Velodrome closed

Can anyone explain what’s actually wrong with it? The photograph on the Nah…it’s Canberra blog doesn’t say.

Canberran’s who want to ride around a velodrome now have to travel an extra six kilometres to Queanbeyan.

At his world one hour record speed of 56 km/h, Chris Boardman could travel the six kilometres in a little over six minutes, riding a bicycle with a 19th century design (as required under UCI rules). On a modern bike, he could do it in four minutes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hour_record

PBO said :

460cixy said :

Mates and i used to ride dirt bikes around it back in the day real thrill going round it at wide open throttle. And I agree a pushy shouldn’t go any where near it

I thought it would have been a good idea to have 80cc bicycle track races ( My pushie looks more like a vintage board track racer now.) a few months ago and ……thought if only Canberra had somewhere…….Turns out they did, I never knew and now its closing………..FML!

It used to realy make you feel alive I can sell you. A pushy with 80 to 100cc would be a. Blast on there too

If you want a better idea of the ‘problem’ with the Narrabundah Velodrome, the picture post on the Nah – It’s Canberra Blog for 18 April is excellent (as are all the pics on this rather lovely Blog).

The Territory has received engineering advice that the Narrabundah Velodrome is ‘unsafe for both competition and training purposes,’ this assessment included consultation advice from user groups.

Every time I hear about how ‘unsafe’ the velodrome is I automatically picture this: http://youtu.be/31MMw3Eazqw

460cixy said :

Mates and i used to ride dirt bikes around it back in the day real thrill going round it at wide open throttle. And I agree a pushy shouldn’t go any where near it

I thought it would have been a good idea to have 80cc bicycle track races ( My pushie looks more like a vintage board track racer now.) a few months ago and ……thought if only Canberra had somewhere…….Turns out they did, I never knew and now its closing………..FML!

My understanding is that as well as the banking, one of the corners is just wrong.
That said, the biggest danger is the snakes in the grass in the midfield.

The Queanbeyan track is not a real alternative. It is a asphalt track around the oval, one of the last survivors. Banking might be 5 degrees? Good for fun, but of limited use for an aspiring elite.

The cat did it said :

It was built in early-mid 1970s, IIRC by an engineering firm that didn’t know much about velodromes, for a client that didn’t know much about velodromes either.

Which begs the question – Why close it now? If it’s been around for around 40 years without causing the end of the world, what’s changed?

Our Thunderdome is still open though, right?

It was built in early-mid 1970s, IIRC by an engineering firm that didn’t know much about velodromes, for a client that didn’t know much about velodromes either. To give them their due, velodromes weren’t exactly a common construction project, so the level of inexperience should be no surprise.

Main problem was that they opted to go steep for the banking- something like 43-44 degrees, compared to the 40-41 degrees common elsewhere for a ‘general-use’ track (as distinct from something for say Olympic use). The steepness was quoted as evidence that this would really be a cutting-edge track, up there with the best and newest.

Unsurprisingly, the incidence of injuries was high, and the track was used less frequently.

I remember Mum driving us past it when we were kids. I used to call it “the watermelon drome”.

Yes rioters i remember that it was constructed in the early ’70s so it’s been there for about four decades now..

gooterz said :

Hopefully i’m not alone here:
Canberra had a Velodrome?

News to me, but there it is;

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=-35.337717,149.159198&daddr=Kyeema+St,+Narrabundah+ACT+2604,+Australia&hl=en&ll=-35.337599,149.159314&spn=0.002144,0.00327&sll=-35.337734,149.159194&sspn=0.004289,0.006539&geocode=%3BCfJMQDCu4x4OFRPJ5P0dp-rjCCkBDUgwZ0wWazFSnCZPX_oZIg&t=h&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=18&z=19

gooterz said :

Hopefully i’m not alone here:
Canberra had a Velodrome?

My words exactly…

Well it looks like the nitro cars and trucks will have the place to themselves.

Hopefully i’m not alone here:
Canberra had a Velodrome?

I recall it being closed for safety reasons about 20 years ago +/- – as not a non standard length/diameter whatever, too. Surprised it reopened.

Nicely located piece of real estate, too – so a somewhat more lucrative use of it is surely on the cards.

Mates and i used to ride dirt bikes around it back in the day real thrill going round it at wide open throttle. And I agree a pushy shouldn’t go any where near it

Who ever, the Gov of the day signed off on a cross between Brooklands and the Circus Circle of Death..

This thing was lethal from day one, and the designers should be required to pay their fees back into consolidated revenue.