A Great Day Out for UK Cyclists….!!

 

Had a great day out yesterday at the London Velodrome.  The first day of the UCI Track World Championships was on at the Olympic Velodrome.  Terrific entertainment and only £12 to get in.

Being the first day, it was mainly heats, except for the Ladies Sprint Final.  Great fun and drama nonetheless.

Hints and Tips

• This was my second visit, and I suggest the better seats are along the straights.  The ends of the bowl are to be avoided.
• I also feel the best straight is the one far across from the finish line, and not beside it.
• On the second visit, I was able to sit by the railing and the first visit it was in the back row.  Unexpectedly the back row was the better view of the two, but the optimum is probably about 3 or 4 rows back from the front.
• Leave enough time to walk from the station to the velodrome.  It’s about 15 minutes walk. Tube station is slightly closer than the railway station.
• The Central Line and Jubilee line are pretty good and drop you into the Westfield shopping centre just at the M&S food hall.  Pop in there and take sandwiches and lots of drink with you.
• The HS1 train from St Pancras is a pretty neat way to get there – it takes six minutes and Stratford is first stop. Cost is about £6 return.
• The velodrome has a controlled atmosphere to protect the track surface.  It’s very warm and the air is dry in there, so dress in layers you can peel off!

Marks and Spencer Launch Winter Range….!!

I always find that when I want to buy something like a new raincoat at M&S, it’ll be about December – when the rain is setting in.  And dear M&S are only stocking spring and summer ranges at that time!  It’s the same with cycling magazines – On about the 24th July, the September edition of Cycling Plus plopped through the letter box….

So as it’s July 2013, along come all the 2014 model announcements.  The one that has caught my attention is the Ultegra  announcement for 2014 from Shimano.

What’s new ??  Well, a couple of things have caught my eye….

1. The weight is down a bit – to 2274gms (it was 2309 before)
2. You can now get an 11-32T cassette just like SRAM, which for old, overweight guys like me could be a blessing
3. It looks like they have adopted the Dura Ace crank design which is same stiffness as before but lighter.

Click here to see what bike radar says about the mechanical groupset

Click here to see what they say about the Di2 version whose weight is 2359gms.

It’ll be available at your local M&S in September….