New circuit in Fife

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

Already posted on FB, but not everyone is on there.  I wish I weren't, but needs must.

On Saturday I took a trip to the Fife Cycle Park – https://cyclepark.fife.scot/
 – which is between Lochgelly and Lochore.  It's the first purpose-built road 
cycling circuit in Scotland and it opened in May this year.  The Park
 was holding an open day, mainly for children, as evidenced by the 
generous amounts of fruit juice, colouring in pads, and traffic cones 
and marshalls/helpers on the track. Between the open day finishing and the circuit moving to a booked group session, I did a lap

 of the full circuit to find out what it was like, just in case we (that
 is, you)
 ever fancied an expedition to the wilds of northern Britain.  The track
 has a few variations with different names – The Hairdryer, The Jelly 
Bean, The Gellydrome and The Wiggle – though the full lap is perhaps on 
the 
twisty side for going fast on three wheels.  The two main straights are 
good fun, because the land dips
 gently towards the north (good for picking up a mile or two an hour as 
you dash for the line).
 The
 main building is staffed.  There are generous changing rooms with 
showers and lockers, a kitchen (but unfortunately no café), and a 60-odd capacity mess 
hall that opens trackside.  I had a chat with the team and they have a 
timing system on site as well.  Plenty of car parking is available. Less than a 
mile down the road is Lochore Meadows Country Park that does have a café
 (and a sandy beach and an adventure playground should you bring your little ones with you). 
 A mile back up the (steep!) road is Lochgelly railway station, which is 
on the Fife Circle line.
 On Flickr I've posted a few photographs (including track layouts and pricing).  I've no idea if the prices are good value or not.
I
 also made a short video so you can see what a lap looks like.  I didn't
 go all out as I still had to cycle home.  The one thing you'll notice 
is the plethora of lighting columns, which would be a good incentive to 
not deck your streamliner.

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
Arellcat Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Visitor (new) Joined: 23 March 2005 Location: Edinburghish Status: Offline Points: 95	Post Options Post Reply Quote Arellcat Report Post Thanks(3) Quote Reply Topic: New circuit in Fife Posted: 22 October 2018 at 10:18pm
	Already posted on FB, but not everyone is on there. I wish I weren't, but needs must. On Saturday I took a trip to the Fife Cycle Park – https://cyclepark.fife.scot/ – which is between Lochgelly and Lochore. It's the first purpose-built road cycling circuit in Scotland and it opened in May this year. The Park was holding an open day, mainly for children, as evidenced by the generous amounts of fruit juice, colouring in pads, and traffic cones and marshalls/helpers on the track. Between the open day finishing and the circuit moving to a booked group session, I did a lap of the full circuit to find out what it was like, just in case we (that is, you) ever fancied an expedition to the wilds of northern Britain. The track has a few variations with different names – The Hairdryer, The Jelly Bean, The Gellydrome and The Wiggle – though the full lap is perhaps on the twisty side for going fast on three wheels. The two main straights are good fun, because the land dips gently towards the north (good for picking up a mile or two an hour as you dash for the line). The main building is staffed. There are generous changing rooms with showers and lockers, a kitchen (but unfortunately no café), and a 60-odd capacity mess hall that opens trackside. I had a chat with the team and they have a timing system on site as well. Plenty of car parking is available. Less than a mile down the road is Lochore Meadows Country Park that does have a café (and a sandy beach and an adventure playground should you bring your little ones with you). A mile back up the (steep!) road is Lochgelly railway station, which is on the Fife Circle line. On Flickr I've posted a few photographs (including track layouts and pricing). I've no idea if the prices are good value or not. I also made a short video so you can see what a lap looks like. I didn't go all out as I still had to cycle home. The one thing you'll notice is the plethora of lighting columns, which would be a good incentive to not deck your streamliner.
	carbon Quest, Lightning P-38, RANS Sequoia, Kona Sutra, Orange Five, Elephant Bike, Brompton, Stumpjumper

Woolly Hat Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List BHPC Member Joined: 12 May 2017 Status: Offline Points: 151	Post Options Post Reply Quote Woolly Hat Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 23 October 2018 at 8:23am
	That looks a great track. Hopefully we'll see it in the schedule at some point. Not sure about the health and safety aspect of all those lights at the edge of the track. Handy for dark days or early evenings but could do with some padding just in case anyone has an issue.
	Ross Low Racer 77 and WozzaMarauder

