Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome – Why all the fuss?

There are a lot of bike riders out there that are wondering what all the fuss about the velodrome is and I’m guessing that the vast majority of them are wondering why? So I’ll try and explain the reasons why I think this facility is going to be the biggest thing that will happen in Scottish Cycling ever. Yes EVER because I’ve absolutely no doubt in my mind that it will revolutionise (pardon the pun) the development of all the cyclists that ride it on a regular basis.

I never really considered the track much as a kid, growing up as I did in deepest darkest Norfolk about two hours from the nearest facility. I did however make the occasional trip to the now defunct Harlow track, I also rode the boards at Leicester and Calshot on a BCF training weekend (more about that some other time). So basically I stuck to what was available to me, the pretty standard fair of youth and junior road races, time trials and the criterium circuits which seemed to be far more plentiful than are available to kids these days. So it was back then in the days of black and white.

It seems ridiculous to me now that I only really got to know the fun that could be had on the banking until the day about three years ago when Mr Bark organised our former club’s track day at Meadowbank, suddenly it all came flooding back I’d forgotten loads but with some expert guidance I was soon up and down the boards as if I’d never been away from them. Don’t get me wrong I’m no six day rider but the experience totally re-invigorated me and planted a seed that has grown over the past couple of years through regular attendances at the Meadowbank track league.

I had never really considered the track as a possibility partly for the reasons outlined before but coming back to the sport after far too long away, the opportunity to ride on a proper velodrome was too good to be missed and after a few trips through to the capital I found it more and more satisfying and once into the groove found myself becoming more competitive. The benefit of riding the track also helped enormously with my road racing. To me there is no co-incidence that I had one of my best seasons on the road having spent time on the boards.

You only have to look at the line up of the guys on the British team in Copenhagen who took Mark Cavendish to the Rainbow jersey the majority of them came through British Cycling's track programme at Manchester and are endurance track riders. The facility in Glasgow is going to be better than Manchester, it has been designed with riders in mind by riders who have spent the vast majority of their cycling lives in velodromes. I haven't even mentioned that the British Track Squad will no doubt use this facility on a regular basis which will no doubt rub off on the youngsters coming through for the future. It is a fact that you will become a better all around bike rider from getting onto a track. I know I have and it can be done in a relatively short time with the right guidance. I urge you to get yourself and/or your kids onto the Sir Chris Hoy at the earliest opportunity and discover the purest form of bike racing there is.

Because, if a 40+ bloke in less than two years can go from virtual novice to medalling in a British Masters Championship there is hope for us all!

The year of 'The Sir Chris'

We were formed with this date in mind, 2012 was always going to be when things started to get very exciting, but things have already been on-the-up since back in early 2010 when all this Vortex chat kicked off.

The opening date for the Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow's East End is 1st October 2012,  there's a lot of work to do in between now & that date. Looks like we'll have 2 track coaches fully trained up, an event planned at the track, plus loads of riders will be accredited and ready to ride.

Meadowbank in Edinburgh is still currently Scotland's number one track, a 250m outdoor wooden track seems a mad thing to build, but just look at the champions it's produced with it's incliment weather limitations. It's also vital we keep a venue in Edinburgh, plus another vital venue is Caird Park in Dundee, it's getting resurfaced after some very hard work from some active volunteers, which is what keeps our sport (and all sports at grass roots level) going, the work behind the scenes is often a thankless but vital task. These tracks will complement 'The Sir Chris' as I head it mentioned recently, maybe that'll stick, let's make it stick. Track cycling is about to kick off big time in Scotland. The rumours of a possible indoor track in Inverness are also something to look forward to, that would be incredible if it came off.

Vortex RT has been undergoing some transformations too, we're building and expanding with a very welcome burgeoning sportive section, all of whom will obviously be provided with the opportunity to get some track craft and time on the boards of our old friend Meadowbank, before the comfy indoor velodrome opens.
There will be more on this later, along with some sponsor announcements, then it's hard work until the season opens for our racers & riders, the bid is in for the Scottish Men's & Women's Road Championships with a bigger & better plan than 2011, so we hope to run that again, we'll let you know if it's successful. Roll on 'The Sir Chris'.

