Olympic Velodrome Visit – Report & Photos
The long awaited Slipstreamer visit to the velodrome on Sunday was a truly thrilling experience for all involved. For those of us that were non-riding participants we can only begin to imagine what it must have felt like – but none the less, we think we all took great pleasure from the day. The collection of photographs (jump here for the links to view) can only start to portray what an exciting day out it was. Just look at the riders faces – focus and commitment throughout. I don’t think any words that are written now could reflect the electric, yet realxed, atmosphere of both the venue and the riding.
For those that have only ever ridden track at Calshot, this must have been an awesome venture into full size track riding. We hope you all appreciated the difference of the layout and structure of this track compared to other tracks you may have visited. As coaches, we recognise the value that this sort of experience brings both to your confidence and development of your track careers. It was noted how well you all adapted from your first session in the warm up to the superb racing you all demonstrated in your scratch race.
The B and C groups took part in a 200m flying lap – a very different format to that which you may have tried at Calshot. The recorded times are as follows:
| Joe Newbould | 14.06 Seconds |
| Izzy Atkins | 18.48 |
| Michael Stark | 14.23 |
| James Kennet | 15.15 |
| Hannah Keating | 15.56 |
| Rob Newbould | 14.07 |
| Mark Harrop | 15.20 |
| Savannah Hewson | 16.59 |
| Ella Buckroyd | 15.69 |
| Marcus Atkins | 14.84 |
| Clive Dawkins | 14.86 |
| Hugh Smith | 17.44 |
| Joe McGuinness | 15.05 |
| Mark Devlin | 15.01 |
| Kai Lewis | 17.14 |
| James Piercy | 15.42 |
| Richard Piercy | 15.36 |
| Zeb Breen | 16.21 |
| Matt Harrop | 16.40 |
| Emile Ghattas | 16.94 |
| Morgan Evans | 15.78 |
| Orla Devlin | 16.32 |
| Ian Portsmouth | 14.04 |
| Tom Portsmouth | 16.46 |
| Andy Shearwood | 14.52 |
| Paul Martingell | 17.00 |
The winner of the B Group Scratch race was James Kennett, and the Group C was Tom Portsmouth.
Fantastic riding by everyone – and if your dad is currently the fastest 200m rider in your house, remind him that he may not be for long!!!
To view the full set of photos, where every single Slipstreamer who took part is captured either on or off the track:
- Go here to view a storyboard journal of the best shots of the day
- Go here to view the master set of photos
If anyone is named incorrectly please let us know; and indeed if anyone has additional photos they want added, please email them across and we’d be happy to include these. Enjoy!