Originally Posted by
kings run east
I just saw this and know nothing about the owners or community- but as someone who just got certified there I'm very much not surprised. There are two critical design flaws to the track that I feel are absolutely impeding the culture and stunting the community around it.
While visiting the track is promoted / welcomed, the wayfinding is very odd and visitors arrive in a space where they mix with riders. Riders are tired, focused on bikes, and, sometimes, are annoyed with answering the same questions over and over again between efforts. What I observed was the riders having to act as ambassadors to the track contributed to several visitors feeling unwelcome- right after they saw a massive sign inviting them in. Some sort of info desk / greeter is probably necessary to orient visitors, it would also be beneficial if they circulated to the party deck instead of the infield.
The other issue is that the way the track is used is, in my opinion, completely unsafe. The combination of entering on the backfield and the steep, wooden banking means you have to merge on to the track with a good amount of speed- but the party deck at turns 1 & 2 gives little passage. Riders are encouraged to accelerate past this at a fairly quick speed, and then return to the infield on the back stretch immediately after a finish. As the BVV director told my cert class, "People don't want to watch cool down laps." This led to one of the people in my class deciding she never wanted to ride a track again- she told me that she felt mtbing by herself in the Rockies was safer.
It's tragic- it's a great resource, and a super fun and beautiful track to ride, but I think that it's under-utilized because of several fairly critical design flaws. And I'm not even mentioning the splintered wood on turns 3 & 4 that scares the ***** out of me when I ride over it...
BVV is my home track, I ride there several times a week during the Spring and Summer. I'm sorry you had a
bad experience but keep on coming out there's a lot of great people who ride there. 250 meter tracks are intimidating for anyone the first time (it was for me and I rode many Madisons in the 80's on 333's). I always tell anyone interested in riding the track to try the OTC 333 first, 333's are way less intimidating. Even if you have to drive past BVV on your way to the OTC, it's worth it.
BVV has a very high minimum speed and it gets pretty dicey if you're a big sprinter trying to go slow in the turns but I've never had any issues entering and exiting the track. I always ride the apron for a couple of laps to get an idea of what kind of efforts everyone is doing and time my entry appropriately. Even though the sight lines are blocked by the party deck you should be aware of where everyone is on the track. Sometimes I'll take an extra lap to get a better gap.
There are some riders there that come off as not very friendly but they're that way to everyone not just visitors. I imagine that their temperament was probably exasperated because they were preping for Worlds. The vast majority of the riders are very welcoming and you'll find yourself talking to Olympians, world record holders and Rainbow Jersey owners.
The track director is focused on three things: safety, safety and safety. Sometimes that comes out as harsh but I welcome his focus. He's lectured our group of sprinters more than once for a lapse but we're all the better for it. He's a top shelf rider. If your head isn't 100% in the game you don't belong on the track. I've made the two hour drive there, suited up and then decided not to ride because I couldn't focus.
All outdoor tracks have imperfections. Learn to use them to your advantage. I use that section of the track to jump underneath people all the time. The root growing under turn 4 at Hellyer (hell yeah) was a great place to pass. The expansion joints at Rock Hill were described to me as horrific, sure you felt them with your tires pumped up to 210psi but they don't move you off your line.
Kevin