Vortex RT

Scottish Road Champs 2011: Wrap-up

Oliphant (RCD Photographic)

 A week later & everything is returning back to normal (until the next event). We're all beginning to sleep properly again after what seems like a rollercoaster ride up to the event, hopefully it all pieced together on the day. From an organisers point of view, we tend to spend the day answering questions, directing people & generally sorting things to make sure everything runs smoothly, a task which if it's done correctly, nobody knows it's being done, hopefully we were successful. So we tend to lose the overview of the event that you get by being a spectator, but judging by the feedback, everybody had a good time, the riders got some support & the good number of non cycling spectators got to see racing close up, the way it should be.

Barr leads (RCD Photographic)

The people of Balfron & the surrounding area have been hugely supportive in our efforts to pull this together, we've met Daryn Piper from the community council on a number of occasions and with his help we've included the community in the event, without this enthusiasm we'd have been unable to make a route passing through a village safe for the riders, as you could see with coned off areas & volunteer marshals from the community. In return the riders put on a great show for the spectators and some local businesses benefitted from the event, there were a lot of people on that finishing straight, a great noisy crowd, exactly what we were looking for.

Womens podium (RCD Photographic)

We've got a lot of people to thank, loads of 'Friends of Vortex' came forward on the day to help out, it was really appreciated. For those non cyclists reading this, Vortex Race Team is one of many cycling clubs, we don't run events for a profit, everybody working on the event does so for a bit of grub & some petrol money, as with all but 3 or 4 majorly sponsored sports I expect this is the case with Scottish championships in most other sports, run by small teams of people, these are the people that help sport run in Scotland and everybody who helped made the event what it was. The organising team from Vortex RT were Colin Bark, Jeremy Greengrass & Tom Worthington, all contributed hugely for the last 6 months to create what we hope has been a memorable championships, we're even considering going through it all again next year and placing a bid with Scottish Cycling. We're going to get out on our bikes now!!

Where do we start, in no particular order... 

All photos courtesy of Robin Dick, RCD Photographic (see link below for more)

......the race convoy....
In the lead cars we had Robert Kennedy from Milersport Architecture (Vortex RT too) & Graeme Steen (City of Edinburgh RT), both drove all day long across the two races, a tough job and requires complete concentration ahead & in rear view mirrors.
Our commissaires control the event and direct everybody through CB's, a rolling manager & referee all rolled into one, tough jobs & as I said, everybody's a volunteer. In the womens champs we had John Davies (VC Glasgow South) & Tom Forbes (VC Astar & Ivy CC), they were driven by Martin Harris (Discovery Junior CC) & Guto Williams (East Kilbride Road Club). The mens event commissaires were Al Sutton & Kevan Sturgeon (both Elgin Cycling Club), they were driven by Stevie Hazlett (Ivy Cycling Club) & Neil McLeod (Glasgow Wheelers).
We have 2 first aid cars in each event, in each car a St Andrews Ambulance first aider is covering the race, the first aiders in the womens event were driven by Bobby Gilmour & Bobby Brown (both Glasgow Nightingale CC). In the mens we David Leese (Vortex RT) and Bobby Brown again. Not too many problems in the womens event, but a high speed puncture and crash resulted in a number of riders needing attention in the mens, one rider was airlifted to hospital as a precaution, but he's ok and is racing again this weekend in Barcelona, tough guy Stuart MacGregor.
The race service was covered in both events by the team from Solid Rock Cycles of Balmore, the shop mechanics were providing fast wheel changes and vehicles to the event, a very important job. Without this service a riders race could be over very quickly if they punctured and failed to get back into the bunch quickly.
Thanks very much to all the race convoy, you did an excellent job and we'd love you all to come back for more next year.

 Mens break (RCD Photographic)

.....marshalls......
The unsung heroes of every race, these guys stand on the corners in the howling wind & rain, to keep the riders safe, any race you're at please go and thank these people, true heroes and all of ours did a fantastic job. We had several clubs helping out on this, plus a good number of locals who did a great job, some on their first marshalling duties, we're all impressed!
We had representatives from loads of other clubs, the Ivy CC, Glasgow United CC, Glasgow Nightingale CC (big Al from Wheelcraft was photo's a lot in his own 'special' fashion), thankyou everybody for that and we hope the goody food bag helped a bit, tomoto ketchup will be in there for you next time Al, duly noted request.