RoyMacdonald Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List BHPC Member Joined: 09 March 2007 Location: Rye East Sussex Status: Offline Points: 981	Post Options Post Reply Quote RoyMacdonald Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 23 October 2018 at 5:10pm
	Anti clockwise I only saw a couple of lampposts that could be an issue but the bends looked safe enough. Most lampposts were on the opposite side of the track to the way you would be turning. Nice circuit. Thanks. Roy

fitzer Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List BHPC Member Joined: 03 August 2011 Status: Offline Points: 32	Post Options Post Reply Quote fitzer Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 October 2018 at 9:16am
	Hi all, there is also a brand new closed circuit track in S Wales at Pembrey country park https://vimeo.com/263499332 I contacted the local BCF rep and he provided the following details; £60 ph £300 full day liability insurance required if not an affilated BC club/member. seems a bit steep, but then again I have no idea what the club usually pays for circuit hire?

atlas_shrugged Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List BHPC Member Joined: 03 November 2014 Location: Cambs Status: Offline Points: 1025	Post Options Post Reply Quote atlas_shrugged Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 October 2018 at 2:11pm
	The Fife track looks really nice. Hopefully we can get an event organised there. Postcode for the track is: KY5 8AA

HeatherF Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List BHPC Member Joined: 06 October 2005 Location: East Yorkshire Status: Offline Points: 1019	Post Options Post Reply Quote HeatherF Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 24 October 2018 at 5:25pm
	In terms of the cost: The full circuit allows for the most variation in race formats but it is £75 per hour. We normally hire a track for 4 hours so we're looking at £300 which is at the very top end of what we have paid in the past (excluding the Olympic park at £500). We would need 30 to 40 riders to make this break even. Hiring less than the full track is cheaper but perhaps not so interesting. (We have the required public liability insurance.) Treasurer!

RoyMacdonald Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List BHPC Member Joined: 09 March 2007 Location: Rye East Sussex Status: Offline Points: 981	Post Options Post Reply Quote RoyMacdonald Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 October 2018 at 6:08pm
	If we are struggling to find hireable circuits, why not increase the club's race fee? Compared to all the other costs involved in racing something over £7 is not going to be an issue I would have thought. I had an idea it cost more than that 25 years ago. If it can be done for Derby Velodrome as proposed..... Roy

HeatherF Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List BHPC Member Joined: 06 October 2005 Location: East Yorkshire Status: Offline Points: 1019	Post Options Post Reply Quote HeatherF Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 24 October 2018 at 7:08pm
	Derby Velodrome is a one-off. It costs £750 so we charge racers £25 and it isn't included in the championship points. It would become increasingly complicated if we did this for many other tracks. We have not increased the race fees recently as there are many tracks which are affordable and which attract a significant number of racers, thus making them viable. We are not struggling to find hireable, affordable circuits. Also we have reserves which we could use to subsidise racing if we wanted to. The argument has also been made before that £7 is a very small part of what people spend to get to races and hence a small increase would not be too much of a burden. I proposed at the AGM that we didn't increase race fees and that was supported so, at least for the next year, they remain at £7 and £10 Hiring of circuits is the (pretty thankless!) job of the competition secretary so whether or not we add Fife to the calendar will be Chris's decision.

Kim Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 13 April 2018 Location: Middle Earth Status: Offline Points: 1256	Post Options Post Reply Quote Kim Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 October 2018 at 9:50pm
	Given the distance that most active members would have to travel to Fife, it would seem to be worth making a weekend of it, somehow. Perhaps by combining it with some sort of social ride?

atlas_shrugged Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List BHPC Member Joined: 03 November 2014 Location: Cambs Status: Offline Points: 1025	Post Options Post Reply Quote atlas_shrugged Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 25 October 2018 at 6:42pm
	Would support the idea of Kim. Other possibilities would be to piggyback it on to something like the Edinburgh festival. Other ideas would be to find some form of sponsorship for the days event from some Scottish organisation / company / individual. Finally we could try and negotiate with the track for a reduced price based on the fact we are a smaller club.