Our Burnaby Track Racing Adventure

We raced track again!!!









Mark and I were moping about, lamenting the end of track season when he suggested we go up to Burnaby, in Canada and race on their indoor track. We were both very excited at the idea of more racing, and to try out a new track. We had heard stories about the steep banking and sharp turns. Burnaby is half the size of our track at Marymoor, 200 meters instead of 400 meters. The turns are tighter, so have to be banked more. The turns at Marymoor have about a 28 degree banking and the surface of the track is concrete. The turns at Burnaby have a 47 degree banking and the surface of the track is wood.

It was amazing when we got there. The building has a bubble type roof which uses air pressure to maintain the support of the roof. So to get into the building you have to go through a special air lock.

We got there pretty early and were the first racers to show up. It felt surreal inside the building. The sound bounces around the inside of the roof and comes at you from all different directions with strange echos. There were volley ball games going on when we got there. The whole inside of the track oval is full of volley ball courts with high nets to keep the balls out. It was a strange combination for us. One of the Canadian racers, Mike, greeted us when we got there. They were excited that folks from "South of the Border" were there. We felt like special guests.





We couldn't warm up right away because they had to put in a piece of the track (see pictures). They needed several people to get it in to place. But then in didn't fit. They had it together a few days ago but there was a big temperature & humidity change in the last few days which changed the size of the wood. No problem. They got out a saw and made a new shim piece to fit it back together. I was impressed.









I felt very daunted by the steep angles on the track. I asked a lot of questions about how to get on and off of the track safely. I was worried because they say you have to be going at least 30 to not fall off of the track. That's 30 kilometers per hour which is about 19 mph. I don't have a speedometer so I have no idea how fast I usually ride. I talked to one of the Canadian women, Jen, and I followed her onto the track. It wasn't bad at all. Then I got the feel of the corners. Wow! It reminded me of when I was stuck circling a thunderstorm at the Denver airport. Every time you hit the corner you feel like you weigh twice as much and the ground is pushing up at you. This happens about every 10 seconds. Whooom! You really have to try it. And when you get going fast you feel it even more. As you come off of the corner you feel lift - as you come out of the G-forces of the turn, kind of like a roller coaster. I couldn't help yelling "whee" the first time I took a fast lap in the sprinter's lane.


Soon we were going to be racing! The novice racers went first and I went over to hear the instructions they were being given. They have special rules for the novices about when you can attack and they require the field to regroup. This forces the riders to ride as a pack so they improve their group riding skills. You have to ride up the banking and grab the rail just to start the race. Then you drop down the bank and get up enough speed to hit the corners. The first time the group went around the announcer yelled at them "you guys better speed up or you'll be on your butts!" My stomach lurched.

Then I got to watch the guy's 4-lap heats. They usually have an A and a B race but they combined them since there weren't that many in the A group (I rode with the C group). We had four from the USA - Guy, Mark, Brian, and myself. Mark and Brian both made it through their heats by riding hard from the front.

I was really more worried than I needed to be. They called my group for our first race and I rode up to the rail and grabbed it, no problem. We dropped down and they started the race with a "whistle". Which was a guy whistling through his teeth really loud. I chuckled. They are really low key and friendly at Burnaby. In fact they don't even wear race numbers. I asked one of the racers about it because having the right race number is a big deal at Marymoor. The racer said, "oh it's no problem, Mike (the announcer), he knows everybody." My race was an unknown distance. I played it safe and rode conservatively to get my bearings. It was fun! No problem. Whew, I felt much better after getting in a race.


They guys did their final 4-lap heat and Brian rode awesome to get 3rd place!



Then it was already time for me to race again. Almost no break! I'm using to having several races in between at Marymoor. I did a snowball race and shortly after finished with a points race. They were playing volley ball still while we raced and it was a bit disconcerting because you could here them yelling in the center of the track as they played. At one point my bike hit a loose board and jumped sideways. I freaked out for a second but then calmed down and kept going. It's a way different feel on the boards and the bike handles differently. The key is to stay relaxed and calm. I started to feel motion sick after the end of my race. I was told to look further ahead into the next turn to keep that from happening.

We all finished racing and had the luxury of taking a shower before the ride home. It's nice to be indoors! It was pouring rain outside too so if this were Marymoor we would have not been able to race at all.

It was a great experience and I can't wait to go again.