Safety: Keeping The Burnaby Velodrome Safe

Safety Pic Our goal at the Burnaby Velodrome is to make everyone's experience on the track as safe and as risk-free as possible, from weekly training sessions to National-calibre race events.

There's a joke that we tell whenever we introduce new riders to the Burnaby Velodrome:

There are two kinds of riders...
Those that crash and those that are about to.

Typically riders in our Learn to Ride classes laugh nervously when they hear this, recognizing that there's probably more than a grain of truth in this statement.

Even international track riders crash (not at Burnaby) photo courtesy of: cyclingnews.com

How do we make sure that people are safe?

Our track is smaller (200m) and tighter (47 degrees) than many of the other velodromes in Western Canada and the Western USA. Marymoor, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria -- all of these tracks are 333m or 400m and significantly less steep. Does that mean our track is "less safe?" Certainly not. But it does mean that things happen faster on our track, given that one lap takes about 15 seconds at speed, you have less time to make a decision about where you are going, how you're going to avoid someone, or how you're going to get out of the way of something happening.

Our best weapon against "unsafe riding" is education. If you are a first time rider at the velodrome, we strongly recommend that you take a Learn to Ride clinic. So strongly, we'd pretty much say it's mandatory. We often get objections about this. "I'm a Cat 2, I don't need to take a lesson on how to ride a bike" or "I've been riding bikes for years, I ride a fixed gear bike in the winter, why should I take this?" Our answer is simple: in order to ride the track, you must have adequate levels of both fitness and (most importantly) skill. Our Learn to Ride clinics are designed to focus on the skill component. Simple skills like, how to get on and off the track safely, to more advanced skills like riding in a pack or doing a mass-start race event.

The better/faster you are, the higher the stakes. If you get out on the track and are capable of riding at 50kmh but don't have the skill to properly control that speed, you are an even bigger risk to the other riders on the track compared to those who can't manage 40kmh. So even more reason that you should do everyone a favour and familiarize yourself with the basic "rider etiquette" or "track code of conduct" -- the rules that govern everyone else's behaviour on the track (passing on the right, sticking on the blue line, pulling off the front of a paceline going into a corner instead of coming out of a corner, etc.)

Unfortunately, we don't yet have a system of licensing at the track. That is, we can't act like the Motor Vehicle Branch and ask you to demonstrate an adequate skill level in operating your bike on the track before we give you full access to the boards. We can, however, ask you to get off the track and not come back. We've never had to do this to date, so please don't be the first person to receive this honour. We can come up with several recommended guidelines on competency though. And here they are...

Track Activity	Previous Track Experience	Recommended Experience / Instruction
First time riding	None	We recommend you sign up for a Learn to Ride program, take at least LTR#1, prior to getting out there for the first time.
First time riding	Other velodrome	We recommend you familiarize yourself with the track. A minimum of 30kmh is required to stay upright. Please talk with other riders about "Track Etiquette" - passing, entering/exiting, etc.
First time pack riding	Burnaby Velodrome only	LTR #2 and #3 are all about getting familiar and comfortable riding in a pack and learning the rules of moving around on the track with a large group of people.
First time racing	BVC LTR's	Before you race, you should take the Learn to Race course. These are offered less frequently than the Learn to Ride's, but often coincide with the weekend race events. If you have not raced before, have not taken a clinic on how to race, you can be a major risk to yourself and the other competitors on track. Speeds can hit in excess of 60kmh during race events, with 20 riders on track.
First time racing	Other velodrome	Again, familiarize yourself with the track, do fast efforts prior to the race event to make sure you know how the track handles at speed. During mass start events, sit near the back of the pack for the first event to get a feel for the speed, dynamics of the group, etc. Many riders from Washington, Victoria, Calgary, Oregon have stated they've been surprised at just how fast the track was, once the racing got going.