Track days are here

Alpenrose Velodrome, located in the SW Hills of Portland a 5 or 6 miles from the city center.


Above: Alpenrose Velodrome - camera phone pic, showing how steep the corners are!, notice how high the track is, that guy is about 6ft!

Seems like a lot has happened but then not a lot has happened if you know what I mean.
So since the weather is starting to get nicer more people are starting to ride. Last time that I lived in Portland, I had heard about the bike velodrome, but I never got the chance to go out there. So I recently went to a beginners class on riding the velodrome. I rented a bike and paid $5 for the class, it was a wicked. I had so much fun.
As you can see from the picture above, it has some steep banks, 43 degrees to be exact, which is one of the steepest in the country. (normal tracks have between 25-33) Basically to ride this thing you have to be going about 15mph or you have no traction an you fall off the wall! I was so excited about the track that I went out there again on Friday night - over the summer they run a series of races called - Fast Twitch Fridays, so I went and watched. - so much fun, they had a ton of different races, mass starts, sprints, matched sprints all sorts. I am planning to get a track specific bike sometime this summer, (a legit track bike not street fixie) so that I can race beginners, my thoughts are on this entry level bike, The felt TK2 fixed track gearing, no brakes, Aluminum frame which is super stiff with a carbon fork.

I will be out there next Wed on a rental bike and if all goes well I might race Friday in a mass start race., will see.

This next coming weekend is the Reach the Beach ride .... 108miles from Portland to the seaside. Should be alright, I've heard it's a beautiful ride. There's a few of us riding, so should be pretty quick, i'm gonna say 5hrs in the saddle.

Later