March 20, 2007 – The email went out: “Who wants to go and ride round and round in circles until you feel sick and then go out for pizza afterwards?” and an immediate response came back “I do, I do” from half of Team Squamish.

The lucky eleven headed out to the Velodrome in Burnaby with Coach Kindree and his able assistants, Bruce McClements and Cam Cairns, plus the official team photographer, Alex Cairns, and loyal parents and supporters. They had so much fun the first evening they had to return for second helpings two weeks later!

The Velodrome is one of only three indoor tracks in North America and has attracted a significant portion of the Canadian Olympic track team to BC to train. It is a 200m track and hosts a racing season with provincial and national events. There they were lucky enough to be met by Richard Wooles, the High Performance Director and Head Provincial Coach for Cycling BC. Richard’s experience includes a period as Head Coach of the Women’s National Program for the British Olympic Cycling Team. Richard stayed for the entire session and was able to meet the team members, observe and offer some helpful tips. The coach for both sessions was Jeff Jones, a talented instructor who quickly gained the teams’ respect and confidence.

At first sight the track was extremely intimidating for the riders, but all the while they were saying “that looks so scary” they were adding as a chaser “I can’t wait to try it”. They watched proficient riders gracefully swooping around, up and down the track, provoking the number one question “how do they stay upright on a 47 degree slope?”

Once kitted out with rent-a-bikes, the team entered the oval and listened attentively to their instructions. They were quick learners and Jeff was able to teach them what should have been three sessions of instruction in only two visits. In their first visit they learned the three basic rules of riding: communicate, call ‘s tick’ or ‘s tay’ when passing and always pass on the right. Jeff led them out on their first rides around the track starting on the Cote D’Azur (the blue area at the base) and gradually working higher and higher around, until they too were swooping from ceiling to floor. They learned to ride in groups, exchange places, overtake and follow a pacer. They heard about the Flying 200m sprint and couldn’t wait to try it, but that pleasure was postponed until the end of their second session.

The success of the first evening was significant. Riders came away laughing and glowing with pleasure and fired up to become regulars at the Velodrome. Their second visit was equally exciting. This time they improved their bike handling skills by riding one handed and switching off, riding with one hand on another rider’s back (some riders managing to pedal in almost perfect synch), and finally they rode the pace line learning to break off, catch up and to play hare and hounds in small groups.

The highlight of the second session was the chance to ride the Flying 200m. The record for the track is just under 11 seconds so Jeff thought it unlikely that anyone would break 14.5. Four team members did, however, yet what impressed Jeff most was the fact that every single rider without exception, when called for their lap, smiled in anticipation, looking forward to the chance to speed! Jeff Jones told the coaches that he had not known what to expect from mountain bikers and yet the Team Squamish riders were probably the most adept group he had ever introduced to the sport. He was amazed that Phil Cairns had almost dropped him on a lap. He reckoned one of the female riders could take up track racing and rank in the top 10 in Canada right now, after only two sessions at the track. When Eden Imbeau produced the first crash, leaving an inch of skin on the track, Jeff was a bit stunned that her first reaction was “did you catch that on film, Cam?” Oh and … what better time and place to turn 17? Miranda Miller celebrated her 17th birthday and was made to ride a lap wearing angel wings while enduring a hideous rendition of happy birthday howled not only by the team, but also all the rather bemused volleyball players on the centre courts.

The end of the track season is approaching and the mountain bike one is just beginning so Team Squamish will have to wait for the fall to return for more fun and games under the big bubble. You can bet your bike shoes, however, that there will be some pretty regular faces in Burnaby in 2007 / 2008 and some new names on the racing roster.