Indoor 250 · est. 1998 · Dockfield

PISTE
CLUB

A 250-metre board track under one roof. Siberian pine, banked to 42°. No brakes, no freewheel, no weather. Just you, a fixed gear, and the fastest room in the city.

Book your first taster Learn to read the track

01The track

A machine for
holding speed

Two straights, two turns, and the geometry that makes physics do the cornering for you. The bowl was cut, steamed and nailed in 1998 — 5,800 metres of 40 mm Siberian pine laid rim to rim — and resurfaced board by board ever since. It is measured once, at the black line, and it never changes: 250.000 metres, every lap, for everyone.

Pine, not oak: it flexes a few millimetres under a sprint and gives the speed back. Riders call it pop. The carpenters call it Tuesday.

Datum length
250.000m
measured at the black line
Turn banking
42°
steeper than most staircases
Straight banking
13°
flat enough to relax. Don't.
Track width
7.25m
côte d'azur to rail
Boards
5,800m
of 40 mm Siberian pine
Neutral speed
28km/h
minimum to hold the banking

02Reading the track

Four painted lines.
Read them, ride safe.

Everything on this site is ruled by the same lines that rule the boards. From the bottom of the banking up — this is the cross-section of turn one, drawn to scale:

Cross-section of the 42-degree banking A to-scale drawing of the banked track surface showing, from the bottom: the light-blue côte d'azur, the black measurement line at 20 centimetres, the red sprinter's line at 90 centimetres, the blue stayer's line at 2.45 metres, and the rail at the top of the 7.25-metre-wide surface. INFIELD (flat, safe, boring) 42° CÔTE D'AZUR The apron. Roll here, don't race here. BLACK — MEASUREMENT LINE · 20 cm The 250 m is measured on this line. RED — SPRINTER'S LINE · 90 cm The leader owns the lane below it. BLUE — STAYER'S LINE · 2.45 m Warm-ups above it; racing lives below. THE RAIL · 7.25 m up the boards Hold on, breathe, then drop the hammer.
Turn one, drawn at 42°. Yes, it really is that steep.

Ride the black

Your lap only counts at the black line. Drift up a metre and every lap is a metre long. Precision is free speed.

Respect the red

In a sprint, once the leader is below the sprinter's line, that lane is theirs. Come over the top or wait. The red line is why nobody crashes at 65 km/h.

Rest above the blue

The stayer's line splits the track into racing and recovering. Riders below can't see you coming — look, then drop.

03Sessions

The week's
start lists

Every session runs like a race: sign on, get a gate number, ride your gate. Hire bikes and shoes are included at taster and accreditation level. Your accreditation (I–IV) is your licence to ride faster company.

GateSessionDay · timeWho ridesPace
01Tasterstart hereSat · 09:00 & 11:00Anyone who can ride a bike. 16 gates, hire bike included.28–32 km/h
02TasterSun · 09:00Same as Saturday, quieter room.28–32 km/h
03Accreditation I–IITue · 18:30Post-taster. Track discipline: holding a line, riding a wheel.32–38 km/h
04Accreditation III–IVWed · 18:30Through-and-off, bunch craft, race starts.38–44 km/h
05The Early HourWed · 06:15Structured efforts before work. Accredited II+. Coffee after, always.40–46 km/h
06Sprint schoolThu · 19:00Flying 200s, match sprints, standing starts. Accredited III+.to 65 km/h
07Madison clinicSun · 10:30Hand-slings and changes. Accredited IV, by invitation of the coach.45+ km/h
08Race nightFri · 20:00Scratch, points, elimination. Accredited IV. Spectators free.honest

Sign-on closes 15 minutes before each session. Miss it and you're spectating — the start list is the start list.

04Lap math

250 metres,
no hiding

The track is exactly 250 m at the black line, so speed and lap time are one number wearing two jerseys: lap seconds = 900 / km/h. Slide the speed. See what the boards ask of you.

km/h
s / lap
Flying 200 m
18.00 s
Kilo (4 laps)
1:30.0
Hour at this pace
40.0 km
Verdict
Chaingang pace. You'd survive The Early Hour. Barely.

05The hour wall

Honest numbers,
painted large

One hour, alone, against the black line. The names below are painted two feet tall on the back-straight wall. None of them are professionals. All of them are permanent.

  1. Club hour · open44.183kmM. Kovač · 2023 · 14 laps in hand and lost 11 of them
  2. Club hour · women41.760kmE. Aldana · 2024 · negative-split the last twenty minutes
  3. Club hour · vets 50+39.912kmR. Whitfield · 2022 · 88 metres short of forty. He'll be back
  4. Club hour · junior38.407kmT. Okafor · 2025 · set on a borrowed bike, two days after accreditation IV
  5. The office bike33.1kmStaff record, disputed annually at the Christmas hour

For scale: the world hour record is 56.792 km. Nobody here is close. That is not the point of an hour.

06First taster

Apply for
a ride

Ninety minutes. A hire bike with no brakes and one gear, a coach who has seen every kind of nervous, and sixteen gates per session. By the end you will have ridden the 42° banking — everyone does, usually grinning. Fill in the licence card; we do the rest.

£28 including bike, shoes and coaching. Bring: shorts, socks, water. Leave: your fear of the word “velodrome”.

PISTE CLUB — PROVISIONAL RACE LICENCE N° 2026–0847
Fixed-gear history

Sign-on closes 15 min before the gate. Under-16s ride the Saturday 09:00 gate with a guardian trackside.