Let's Talk about Bikes, Baby

This was a biking (cycling) kind of weekend.

First, Friday night I went to Rock Hill's new velodrome. As far as I can tell, a velodrome is a bicycle track that has embankments all the way around. Check out these pictures.

(in this last pic, they are starting on the rail.  It's either that or they start at the bottom and an official has to hold their seat to keep them upright until they get to actually start going.)
Anyway, I went to watch the races, not to participate. I don't think I ever want to try it. You have to pay money to get certified to ride on the track, but plus, it just goes around and around.(I think the announcer said it was a 1/4 mile track) And it looks scary to ride with a group.   But it was fun (and free!) to go watch and I learned a lot about bike racing, so that's a plus.  They have races every Thursday and Friday night, with the more experienced racers going on Friday. Just, you know, if you get some hankering to watch bike racing, now you know where you can. Rock Hill is a town of many wonders, truly.Saturday morning, I set out to ride farther than I ever had before. I ended up riding more than 17 miles, which turns out takes you really far. I just kind of left home, cycled out about 8 miles and turned around came back with some detours to up my mileage. Turns out you can go far! I went all the way to the edge of Lake Wylie (where it touches Rock Hill), which really impressed me.I think I could really get into biking. It's fun, it's challenging, but it's not impossibly hard. And you get to see lots of things. Not well as you could if you're running, but better than when you are in a car.Saturday afternoon I had to swing by the bike store to pick something up and one of the guys there recognized me from the races Friday night.  So I got to meet the guy who was winning a bunch of the individual races that night. It was like a mini-biking celebrity encounter for me.
So anyway, I've been living a bike-tastic life lately and it's not been too shabby.  Thought I'd share.  Let me know if you want to come watch some high speed bike racing with me sometime!