It’s been several years since I last visited NYC. Lots of people go there in planes, bus and train but you really have to drive your own car right onto Man-hatten to really get the feel. To a certain degree it is anarchy on simmer.

I am always blown away by what I see when I visit the city and have a hard time acting casual. It’s nothing if not outrageous.

Kissena park is located in Queens, one of the five boroughs of New York. The track has a long history, serving three generations of athletes.  The track is outdoors and a little longer than average. The faster riders have a little trouble staying on the distance line (the white line next to the wide blue band know as the cote de azure) in the final turn of the circuit. I had no such issues.

The folks from Pink Rhino Racing who taught the class, seem to be the caretakers and ambassadors of good will for the circuit. They covered basic bike stuff as well as the type of things you need to know before attaching yourself to a bike that doesn’t coast as has no brakes. I didn’t mind.

We spent about an hour in lecture before actually getting on the track which was pretty easy.

If you ride bikes you may have used toe straps or retention pedals of some type. If not, you have seen someone who uses such items fall over while maneuvering at slow speeds or stopped for a light. It’s a lot harder to work those stinkin’ pedals in you can’t coast.  Noticing this would be a problem, the smart people built a hand rail going around the track knows as “the rail”.  Once you have the rail in your hand, getting clipped in is easy.

Our teacher went on to described rules and etiquette which would come in handy while ripping around the track with others. If you violate someone else’s right-of-way expect to hear about it and it won’t be the sound of a automobile horn like you will hear on the Long Island Expressway.

Track racing in a highly evolved sport, going back more than 100 years of basically the same thing. I built myself a basic track bike and find that it weighs about the same as a high-end model more than 75 years old.

The riding itself was challenging but not overwhelming. It’s amazing how fried you can get after less than an hour of track time. Thankfully the session was a mixture of riding, resting and refueling and stimulating conversation.

Here are a few photos. The folks in the blue/pink uniforms were our hosts. I am the guy in the tall black socks.

Take note of the bike parts at the bottom. This is part of a BMX/supercross 24″ project we have going. Stay tuned.