Oh yeah! Detroit has an indoor velodrome now

I haven't been doing much training lately. It's been a combination of being busy, being tired, and my knee being sore. Ugh.

But! One exciting thing I did do a few weeks ago was visit Detroit's new indoor velodrome. I don't know anything about velodrome racing, but I have watched a few crit races in person, and tickets were something like $10 general admission. I paid an extra few bucks for actual seats. I figured, I have definitely spent more on dumber stuff, so this was a no-brainer.

The inner part included seating, including these "suites" of couches and tables.

We had so much fun! The track was 1/10th of a mile around, so there were a lot of laps. There was a whole lineup of races, from youths to pro. There were scratch races (typical race, first across the line wins), elimination races (whoever crosses the finish line last every other lap is out) and some crazy stuff called a Madison. It was a partner race and after a few laps, partners would clasp hands and one would fling the other farther along the track. I have never seen anything like it!

FLINGING each other back into the race!

Although I didn't really know what was going on, the announcer did a great job narrating the action and getting the crowd excited. Concessions were something ridiculous like $1 each. It was a great night and I definitely want to go back. Maybe I'll take my dad, who did some cycling and rode a century when I was a kid.

The velodrome offers a Track 101 class and I SOOO wish my knee was feeling up to it. I mean, I can barely ride clipped in, I'm sure I can manage flinging a partner into the race. Haha.

From the catwalk above the track, you could see everything. It was awesome.