MEL : Track Racing

Here in Melbourne we are totally spoilt when it comes to track racing: All year round, every Tuesday and Thursday, a small group of bike nuts head down to the Joe Ciavola Velodrome at DISC to compete at the indoor, world-class, wooden 250m venue. Big names and small ones, juniors, masters, elite and novices battle it out. It’s not the world champs, or the Olympics, but the racing is very competitive and excellent fun to watch.

Track cycling is one of the best spectator sports because you can see the whole field all the time. There is speed, tactics and variation in the events – personalities and character. But where are all the fans? Seems a lot of people don’t even know there’s an indoor velodrome minutes from the CBD, let alone racing every week… So here’s the challenge: get into it Melbourne!.

Tuesday nights are run by Brunswick Cycling Club. Brunswick run scratch, points, elimination, pursuits, keiren and motorpace events with junior and senior grades from 7pm. There is a fun, family atmosphere – and some good racing too! Thursdays are run by Northcote Cycling Club. Northcote run scratch, points and motorpace races in A to D grade (depending on the turnout) from 7:30pm.

Both nights are free to watch. There is a bistro at DISC serving food and drinks. You can wander down to the track and chat to the riders, or watch from seating positioned on both sides of the track. If you are interested in having a go there’s always someone around who can help get you started.

So come on down and get into one of the best spectator sports there are. Here’s a few of your potential problems addressed:

Problem: "I don’t know where it is", "I don’t know how to get there", "Is there a tram stop nearby?" … etc.

Answer: DISC is located at 281 Darebin Rd, Thornbury. By bike, DISC is about 10km from Federation square, mostly in bike lanes. There is a bus stop outside the velodrome on the 250 LaTrobe Uni route, busses come about every 40 mins. By car it takes about 20mins from the city, depending on traffic.

Problem: "It finishes too late", "I can’t make it there in time" etc.

Answer: Racing starts at about 7pm and goes until about 10pm. There are a number of events and grades running over that time and there’s no problem at all coming in and going whenever you like.

Problem: "I won’t know anyone there", "I won’t know what’s going on" etc.

Answer: There are plenty of people around and while most cyclists are a bit shy, anyone will be happy to talk your ear off if you smile and say hi. Just come along, introduce yourself or wave hello.

ndf.