......Janette Hazlett & helpers....
Yes Janette, you get your own category! The Ivy Cycling Club volunteer extraordinaire (she'll be cringing at this, but it's all true) took full control of the lap control, time gaps and keeping everybody informed about what was going on at the corner in Balfron. Essentially a judge, timekeeper and coordinator, an asset to any event, thanks Janette. Also thanks for flags, signs etc, loads of help pre-event too. Thanks also to Leigh Marshall from the Braveheart Fund who was helping Janette out at that corner. The local marshall who provided bacon rolls and tea was especially helpful, saved us a job, much appreciated.

......photo finish, NEG & Scottish Cycling .......
Bill & Sandy operate the photo finish kit all year round for Scottish Cycling, it's now become a 'must have' at any race, as before these guys are tireless volunteers who help make events run smoothly all over Scotland and sometimes down south. Hopefully putting the guys next to Doyles cafe this time made things a bit more comfortable, quite often they're stuck in the middle of nowhere, with a couple of sheep and a cow for company, hopefully we didn't scare them off.
The NEG (National Escort Group) were fantastic as usual, these guys are police trained volunteer motorcycle outriders and help keep the race safe, if you were there you wouldn't have been able to avoid their presence, we had 6 in total, they did a great job as usual. 
Scottish Cycling provided the photo finish, the NEG riders & the medals, plus the SC van with all the kit we needed and we were helped set up the finish area, thanks Mark & son. They made a wise & welcome decision (in our opinion) of awarding Vortex RT the road championships in 2011, we hope we gave it the respect it deserves.

Doyles Cafe (RCD Photographic)

......the people of Balfron & surrounding area......
We owe a huge gratitude to the following individuals & organisations for their help, every one has helped to make the events what they were.
Fundamental to it all were the people of Balfron & their community council, we couldn't have hoped to have a more supportive community to help us run the Scottish Championships.
Colin Bark visited the farms on the course before the event and we owe a huge thanks to all the farmers, they ensured that there were no livestock movements across the road on the day and offered to limit use of tractors too. Everything ran smoothly on the day and hopefully we didn't cause them too much disruption. Thanks also to Malcolm Paterson (Nightingale CC) for his help on this.
Stirling Council also helped hugely, providing banners, cones & poncho's on the day. The resurfacing work carried out by them on the course before the event allowed us to use this circuit, previously we wouldn't have run a race on it, all really appreciated.
We also really appreciate having the Provost of Stirling Fergus Wood & BBC Sport's Rhona McLeod available for the prizegivings, this really helped to make the podium presentations very special, huge thanks to both.
The people of Balfron came out in impressive numbers to cheer on the race, loads of riders have said that this is what made the day for them, so get cheered round the circuit and over the line, thanks and we hope you enjoyed yourselves.

Mens Podium (RCD Photographic)

........event partners & sponsors......
There's a long list here, everybody did a splendid job and shared our vision of what we were trying to do.
Ridley Bikes of Belgium, who provide some of the worlds top quality racing bikes also provided first prize of a carbon fibre race frame to mens race winner Evan Oliphant (Endura Racing). The full range is available at Solid Rock Cycles in Balmore.
Optical Express & Adidas Eyewear, providing sports glasses & prescription sports glasses were there all day offering assistance & provided Scottish womens champion Jane Barr (Velocity44Stirling) with some Adidas eyewear.If you require prescription cycling glasses or advice, give them a call or visit the shop at 28-36 Renfield Street, Glasgow.
Keytime Blackberry Centre on Great Western Road, Glasgow, are an indpendent mobile retailer who provide a huge range of mobile phones (not just Blackberry) & contracts to businesses & the public, worth a look. They provided a Blackberry to mens silver medal winner Gary Hand (Endura/Pedalpower).
Not only providing race service, but also helping with our finish line area, Solid Rock Cycles provided a giant 'tent', unfortunately it had to be taken down in the afternoon's high winds, but provided a rain free area for the ladies podium presentation. They had some new products on show, carbon wheels from Cruise Racing Products, have a look. Solid Rock also brought out friends and family in force to support the events.
Doyles cafe on the finish line was a great & welcome addition the to day's events. We'd like to thank Jack & his team for opening on a Sunday. We noticed the athletes from the ladies race were giving special attention to the home made cakes as part of their post race recovery. Jack normally rides his bike on Sundays, but if you're on a Saturday ride, I'm sure you'd be more than welcome to use Doyles as your coffee shop.

