Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Velodromes and Cycling Clubs in Melbourne, Australia

After a whirlwind experience catching up and saying good-bye to great friends in New York, Zoe and I made it to Los Angeles, California for New Year's Eve. For 10 days we enjoyed catching up with family before departing to our final destination - Melbourne, Australia.

At times it's been a bit challenging adjusting to life outside of New York. Simple things like acquiring a phone, home internet bandwidth and transportation become daunting tasks when you're starting a new life far away. There's obviously no language barrier out here, but shit sure does work differently.

I've been looking forward to cycling at many of the nice velodromes in Melbourne, Australia. Zoe and I went on a mission to seek out a few of the tracks in the area. First, we headed north of the city to the Brunswick Velodrome. Here they have an amazing concrete track 250 meters in length with ~40 degrees of banking. Members of the Brunswick Cycling Club practice here. Then they race Tuesday nights all-year round at the indoor Joe Ciavola Velodrome at DISC. More to come on that soon.

Brunswick Velodrome for track cycling is located in Melbourne Australia.
Our first stop - the Brunswick Velodrome

Brunswick Velodrome is great for track bike racing outdoors in Melbourne.

Brunswick Velodrome has a decent graffiti piece on entrance wall


Brunswick Velodrome is outdoors and has a few weeds on track surface
The weeds at the Brunswick Velodrome are about the same size as they are at the Kissena Velodrome back in Queens, New York. And yes, I really do miss racing with everyone at Kissena.

Brunswick Velodrome concrete track cycling surface is smooth
The cracks are much smaller at the Brunswick Velodrome compared to the Kissena Velodrome.

Brunswick Velodrome concrete cycling track from turn 4
The photo doesn't quite show the height or steep angle of the banking. There's also proper lighting, bleacher seats and a loudspeaker system. It sure is nice out here at the Brunswick Velodrome which isn't far from the central business district of Melbourne.
Coburg Velodrome concrete cycling track is located in Melbourne Australia
We left the Brunswick Velodrome and headed a few minutes down the road to the Coburg Cycling Club office which is situated right outside the Coburg Velodrome.


Coburg Velodrome is a 250 meter concrete cycling track in Melbourne AU
This photo was shot behind a fence. The Coburg Velodrome is also 250 meters in length. The banking appears steeper and taller than the Brunswick Velodrome. Throughout summer at 6pm on Monday nights, club members can enjoy track racing and training at the Club velodrome on Richards Reserve, Charles Street, Coburg.


Coburg Velodrome concrete cycling track is concrete and smooth
The Coburg Velodrome has proper lighting and well-groomed grass. Also note the bench seating lined all the way around the track.


I'm hoping to visit a few more velodromes in the near future. I'll also be checking out the local criterium bike races. I just need to spend some more time sorting out my visa, attending child birth education classes and a shit ton of other stuff.

6 comments:

  1. Hope all is good my friend! Nice to see you are checking out the tracks down under... show them how it's done :-)

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  2. Yeah man, still getting out on the bikes while I can before the baby comes! :)

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  3. Collie, Western Australia has a velodrome identical to this one.

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  4. Brunswick Velodrome is a 320 metre track, the banking is about 32 degrees at its steepest - you can ride around it slowly on an MTB with wide platform pedals without worrying too much about pedal-strike. Coburg velodrome is a 250m track with nearly 45 degree banking necessitating use of track-specific bikes/components (high BBs, short cranks etc.)

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  5. Hey Anonymous, thanks for clarifying track dimensions. I believe Dave, the heart and soul of Brunswick Cycling Club, also mentioned that.

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