I had one of the most energetic two hours of my life last night. Nope, not an extract from the likes of Fifty Shades of Grey, but a statement of fact.
A group of 16 of us from work had booked a taster session months ago (the waiting list for this is pretty long as it's so popular). We had to give our heights on booking so that they could match us with the right bikes in advance.
When the evening arrived, we all headed to Sportcity and into the cavernous reception of The National Cycling Centre. We picked up our shoes with cleats on them to clip on to the pedals (these are at extra cost btw) and cycling helmets (which were included in the initial price).
There are men's and women's changing/shower rooms and lockers (bring a pound coin) so you can keep your clothes and valuables safely locked away.
Heading through the doors and into the Velodrome you're struck with just how steeply banked the oval track is - and that you're going to be whizzing around it in a matter of minutes.
After collecting our bikes that were all waiting and labelled with our names on; and walking up the central slope to get to the track, we were greeted by our instructor who was a straight-talking Lancashire man and total legend.
We were first taught the important lessons of how to get on our bikes, how to start pedalling and how to stop without crashing (sounds obvious I know but just wait until you try it for the first time!). After an initial few laps to get used to things, some of us were allowed to 'advance' on to the côte d'azur (a blue band which is between the infield and the actual track) - and pick up our speed.
Later on we had timed laps which meant pedalling like a bat out of hell on the track, getting as high up the banking as we felt comfortable. This was my favourite part. The session ended after we were allowed to do as many laps as we wanted/were physically still capable of doing.
This was a terrific (read 'knackering') activity for us, even as a big group of mixed ability. You can also book for smaller groups or individually - I'll definitely come back here again, it's decent exercise that's different and fun! read more