1incpa

Something to keep in mind: If you don't have "steep track" experience, you'll have to go through the track 101, 201 and 301 classes.
No group riding until 201 is complete, no racing until 301 is complete.
I was planning on heading up for the 101 class this weekend, but with the weather we're having, I'm not sure.

I have a bunch of years of track racing experience, but it's all at T-Town, which is not a steep track.

BTW, there's more detailed info about upcoming sessions on their facebook page.

PI

carleton

If anyone involved with the new velodrome is watching this thread. What you are doing is awesome and can be overwhelming. Timely communication is key to getting and keeping participation high.

DLV is a great example:
Dick Lane Velodrome | A volunteer-based 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation, care and growth of the Dick Lane Velodrome, located in East Point, Georgia
https://twitter.com/dicklanevelo

Look at how much and how often they communicate. Everything from daily training/track updates to weekly race results and big race series. Early and Often Communication is key...even if things are subject to change. One has to keep in mind that you'll have racers taking off of work and driving several hours just to ride a few laps. But, it's hard to commit to such if they aren't sure that the track will be available, races will happen, or whatever.

Rock Hill went through this just a few years ago.

Pick one or two communication channels that are dedicated to being up to date and timely. Enable the decision-makers to post to those channels. Facebook is common for brochure type stuff. But understand that everyone doesn't use FB. Twitter is more common and one can easily bookmark a twitter feed on their browser and get the latest post and people don't have to register or surrender their email addresses to keep up. FB is more cumbersome.

chas58

Thanks Carleton.

At this point things are handled through the web site and a mailing list (yahoo):

Web site: Lexus Velodrome
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LexusVelodrome/
Yahoo mailing list (sign up on web site above).

Its the same crew that has been running/volunteering with our outdoor velodrome (IVBP) for about 15 years; this is taking it to the next level (with more events, sponsorship, and prize money).

Example of this week's communication:
My neck is still trying to get used to riding on a 166m track. Off to get more practice now...

carleton

That's awesome.

My long-term suggestion: Don't use FB as your primary method of communication.

FB cares more about getting people to sign up to FB than they do about your organization. Also, people who use FB may not realize what the experience is like for people who do not use FB. Here is what I get every 30s on the track's FB page as I navigate around. Yes, I keep clicking "not now", and it keeps appearing.



Maybe install a WordPress module on your site and publish directly there. That way you can avoid FB. Without getting on a soapbox, FB isn't a very good or nice company. DLV got volunteer IT help from the local racers. Maybe you can get help that way.

Also, DLV has a volunteer hours system whereby a participant can get a discount on their annual track pass by volunteering. It's an effective way to incentivize helping.

chaadster

I'm excited to give the velodrome a try, as I've never done it. I emailed through the website, got a reply the same day, and communicated with Dale directly the next day. He said they're opening the week of the 16th, but did not mention that cert classes ($30/person for 101 + $10 for bike rental) are underway already, probably because I was inquiring specifically about a group event for one of my road clubs.

Anyway, I'm excited to try the sport out; I never bothered to go to Bloomer Park because it's 1hr 20min away from me, but DFF Lexus is exactly half the time at 40mins, so that's pretty sweet.

Dunno if I'll catch the track bug or not, but I'll be hanging around in this forum a bit, hoping to learn some stuff from you folks!

1incpa

Above I outlined what it will take for me to race in Detroit.
I'm wondering if this is standard for most tracks.
Do other tracks give consideration to previous race experience?
I'd hate to drive 9 hours for the 101 class to be taught what the lines on the track mean, and basic etiquette.
I realize it's all about rider safety, and I'm willing to play by the rules, but the idea of 3 separate 9 hour (1 way) trips so I can race makes me a bit hesitant.

Thanks,
PI

Allegheny Jet

I'm looking forwards to riding at the Lexus Velodrome soon. Driving from the Cleveland area is doabale for a day on the track, for years senior citizens would make the commute to Detroit just to gamble. I contacted Dale regarding steep banked riding and classes and since our Cleveland Velodrome is steep tracked all I will need to do is get an orientation of site protocal/proceedures prior to getting on the track!

tobukog

Riding on a steep track is overrated in terms of difficulty. I'm always surprised by riders who are used to steep tracks blowing out on turns on flatter tracks. Smaller tracks, however do introduce the need to be much more aware.

chas58

Again, contact Dale like Chaadster did. We have people from London and Cleveland who come up (down) in the summer (both tiny tracks), and occasionally people from T-town.


