well into his bikes, and my father-in-law Pete who had been given a voucher for the velodrome for his 50th birthday.

We were lucky at our track taster session to only have two other riders with us, who both dropped out when it started to get a bit serious. This meant we had plenty of free time at the end to do some laps and see how fast we could go. We were riding the Condor track bikes provided at the Velodrome, with Jonathan bringing his own bike, which he was eventually allowed to ride on the track after lengthy negotiations with the instructors.

The session was well-constructed, with a couple of laps on the safety zone, the ‘Cote’ (d’azur), the light blue inner part of the track, before progressing up to the black, red and blue lines, which meant you were higher on the bends. The angle on the straights was 21 degrees, increasing to 42 on the bends, which looked daunting at lower speeds, but once you built up to it, I wanted to keep doing laps. Jonathan lives nearby, and has now signed up for the four-part accreditation, where you learn more skills such as riding in groups, and riding at higher speeds.