Those of you who follow my ramblings may know that I was set to try out track racing tonight (http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1057889)
I showed up at around 16:30 to make sure I got a rental bike and had a chance to get used to the track. There wasn’t an “office” or any sort of official looking registration/rental setup, so I wandered out onto the infield, and then back out to the room where the bikes are kept. I ran in to a guy who rides there, and he didn’t really know what was going on - he suggested that I grab a rental bike and head on out the the track.
I found a bike that looked like it would fit me, swapped out the pedals and did a quick change, and then headed back out to the infield. There was still no-one that looked to be in charge, so I just watched a bunch of people ride around as I tried to figure out the protocol by watching.
The velodrome is shared by a volleyball assoc, so the infield is covered with a weird padded type of plastic tile that is very slippery. Closer to the track there is a small strip of exposed concrete throughout the straights, which kind of dissappears at the ends where the curved banks are. Then there’s the transition to the hardwood track itself. I started riding on the concrete beside the track, planning to hop on after a pack of riders had gone by. Only they weren’t going that fast, and I ran out of room. Intending to ride across the infield to the other side and hop on on the other straight, I got distracted and hit the edge of the mats. Naturally I went down - thus crashing before I even made it onto the track. ;-p
I popped up, and got back on the bike when a couple of riders swooped over and approached me. “You must be new here”. “Yeah…” They proceeded to give me a few pointers and then rode off. Nice people.
I rode the green for a few laps, and one of the guys came back. “Here - I’m gonna help you out. Lets practice getting on and off the track first, then we’ll speed it up a bit and actually hit the curved bank”. I followed him around for a few laps, practicing getting up and down the track from the green. Then we rode around on the actual racing path in between the black and red lines. I was surprised at how steep the banks were, even though I knew going in that it was a 200m track so they’d be steeper than a most North American tracks. A few more pointers and I was off riding on my own.
After maybe 25min I noticed that a) I’m REALLY out of shape and b) riding the track is much more difficult than riding the road. I think its all the banking. Anyway, I pulled off to grab a drink when someone mentioned that the lady who is “in charge” was now here, and that I should probably go talk to her.
She was a little surprised to learn that I hadden taken the learn to ride clinics, as apparently I’m not supposed to even be on the track if I haven’t completed the three series course. She was really nice, and said that I was doing very well - but that I would still have to play by the same rules as everyone else - even if I had been given “lesson 1” by a Sr rider (she had been watching trying to figure out who I was). I also learned while that taking the 3 part course is enough to get me ON the track, if I want to race then I have to take another, learn to race course. So I was definitely NOT going to be racing tonight. (I am signed up for the first series, but they don’t start 'till Dec) She even offerred to let me hop into the Nov series, as lesson #2 is tomorrow. Given that I’ll miss the final date in Nov however, it made more sense for me to stick to my originally booked Dec series.
I hung out for a bit watching some riders, and a couple of friends dropped by to ride for a bit. There are some serious riders who hang out there, and some hot womens, too. 
I’ll be back in Dec to take my course, and will probably try to make more of a habit of riding the boards. The brief introduction I had tonight was a lot of fun, and there’s a LOT for me to learn about track racing!