Womens lead group (RCD Photographic)

........the riders........
All the riders gave a fantastic show of strength, power, skill & fitness to the spectators. With the circuit based format everybody got to see the riders a number of times & everybody appreciated their ability to be courteous (& smiling) immediately after crossing the finishing line in the gruelling races. Really was great to see and shows our sport in a very positive manner, a great introduction for some new cycling fans.

.........the photographers........
We've seen some stunning shots from loads of photographers, who all captured the event, we've compiled a list below, this can be added to if we've missed any. Get in touch if you want yours listed here, email here.

Robin Dick was in the action on a motorbike, driven by Scottish Cycling's Graeme Herd for some laps, see his photos of both event in the following link. Particularly interesting is the capture of Oliphants winning attack in a sequence of shots, the spectators didn't get to see this, here's your chance. RCD Photographic (all photos in this article are property of RCD Photographic)
Graeme Brown took some excellent shots, all on this link. GeeBee Images
Stuart Hall from Our Day Photos was on the road all day taking some superb action shots. All Day Photos flickr
Ian Henderson was back out taking great shots, see them here LeesLang flickr
Vortex RT flickr site has a good number of shots from various contributors. Vortex flickr

Oliphant (RCD Photographic)

Results, links & reports.
Womens Championship results by Vortex RT.
Mens Championships results by Vortex RT.
Veloresults report.
VeloUK mens report.
VeloUK womens report.
Previous Vortex RT blog preview 1
Previous Vortex RT blog preview 2

DHL Meadowbank National Track League 26/04/11

After the balmy conditions of the first week, Meadowbank returned to it's traditional temperatures, although this time we had an unusual easterly wind, straight from Siberia and giving us a nice chilly headwind on the home straight. Blankets were the most prized items in the D, riders huddling together under them between races (the D's the area the riders all sit in, coz it's shaped like a D).
Representing Vortex RT were Jeremy Greengrass, Mark Colquhoun & Colin Bark. Mark took this opportunity to brighten up the dull skies with a new pair of canary coloured Mavic shoes and received his team issue skinsuit.

 Onto the racing, more riders this week, so some events were a bit 'chaotic', but things are learnt quickly in track racing, there's always somebody to offer some advice, good to see riders get the hang of it in a short space of time.

Brucy Bonus
We were all wondering where Bruce Croall (British kilo champ) was last week, this time he showed us he was going well, taking wins in the 15 lap scratch & the 8km, beating our own Jez in the finale of the latter one, must have been a close finish as Jez wasn't sure if he'd won it or just been pipped until the result was announced. Bodes well for the future.

Sprint Ladder
We had Colin & Jez in this, Colin was feeling a little under the weather (& he needs another 10kg of muscle to squeeze out a sprint), but Jez won his heat. Would be good to see our comeback man Mark Colquhoun in that next time, but not entirely sure how it works.

Rest of the racing
As expected Martin Lonie was picking up points right through the night in various events, putting him to the top of the league table & also good to see Greg Brown, also from Dooleys dishing out some pain.
Looks like the track league is quite healthy this year, loads of new riders plus all the established ones and a few of us from the west getting ourselves through.
From our point of view, Mark's starting to look very strong and Jez is getting right up into the action, hopefully Colin can breathe next week, the Vortex will be gathering in numbers and the weeks progress.
 
Results from this week
Overall standings
League Info
Our info blog from a while ago

Jane Barr – Women’s Scottish Road Race Champion 2010

On receiving Jane Barr’s entry for the Scottish Road Race Championship we asked if she would speak to us about how she got into bike racing, her thoughts on the 2011 Balfron course and her future plans. So when she agreed, we arranged to catch up over a coffee on a rare rest day to have a chat about her swift rise to the top of Scottish cycling. I quickly found that she had come a long way in a very short period of time.

Can you tell me a little about your cycling background?

“I intitially started racing late in 2009 through the Gold for Glasgow programme. I managed to get onto the squad late on in that season and managed to get a couple of races in late in the year. After that I got a good solid winter of training which led to my first full racing season in 2010. I went from strength to strength and did well in both Scottish and British races, which led to me going over to Holland with the Scottish Team to some stage races there this led onto me being selected to go to the Commonwealth Games in Dehli”

What sports did you do before coming to cycling?

