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Odd Down circuit opens in Bath + video

Hundreds turn up for a first ride; full training and racing calendar expected

Odd Down circuit in Bath opened yesterday, with MP Don Foster cutting the ribbon (there wasn't actually a ribbon, just a line of cones) on the 1.5km road circuit.

One of less than 20 such facilities in the country, the Odd Down track has been made possible thanks to a £600,000 grant by British Cycling, part of a £2m investment in upgrading the facilities at Odd Down playing fields in Bath. Three local clubs – Bath CC, VC Walcot and Somer Valley CC – have been heavily involved in the development of the site, and they'll all be running training sessions up at the circuit as well as co-operating on race organisation. It's our local track too – Dave and Tony both live within a mile of it – so we've got some ideas for events of our own too...

So, what's it like? Thanks to Ant Grimley, who put together this vid of the opening ride, you can have a look...

The track is sort of horseshoe-shaped , with a 180° hairpin at each end. Built on playing fields it was never going to be the hilliest, but there's a bit of elevation change around the 1.5km of tarmac and you have to factor in the wind, which is pretty much a constant feature at Odd Down. Being cycling only the turns are pretty tight so it is a circuit you can attack on, rather than wider motorsport circuits which tend to be full-gas-all-the-way racing. The tarmac is pretty much flawless so it's one for your super-stiff race iron...

The local clubs will be publishing training and racing schedules soon; as well as that there's still some questions about if and when the track will be open for sessions like the opening one, where anyone can show up and ride (or scoot).

To keep in the loop, visit the circuit page on the BANES website or the club websites:

http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/services/sport-leisure-and-parks/health-and-fi...
http://www.bathcc.net/
http://www.vc-walcot.com/
http://www.somervalley.org.uk/

Odd down circuit is also on twitter: @OddDownCircuit

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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Ting | 10 years ago
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Ha! I can see what I've done there, Norman is the standard response our kids get when they ask 'what's this called? Nigel was a bit too similar! Both good names mind and Nigel was a sterling dog. Please apologise to him on my behalf.

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dave atkinson | 10 years ago
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I'm calling him Norman from now on

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jezzzer | 10 years ago
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Nigel!

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Ting | 10 years ago
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Who's that handsome chap on the video thumbnail? I got talking to the owner of the trailer and was happy to learn that the dog is called Norman. We all had a good hour or so going round and round and most importantly my kids want to do it again. Well done to all involved.

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