The Fast Track : Olympic Gold Helps Set Pace for Young Bikers to Enjoy Safe Fun

Not all the gold left Los Angeles after the 1984 Olympics. Some of it stayed in Encino to fund a youth cycling program at the velodrome in Balboa Park.

The gold came in the form of the Games’ unexpected $250-million surplus. Forty percent of those funds were set aside for youth sports programs in Southern California. One of those athletic projects was founded by Rick Denman to teach bicycle training and safety at the velodrome. The four-week, twice-a-week sessions for youngsters include helmets, gloves and coaching on standard brakeless, gearless track-racing bikes. For anyone 18 and younger, there’s no charge for either the coaching or the use of equipment.

“We don’t assume everyone will become a velodrome racer,” said Denman, who instructs the course. “But a velodrome is the best place for someone to be introduced to cycling. It’s a controlled environment--no cars, no potholes. And no matter how fast anyone goes, they still go around in circles. They’re never far from a qualified coach.”

It’s on the velodrome’s sloping, bowl-shaped track that Denman teaches the essentials of proper bike fit, correct position and control, group riding and drafting--riding close to the rear wheel of another cyclist for the advantage it offers in saving energy. “It’s not all about racing,” Denman said. “It’s about how to be a better, more efficient cyclist.

“A lot of people with a 9-to-5 job think that all they can do is ride a stationary bike,” Denman said. “Here we’ve got a place with lights, no potholes, and you can go as fast as you can.”

The Encino velodrome, near the corner of Louise Avenue and Oxnard Street, is open only when supervisors are present.

“It’s not like a bike path around the Sepulveda Basin,” instructor Ray Joiner said. “If it was just open to the public, people would get hurt. It’s the steepness of the banking that makes that true.”

The velodrome also offers adult sessions, similar to the youth sessions, for $55.

For more information on either youth or adult programs and the hours the velodrome is available, call from Denman at (818) 899-2648 or the velodrome at (818) 881-7441.