“I come from a running background and competed for Scotland at long distance running but stopped once I finished at University and then did a bit of mountain biking with some friends one of whom told me about the Gold for Glasgow programme so I just went along and that was it”

How have you found the transition from running to bike racing?

At the start it was quite strange because in running you are racing for yourself and push yourself as hard as you can for the whole race and if that’s good enough then so be it. I found quite quickly that bike racing wasn’t about giving your full out effort all the time, it’s about making the effort when it counts so that you can get the most gain out of it. So it was quite a steep learning curve and my first couple of races in 2009 I found out the hard way and learned pretty quickly how to do it properly. In terms of training cycling is certainly more time consuming but the motivation still has to be there and my coach Graeme Herd has helped me enormously with both a training schedule and the tactical side of racing.

So you made the move from Stirling Bike Club to your new team Velocity 44 this year can you tell me a little about that?

“Yeah it’s a new team based in Stirling from the Velocity44 shop in Barnton Street. All the team involved in the project give me fantastic support allowing me to concentrate on racing along with my team mate Laura Murray. We also have a guys team and some mountain bikers.

How do you find racing as part of a team?

“It’s good, different I really enjoy racing as part of a team both with my team Velocity44 and with the Scotland set up. It’s a totally different outlook to previously and I enjoy it, helping others to get the best results possible for the team.”

You won the Scottish Road Race title last year. It’s slightly different this year as it is a stand alone race, what are your thoughts on the way that it’s been formatted this year?

“It’s good I’m pleased that it is it’s own race this year, it will have it’s own identity and recognition and I think that is what women’s cycling needs especially as it will give the women in Scotland to race against each other”

What do you think of the course that Vortex Race Team have come up with at Balfron?

“I think it will be quite a challenging course. It’s quite deceptive if you just go round it once or twice the hills don’t seem that steep or long but having ridden over it for a few laps they will take their toll and there will definitely be some breakaways especially as it is quite a twisty course and this should lend itself to groups getting away, so it should make for a good race as there are quite a few women who are at the same level and they will definitely make it hard for each other. I think it really good that we will have a proper race as it’s great that you can say that you are the Scottish Champion and there will be a lot of people that want to be Scottish Champion.”

So after the Championship what are your plans for the rest of the season?

“The main goal is the British Women’s series, unfortunately all the races are down in England this year and then I also plan to go out to Holland and do some stage races there with the Scotland Team and then the British Champs in Northumberland which should suit me with the climbs.”

And in the future there is obviously the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow?

“Yes Graeme and I have been making plans for 2014 as I firstly need to qualify which will probably need to be done the year before as the games will be earlier in the year than Dehli and secondly I’ll need to be competitive so I may need to go to the Southern Hemisphere to get some competitive racing in beforehand”

And racing on the continent?

“Yes definitely, in the games last year all the girls that were there were racing on the continent so you have to race there to get up to that level and be over there consistently. The bunches are so much bigger than over here and your bike handling has to be so much better than here, the Dutch girls especially have been doing it since they were juniors and with me coming into cycling that bit later you have to learn that pretty quickly when there’s 140 of you on narrow Dutch roads!”

How have your results been so far this year?

“They’re getting there I’ve only done a few APR’s, a race out in Holland and one in the British Series where I was a little disappointed with my 15th place, but things didn’t quite go to plan on that day”

The series is made up of Road Races and Criteriums, how do you find the Criterium Racing?

“It’s a bit of a shock to the system because as soon as the gun goes that’s it, red line for the full hour, I’ve done a couple in Holland and wow, I didn’t think it was possible to corner as fast as that, it was unbelievable and you soon learn that you have to keep pushing yourself to the front, but I really enjoyed it. I’ll be racing abroad again this year in June so hopefully I’ll learn some more.”

With her quiet self assured manner and the guiding hand of her coaches I’m positive that Jane will indeed “learn some more” and will absolutely be one to watch not only at the Scottish Road Race 2011 but also in Glasgow 2014 with a Scottish Jersey on her back. Good luck to her in both.

Scottish champs course preview update No1

Please see our previous course preview here, the resufacing is done now and this is going to be a great event, the improvements in the surface are going to make a huge difference.


After a ride round the newly resurfaced circuit, we can safely say we're really looking forward to hosting the event, a special thanks must go to the people of Balfron & their community council, who have allowed us the opportunity to take the event into the town each lap, without their co-operation this really wouldn't be a possibility.

