Last week, TriReview editor Joe was invited to London’s Olympic Velodrome for an evening of training and racing. 

It was all part of a charity event organised by The Mayor’s Fund for London which exists to give young Londoners skills and opportunities to get a decent job and escape poverty.

It was fun, tiring and also quite scary up on the high edges!

See videos of the event below.

Also there on the night was Rob Hayles – 3X Olympic medalist and double Track World Champion.

He clocked a lap time of about 16.5 seconds (Joe’s best was 19.5!)

When asked about triathletes using the velodrome Rob said: “generally triathletes don’t post great times on the track. This is because, as he says, we are not used to the sort of fast power output that is needed to build up and keep speed for shorter but more intense periods.”

This was proven with the triathletes who took part not posting particularly spectacular times.

Rob said the velodrome could help any triathletes build up strength, but more importantly, bike handling skills. A small amount of velodrome training will help triathletes no end. However, he also added that too much training could actually be detrimental to triathletes. 

So the advice from a former track cycling world champ is for triathletes to visit the velodrome but don’t make it a regular thing. Unless of course you get the bug and just want to enjoy yourself on the track every now and then!