# Erie Velodrome



## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_15506648

Looks like it's a go...


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## PDex (Mar 23, 2004)

I'm not sure of the selection of wood for an uncovered track - especially in this dry climate. I hope they can make a go of it. Driving 3 hours RT to the Springs twice a week gets old.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

PDex said:


> I'm not sure of the selection of wood for an uncovered track - especially in this dry climate. I hope they can make a go of it. Driving 3 hours RT to the Springs twice a week gets old.


This track is a bit smaller than 7/11 isn't it?

Yeah wood seems odd--hard enough to keep the indoor velodrome clean enough to be safe--can't imagine that having it outdoors will be easier to keep dry/clean...I wonder if they will cover it when it rains/snows? It'd be cool if they put some kind of awning over it.


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## PDex (Mar 23, 2004)

333.3m vs. 250m 

From what I understand, they want to sell memberships (like a Country Club or like an old Ski Club) that will give the members priority.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

PDex said:


> 333.3m vs. 250m
> 
> From what I understand, they want to sell memberships (like a Country Club or like an old Ski Club) that will give the members priority.


Any idea on price? At least the yearly membership fee for BIC is pretty reasonable. If they price it sky high then the only ones that will ride it will be pros or those with deep pockets.


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## PDex (Mar 23, 2004)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> Any idea on price? At least the yearly membership fee for BIC is pretty reasonable. If they price it sky high then the only ones that will ride it will be pros or those with deep pockets.


No idea. If I find out, I'll let you know.


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## EBrider (Aug 9, 2009)

250m is a lot of fun, but a much different experience than 333m.


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## STARNUT (Jun 19, 2005)

The fastest low altitude outdoor track in the world and it has resin-coated 1.125" thick marine plywood panels. If done correctly wood is all good.

Starnut


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

It's a shame they aren't building a public one.


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## PDex (Mar 23, 2004)

Pablo said:


> It's a shame they aren't building a public one.


As I understand it, the public will be able to use it. The membership will have priority, however.


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## Sherpa23 (Nov 5, 2001)

Given the current alternatives and the goals for the new facility, this is probably going to be a pretty high quality affair. I only hope that it becomes a reality. Not to be the Doubting Thomas here but a top notch 250m wooden track so close to home sounds too good to be true.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

PDex said:


> As I understand it, the public will be able to use it. The membership will have priority, however.


I guess I was thinking having one in a city park or open space or something.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

Sherpa23 said:


> Given the current alternatives and the goals for the new facility, this is probably going to be a pretty high quality affair. I only hope that it becomes a reality. Not to be the Doubting Thomas here but a top notch 250m wooden track so close to home sounds too good to be true.


Heard again that they have financing--although I also heard the city is trying to make them spend a half a million alone on landscaping around the velodrome.


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## Sherpa23 (Nov 5, 2001)

Pablo said:


> I guess I was thinking having one in a city park or open space or something.


That is actually the last thing that you want. This is what happens when that goes on:

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/23776011/detail.html


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

Sherpa23 said:


> That is actually the last thing that you want. This is what happens when that goes on:
> 
> http://www.theindychannel.com/news/23776011/detail.html


You still in Italy or back now? How did you guys do overall there?


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## Sherpa23 (Nov 5, 2001)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> You still in Italy or back now? How did you guys do overall there?


Just came back. Did pretty well for our first pro Six Day with a 15th overall. Managed to take some laps on the field in some very fast, very technical madisons. Got a 2nd, 4th, and some 5ths in some races and showed that we can ride with the best guys in the world. Never got dropped and rode at the front for a lot of the races.

We didn't have any illusions: there were 9 world champions, an olympic champion, 22 worlds and olympic medallists in the field, along with guys form Saxo and Liquigas. Basically we just wanted to race at that level and show the organizers that they made a good choice in giving us a contract, which we did. We were part of the racing every night and made some great moves in the races. We got some good compliments from the other riders, too.

It was the best racing I've ever done. An even higher level than world cups. 

The whole thing was sweet. I can email you some sweet pics from the training we did on the road there and I have some movies from some of the racing.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

Sherpa23 said:


> Just came back. Did pretty well for our first pro Six Day with a 15th overall. Managed to take some laps on the field in some very fast, very technical madisons. Got a 2nd, 4th, and some 5ths in some races and showed that we can ride with the best guys in the world. Never got dropped and rode at the front for a lot of the races.
> 
> We didn't have any illusions: there were 9 world champions, an olympic champion, 22 worlds and olympic medallists in the field, along with guys form Saxo and Liquigas. Basically we just wanted to race at that level and show the organizers that they made a good choice in giving us a contract, which we did. We were part of the racing every night and made some great moves in the races. We got some good compliments from the other riders, too.
> 
> ...


Wow...that sounds like quite an experience. I saw one pic that was posted to the Black Dog facebook page today.

//Is that a one-off Parlee track bike you're riding? Looks nice.


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## Sherpa23 (Nov 5, 2001)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> Wow...that sounds like quite an experience. I saw one pic that was posted to the Black Dog facebook page today.
> 
> //Is that a one-off Parlee track bike you're riding? Looks nice.


Well, we still have a little way to go before we can race point for point with those guys but at least we're good enough to be in there and get the experience. Hopefully we get more contracts before too long and can start moving up the food chain a little.

