Bike Racing League at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome
Track racing is not for everyone. It’s not like riding your bike on the road. Track racing is a highly competitive sport where a group of racers race against each other and try to get first position by going around each other on a narrow, banked, oval track.
The bikes are different too. They are only one gear bikes with no brakes. To come to a stop you must first pedal slower and then find a wall to hold you up. Why the wall? Because your feet are strapped into the pedals. Strapping your feet to the pedals makes stopping hard because you can’t put your feet on the ground to help you stop and hold you up. The reason your feet are strapped to the pedals is so you can pedal both by pushing down on the pedals and by pulling up on the straps while pedaling. The straps also help you slow down because pedaling slower is made easier by pulling up on the straps to slow yourself down.
The Spring BRL runs from mid April to mid June. BRL sessions are two days a week after school either on a Tuesday/Thursday or a Monday/Wednesday depending on which team you sign up for. The cost is very small, especially considering the amount of training and the quality of training they are getting. During the Spring BRL season the coaches will treat the racers as though they are the racer’s own personal trainers. Afterall, they want their team to win.
Spring BRL is a track racing program. If your child has never raced on a track bike before then they would need to take the two week, six session introductory program. They have to first learn to ride a track bike and how to ride on a track before they will be allowed to participate in the BRL.
Each BRL session is 90 minutes long and kids are broken down into groups separated by gender and age. The first two weeks of Spring BRL will be practice sessions so the kids can get back into the swing of track racing. After that they start scrimmages and then races. If they qualify they may be able to participate in the Spring BRL finals. At the finals they will have the chance to win a gold, silver or bronze medal.
Don’t bring your bike, just your helmet. The Lehigh Valley Velodrome has track bikes that the kids can use free of charge. Wear bike clothes, you will be more comfortable. Don’t wear wide shoes, they may not fit into the straps comfortably.
Registration must be done in March either at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome or at their Web site. A release form must be signed by the child’s parent before the child will be allowed on the track. Track racing is a potentially dangerous sport, as are most sports, so sign up with caution.
