Thursday, September 13, 2007

Hellyer Velodrome - San Jose, California 09-12-2007

Since I have been riding the Lanster (in freewheel mode) I have been thinking that I would like to try riding fixie on a track. The closest track to my house is Kissena in Queens, New York but they did not have a beginners training session since the crowd there is hardcore. There is another track in Pennsylvania that hosted the Masters Nationals in August but the schedule indicates that is pretty much done for the year. I was looking on the internet for other tracks and I found the Hellyer Velodrome in San Jose. I also noticed that they had a beginner class on Saturday mornings.

In a surprising turn of events I have found myself in the San Jose area on business. It was completely unexpected. However, since I need to put in a full day on Friday I have decided to stay in California until Saturday. I am going to attend the morning (8:30 AM - 11:30 AM) beginner class.


According the the Hellyer website there is a Wednesday Evening racing series so I decided to drive down after work to check it out. I turns out the Wednesday Evening series is done for the season but there were several riders having a training session. They all seemed like nice folks. Several came up to me and started talking to me.


I took these pictures just before the sun went down. The traffic on Highway 101 was completely out of control. I wanted to stop at the Hotel and change out of my work clothes (shirt and tie) but I was afraid I was going to get there after the park closed so I was definitely over dressed for the session.


I am really look forward to the Saturday class. It certaintly looks like fun if not a little scary.







5 comments:

Mr Gardner said...

I have lived her since 1958 and did not know we had a track in the area. There was one built around 1892, see http://www.svcn.com/archives/rosegardenresident/20040902/rg-news3.shtml for more histry on that. Hope to see you this week end

EdR

Mr Gardner said...

I have lived her since 1958 and did not know we had a track in the area. There was one built around 1892, see http://www.svcn.com/archives/rosegardenresident/20040902/rg-news3.shtml for more histry on that. Hope to see you this week end

EdR

Flametop59 said...

Unfortunately it does not look like I am going to get a chance to ride. My flight on Saturday leaves at 12:04 PM which means I will not have to have time to ride. It is my own fault since I was afraid to commit to the Red-eye and now I cannot make the change. I still have not given up.

Mr Gardner said...

Really enjoyed your blog. Have bookmarked it and will continue to visit from time to time. Also enjoyed your Mom's entry about her race and your entries about weekend family trips with your daughter & friends.
A friend from work (Jim Parissenti) couldn't go to the Tour de France this year(he's been the last three) so entered to ride in the San Jose Tour de French Fry. Here is the link to the news story: http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_6436635?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com&nclick_check=1

Sure enjoyed seeing you this evening. Thanks sooo much for making the time. Travel safe and hurry back.
Lynne

Anonymous said...

enjoyed the comments regarding trip to California. Sorry you couldn't make it to the track. Maybe the next time. toesnap