The bike is, in fact, a one off. It's something I begged them to make for me for a long time and when they made it they used it as their Interbike centerpiece. It was okay out of the box but I put about a hundred hours on it, made 3 pages of notes on it, then sent it back for some mods last year. Now it's really bad ass. Without a doubt, it's the best bike I've ever used.

I asked for a second one this year and they said as much as they would love to make me another one, they are not going to make another like that for a long, long time, if ever. It took way too many hours and way too much hand work. If they do it again, it's going to be from a different tubeset that goes together easier. So I designed something else specifically for 6 Days that should be ready in a little while. I will still use this bike primarily but a new 6 Day bike will be sweeeeeet.

I heard you won some stuff in a team giveaway?


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

Sherpa23 said:


> I heard you won some stuff in a team giveaway?


Yeah...Erika set me up with some cool schwag from Gu for knowing what team was in first place after day 2. Google was my friend there.


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## PDex (Mar 23, 2004)

Sherpa23 said:


> That is actually the last thing that you want. This is what happens when that goes on:
> 
> http://www.theindychannel.com/news/23776011/detail.html


I heard that Marion University wanted to take over the Velodrome. I drove by when I was there in the winter and it looked like it needed some help. 

Congrats on the racing in Italy.


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## Sherpa23 (Nov 5, 2001)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> Yeah...Erika set me up with some cool schwag from Gu for knowing what team was in first place after day 2. Google was my friend there.


Sweet. FYI, Cyclingnews always has the 6 day results, even though they don't have much coverage as to what happened in the racing. She's a good team manager, though; if you don't get it right, she's not handing over the goodies.

Here is a better pic of the bike from the end of last year. I am using a shorter stem and different fork now, btw.


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## Sherpa23 (Nov 5, 2001)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> Yeah...Erika set me up with some cool schwag from Gu for knowing what team was in first place after day 2. Google was my friend there.



Also, rumour has it that new kits are in and there may be a contest for some of green/white long sleeve jerseys. Panache is our clothing sponsor so it's probably not just something that you would use to wash your car or anything.


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## PDex (Mar 23, 2004)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> Heard again that they have financing--although I also heard the city is trying to make them spend a half a million alone on landscaping around the velodrome.


The original thoughts were to sink the money into a quality velodrome and then have porta potties and office trailers for locker rooms. The city said no to that; they wanted something more in character with the park/neighborhood. Not sure about the landscaping requirements, though.


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## Sherpa23 (Nov 5, 2001)

PDex said:


> The original thoughts were to sink the money into a quality velodrome and then have porta potties and office trailers for locker rooms. The city said no to that; they wanted something more in character with the park/neighborhood. Not sure about the landscaping requirements, though.



Typically, the city has pretty strict landscaping and parking requirements. I've been on one of Denver's ARBs and that is usually the place where most of the stickiness occurs. It's not cheap, either. However, after with what BIC did to build their track, maybe we could no a little landscaping volunteering to keep costs down. After all, it would suck to have a really nice looking facility with a sub par track.


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## Sherpa23 (Nov 5, 2001)

PDex said:


> I heard that Marion University wanted to take over the Velodrome. I drove by when I was there in the winter and it looked like it needed some help.
> 
> Congrats on the racing in Italy.


Thanks.

I bet your son would probably prefer BIC to Major Taylor on most days. Sad as it used to be the nicest track in the US, after Blaine. If I remember right, in 1995 Phil Liggett showed up there to commentate for the broadcast of the US team trials that were held there.


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## PDex (Mar 23, 2004)

Sherpa23 said:


> Thanks.
> 
> I bet your son would probably prefer BIC to Major Taylor on most days. Sad as it used to be the nicest track in the US, after Blaine. If I remember right, in 1995 Phil Liggett showed up there to commentate for the broadcast of the US team trials that were held there.


Junior Track Nats had the largest fields of all time this year. Part of it was because it was at T-Town and a lot of their Juniors participated. I know this is a subject heard often, but maybe the sport is on the upswing in the US and these facilities will be more in vogue. 

Right now, my son would prefer anything that gave him more time on the track. After seeing who/what is coming out of the Junior Programs at T-Town, he's more motivated than ever. We'll see.


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## Sherpa23 (Nov 5, 2001)

PDex said:


> Junior Track Nats had the largest fields of all time this year. Part of it was because it was at T-Town and a lot of their Juniors participated. I know this is a subject heard often, but maybe the sport is on the upswing in the US and these facilities will be more in vogue.
> 
> Right now, my son would prefer anything that gave him more time on the track. After seeing who/what is coming out of the Junior Programs at T-Town, he's more motivated than ever. We'll see.



T-town has something called the Air Products Junior Program and it's a very euro type program sponsored by Air Products. In the Lehigh Valley, it's almost like little league, with just about all the kids participating. If I remember right, they have very high quality instruction, with the coaches being even better instructors than Cari or me, and it really goes. Naturally, many of the kids move on to other things and drop out of the program but those who make it all the way through tend to be very good. The biggest thing is that T-town is very sprint oriented whereas here we are more endurance oriented. Given the new facilities we have and what's coming, I would like to see what the 17-18 division at junior natz are like in 2015. I am going to say that all of the medallists come from four tracks: Hellyer, ADT, T-town, 7-11/Erie/BIC with the sprint medallists coming only from ADT and T-town.


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