By Owen Gibson/The Guardian
To one side the clogged arteries of the A12 are at a standstill. On the other expanses of parkland that took on a mystical hue during the summer of 2012 have become a huge building site that it is hoped will one day coalesce into a coherent whole.
Yet even framed by diggers and dirt, the swooping lines of the 105m London velodrome seem to rise serenely above the fray. Always the most visually appealing of the 2012 venues, it is also among the most evocative. To enter its airy environs is to be immediately reminded of the sound and fury that greeted the achievements of Sir Chris Hoy, Laura Trott, Dame Sarah Storey and the rest.
When it opens its doors again tomorrow for the Revolution Series, in which Trott is one of the star turns, it will be the first glimpse for the 6,000 spectators of a scheme that hopes to marry elite use with an ambitious community programme.
The comedian John Bishop and Lord Coe will lead teams of celebrities round the track in aid of Sport Relief the following week, before the velodrome and associated BMX track, road racing circuit and mountain bike trails welcome the public from 31 March.
Following in the footsteps of Hoy and the rest will not come cheap. For first-timers a 30 induction (which includes bike hire) is required, followed by another three sessions at 20 each, before riders can pitch up whenever they like.
Although that may seem steep in an area that is among the most deprived in Britain, the operators argue that clubs can take over the facility for 100 an hour and that school sessions will work out from 4.33 per rider.
Use of the mile-long road racing track that snakes its way across the land between the velodrome and the BT Sport studios, the five-mile mountain-biking trail that looms perilously above the dual carriageway and the remodelled BMX track costs as little as 6 for adults and 4 for kids. Lee Valley Regional Park Authority’s chief executive, Shaun Dawson, who runs the agency that owns and operates not only the velodrome but the Eton Manor hockey and tennis centre and the 2012 white water rafting facility, admits the balancing act is a tricky one.
He hopes to use income from major events such as the Revolution series and 2016 World Track Championships as well as from hiring out the track for corporate team-building events, to subsidise prices for public, club and school use.
Unlike the aquatics centre and the main stadium, which have had tortured backstories, the legacy plan for the velodrome has been set in stone since the bid was won. Further back still there was an acknowledgement that London lacked a velodrome and that the site where the Eastway track on which Eddy Merckx once competed in 1977 stood might be an ideal spot.
Plans for the Lee Valley VeloPark have not been without controversy Dawson admits local clubs are “disgruntled” at having to join the queue to book track time rather than being granted affiliate status. But he argues that, with so many constituencies to satisfy, it is the only way. Dawson also concedes that it must play its part in countering the impression that cycling remains a middle-class pursuit.
“One of the key things here is that we’ve got 400 bikes to hire,” he said. “We’re not necessarily expecting people to have their own. You don’t have to spend a fortune on kit.”
