Bradley Wiggins, Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, Geraint Thomas to name but a few. What do they all have in common? Gold medallists, well yes, that’s a given but they had to start somewhere, didn’t they? They all came through a strong local club structure riding local events at local facilities.
If you want to race locally where do you go? Naturally there’s the acclaimed Bath Cycle Races but then that only covers May. Castle Combe, Thruxton, Ludgershall, British Cycling Southern area road races and the Newport Velodrome are all great but you’ll need a car to get there. What if there were a purpose built cycling facility for everybody to use…….in Bath for the so-called ‘inspired generation’ right on our doorstep? Surely not?
A once in a lifetime opportunity! This phrase gets thrown around a lot but in this case it really applies. Planning permission has been submitted for a purpose built 1.5km closed loop cycling track at Odd Down playing fields. The track is co-funded by British Cycling and Bath & North East Somerset Council and will be the only facility of its kind in the south west.
The planning application is currently in the consultation period and therefore comments are welcome from the local cycling community in support of the application. A few minutes of your time is all that is required to add your voice to those of the local clubs who are supporting the track alongside British Cycling.
Full details are available on the BANES website: Planning application 12/03014/REG03
This isn’t just a place for the local cycling clubs to hold races, events and training sessions but also somewhere where Bike-It officers, schools and other related sporting/community groups can greatly benefit from this unique space.
Opportunities like this don’t come around very often, least of all in a small city like Bath. Get typing and then get pedalling to show your support for the Odd Down Track!