Cool Beans!

He probably didn't mention it because the track is closed this week, so in effect it is open the 16th (although the first 101 class was yesterday). Still setting things up.

bitingduck

I'll second the "don't use FB". The other things about FB are that everything you post is effectively ephemeral because it will eventually slip off what gets loaded when people click your page, and because of the way the database works it neither guarantees that your followers will all see your posts nor does it even make it possible to reliably even return to a post that you overlook.

When I was doing the page for Carson, we had two of us maintaining it just using some web page editor and templates (I don't remember which) and it was easy to maintain. Worst case we could always hand edit the html. I hacked in some php based calendar program that I still like better than the google calendar that they use now because it didn't hide most of the text for each item in month view.To make it so that the track director could send out up-to-the-minute information (e.g. about parking problems, facility closures, etc) we put in a little box with his twitter feed so that a) it would show up right on the web page and b) people could subscribe separately. Wordpress is also very easy and can be even better if you spend some time of money on a nice template for it. I run a couple wordpress based sites and it's a nice and well-behaved platform.

Also, make sure someone responsible owns the domain name and server access. I think Encino had problems for a while where they could make only very limited updates because someone who was non-responsive and also unwilling to give it up controlled the server access. It's also easy to lose a domain if it's not owned by someone who will make sure it gets renewed regularly.

bitingduck

Carson was similar when I was part of LAVRA, but we worked it out with the track director that we could offer a free "accelerated class" on race days to anybody who was registered to race. It was about 30 minutes of someone going over the local track etiquette and basic track rules (it does vary a lot from track to track) followed by demonstrating that you could ride 5ish laps at each of the lines without sliding down or looking sketchy. The ride did a couple things - it made sure everybody had some time going round and round without anybody else near them (there were rarely more than 10 people in the race day class) and it let *everybody* who was going to be racing see the new riders and how they rode. Very few people failed. If you were a track cat 2 or higher you didn't have to take the class. Doing it this way meant that we could get a lot of track cat 5s to come out and race without having to make a multi-week, high $ commitment. Rental bikes couldn't be used for racing.

(edit: the "accelerated class" was something that already existed for people with prior track or extensive prior racing experience, so adding a free one on race days was only a small jump)

(another edit: the other advantage of the accelerated class on race days is that it encouraged people to come from up and down the coast to race without having to make advance trips. We would get groups from SD or SJC who would carpool, and groups from Seattle and Portland who would do road trips together and race multiple tracks down the coast in a long trip).

jsk

While I agree Facebook shouldn't be your only means of communicating with people, I think "don't use Facebook" is bad advice. I get lots of info about races and related events through FB that I might not otherwise use.

It's true you have very little control over how many people see posts on your page. But if you create FB Events, these propagate fairly well and are extremely useful because FB users can view upcoming events they're interested in, get notifications about posts made to the Event page, etc.

bitingduck

Yes, I didn't mean don't use it at all, but don't use it as your primary means of communication or calendaring. It's not just that you have little control over how many people see your posts, but that you can't even be sure your followers see your posts unless you pay. It's also no replacement for a real calendar. It's fine as a marketing tool to try to get attention for things.

carleton

FB does what it does very well.

But, as a 20+ year IT professional, I can tell you that FB does more harm than good. At the individual level and up from there.

The lure if FB is enticing. It's free, easy, fast, ubiquitous, and entertaining. But, as the saying goes, "If you ain't paying, you aren't the customer. You are the product being sold." But, FB does much, much more than that.

I guess what we are trying to say is that there are much better options out there for minimal fees.

I would be remiss if I recommended its use just like I would if I recommended eating off of the McDonalds $1 menu as one's main source of nutrition. Even though it's nearly free (in terms of $/calorie*), easy, fast, ubiquitous, and is tasty.

FB is the McDonalds of technology.

It may have been good back in the "good old days", but it's far from that now. It's a machine that very, very few understand...but very, very many use several times daily.



*Which is why it's popular in poor neighborhoods. Many know it's bad for them. But, where can you take $3 and get 1,500 calories immediately?

1incpa

Thank you BitingDuck!
This is what I'm looking for, first hand experiences of how other tracks handle new riders.

PI

carleton

You can go here and contact several ATRA velodrome directors/administrators and get all the info you'd ever want.

You guys might even want to join ATRA

Member Velodromes ? ATRA: American Track Racing Association