Hand’s up who’s heard of Streetvelodrome! It’s making a very loud buzz in the cycling world right now and the series is being televised!! I got half an hour to sit down and watch some the other day – it was brilliant!
A couple of months back when I first started this blog I set myself some new challenges for 2014. Whilst I’m not doing too badly at ticking them off, one of those was to ride in a velodrome and do some track cycling – that one, sadly, hasn’t happened yet. Velodrome’s are hard to find in the UK – they’re too spread out! Although, I say that now – when October arrives we will have the new Derby velodrome not too far down the road from me. *let’s out an excited squeal*
I’ve not had chance to have a go at Streetveolodrome yet but for those that haven’t yet heard about it, it’s the World’s first and only pop-up track racing style event. I’d love a go, but I’ll admit the ‘racing’ element scares the pants off me.
StreetVelodrome claims to offer riders ‘a thrilling, adrenaline filled riding experience, and for spectators, a close racing spectacle with an exciting and accessible appeal’. Having watched that half hour snippet on the computer the other day, I’d agree with their claims.
What I loved about watching it was that riders, both male and female were competing, and of all ages, from all cycling genres. It was fast, explosive and a little bit hairy. Those corners are tight!
When I wrote this post about the need for more women’s cycling on tv, Carl, the Director from Streetvelodrome popped over and left a comment about the great things Streetvelodrome are doing to encourage cycling to be televised. He said: “Yes we need more women’s cycling on tv. Firstly, if nothing else, to simply normalise the idea of women’s cycling being on TV. Once that is achieved the risks to event organisers, promoters, broadcasters and sponsors will reduce and the investment will increase. We are very proud to be ensuring that women’s cycling has equal billing in our televised series. This isn’t the easiest approach but one we have chosen to do as we feel its the best way to show case the cycling talent on display and make the opportunities to participate for women clear.”
*Applauds loudly* – me
It’s a shame we have to normalise the notion of women’s cycling on TV but the fact is, someone is trying damn hard to do just that! And that deserves a standing ovation in my book.
If you’ve not seen it yet, go and take a look. If you’re braver than I am, sign up and have a go. The series is heading to the DHB Festival of Cycling in July, which I am going to *whoop, whoop! Yay!*, and I am very tempted to have a crack. It looks fantastic fun and I’m sure it will be a huge adrenalin kick!
Visit http://www.streetvelodrome.com for more details on where to watch and how to get involved. Or follow them on twitter @streetvelodrome or go over and watch some on their You Tube channel streetvelodromeTV
Or on TV (yay!!)
TV:
MPORA STREETVELODROME MANCHESTER 2014
On TV at 4oD
StreetVelodrome Appearance on BBC’s The One Show
On Demand
BBC iplayer
And you can find the Series calendar here
Interesting how he said we need to normalise women’s cycling on TV – though I think he’s right. There doesn’t seem to be much coverage in comparison to men’s though word on the street is the punters want to watch more women’s cycling.