SPECTATOR VIEWING POINTS

There are also a number of prime viewing points we've identified on the circuit, bring some binoculars if you want to get the full benefit of these locations.
(See map below)

1. The short rise heading East up to Clayland farm also allows views over to the other side of the Endrick Valley where you can see what's happening on a couple of the 'stickier' sections of the race and then the resulting splits on the run into Balfron. We don't really want any cars parked here, so please use this location on your bike or park in a safe location off the road and walk to this point.
2. The climb to Dalfoil is where we reckon the main damage will be done, the gradient changes constantly here and finishes off with a drag of about 1km, spectators will see some action here for sure. There's also an area off the road where cars can be parked, which is right on the steepest section, a good location for those not on bikes. From the drag the opposite side of the circuit can also be seen in a few locations, again binoculars would be very beneficial here.
3. Balfron corner. This area should see a good amount of spectators, we'll have the lapboard here so you can check the progress of the event. Doyles cafe just 300m up the hill from the corner will be serving refreshments throughout the day and from there you'll be able to see live updates from our 'tweeters' on the circuit and hopefully some live telemetry from riders with mapmyride installed on their mobile devices. So you'll know when to go back down to the corner to view the race, Doyles will be our race hub during events and will also be where our podium presentations will be done post race. Other interest here will be provided by Solid Rock Cycles, Ridley Bikes & Optical Express who will be setting up outside Doyles. The other essential here is the proximity of the public toilets to this corner.

It's really important that spectators don't affect the race, as you know it's being held on open roads, with the race controlled by NEG moto riders under the guidance of race commissaires. Please follow all intructions issued by the moto riders and marshalls, groups of club riders going head-on towards a large bunch of racers isn't a cool thing to do, so please be aware that spectators need to help us make this a safe race. Please stop if you're told to and avoid riding at the race.

CHAMPIONSHIP PARTNERS

Providing race support will be Solid Rock Cycles, who will have vehicles in both races with superfast wheel changes by the shop mechanics.
Ridley Bikes will be providing the mens race winner with a special edition Scottish champions Ridley carbon frame, a sneek preview as seen below.

Optical Express will be at the event & supplying prizes with Adidas Eyewear on the day.
Balfron community have been instrumental in helping the event take place and have been involved since last year.
Community website.
Balfron history website.

More partners information to follow, if you're a potential race partner wanting to get involved in the champs, please let us know and we'll see if we can accomodate you in the event, there's still time.
Click here to email Vortex RT Event Organisers

DHL Meadowbank National Track League 19/04/11

The first track league of the year, held in unusually warm conditions for this time of year, with the Meadowbank black cloud moving elsewhere for the evening made this an excellent starter to the Scottish track season.
Vortex RT had three riders involved in the racing, comeback hardman Mark Colquhoun opting for the A's, then Scottish Vets champs Jeremy Greengrass & Colin Bark starting in the B's on the night. The 12 lap scratch for the A group was full of quality riders, a shock to the system as this was the first race of the season for some riders. The race was won by Martin Lonie of Dooleys RT.
The B 10 lap scratch was actually run at a faster pace than the the A race, with Bark & Nik Gowrie (Peebles CC) getting away early on, Bark then 'fluffed' a change as he thought the other riders were behind them and lost contact, Gowrie went on to win and a fast chasing Greengrass took 2nd place. This resulted in Gowrie and Greengrass being promoted to the A group for the rest of the evening.
Over to the devil take the hindmost events, first up the B's, Bark took the race from the front as riders were being eliminated, never leaving that position until 2 laps to go, then taking the win from Jonathon Cosh (Glasgow Wheelers). This Vortex rider taking his first win since 2006!
The A devil looked to be it's usual tactical self, with riders getting caught out at the back, the event was another win for Martin Lonie, on some fine early season form.
The final event our riders took part in was the 25 lap scratch, with all riders on the track, Greengrass made it to the finish with the lead group and took 5th place in the sprint.
A great evening's racing and fantastic to see Meadowbank still proving to be an excellent venue, there wasn't even much of a headwind on the back straight! Will be back next week, in greater numbers.

Full results and info here...
http://www.estpa.org.uk/mtl/index.html

Previous blog post here, plus how to get there....
http://vortex-rt.blogspot.com/2011/02/meadowbank-track-league.html