Tel Aviv presents The First Olympic Velodrome in the Middle East

Tel Aviv, Wednesday May 2nd 2018, The City of Tel Aviv unveiled Israel's newest Velodrome, the most advanced indoor bike racing arena in the Middle East. The Velodrome’s unveiling took place a few days before the start of the Giro d’Italia in Israel, one of the world’s most significant sporting events scheduled to reach Tel Aviv on Saturday May 5th, marking the first time a segment of the Giro d’Italia is held outside of Europe. The Velodrome will be seen by billions of viewers from around the world this upcoming Saturday, as the Giro d ’Italia cyclists will ride passed it during the Tel Aviv leg of the race.         

The unveiling took place yesterday, Tuesday May 1st in the presence of Mr. Ron Huldai, The Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, The Chairman of the Israel Cycling Federation and professional cyclists from the Israel Cycling Academy, who tested the race tracks for the first time together with Sylvan Adams, the Honorary President of the Giro’s “Big Start” in Israel.  The tracks have also been tested by Gilles Peruzzi, the Director of the Velodrome Department at The International Cycling Union (UCI) who ensured that the tracks meet the UCI standards in order to be able to welcome international competitions at the facility. In addition, The Israel Cycling Union has submitted its candidacy to host the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championship in 2021.

At the event, the Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Mr. Ron Huldai said: "3 years ago, Sylvan Adams told me that it makes no sense that a global city such as Tel Aviv-Yafo doesn’t have a professional cycling facility. The Municipality took on the challenge, and in a few months we will inaugurate the Velodrome, the first Olympic racing arena in the Middle East.”

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“Thanks to Sylvan, the Giro d’Italia is held outside of Europe for the first time and will be departing from Israel this weekend. We decided that this is a great opportunity to reveal this wonderful arena, which was built on the grounds of the National Sport Center.

In honor of Sylvan Adams’ generous contribution to important social projects in the city and his love for cycling, we've decided to name the velodrome after him.”

“In Tel Aviv the "bicycle revolution" happened a long time ago; bicycles are a daily mode of transport for most Telavivians, and a perfect alternative for private cars. The velodrome will provide cyclists a place to train and will promote professional sports activities in the cycling field and will also contribute to the development of the cycling industry in Israel. This weekend we will host one of the most important cycling competitions in the world and thanks to this amazing arena, we plan to host the most significant international indoor cycling competitions as well."

Sylvan Adams, The Honorary President of the Giro’s “Big Start” in Israel and the initiator of the Velodrome in Tel Aviv: “The new Velodrome aims to encourage local youth to experience the cycling world as well as promote physical activity and sports. This is the most advanced cycling facility in the Middle East and we aspire to host international competitions here with the participation of our neighboring countries. This Velodrome will allow us to use sports as a medium to foster closeness and good neighborliness between our bordering countries. Today, cycling teams from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates landed in Israel in order to take part in the Giro, they will ride in Israel, experience the velodrome and understand that they are always welcome here and we can compete and train together!”

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The Velodrome is an Olympic training arena for track cycling featuring steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights.

The ride is carried out on an elliptical wood path, with 45 degrees banking. A 3-story complex is being built adjacent to the Velodrome, and will include a cafeteria, a bicycle store, changing rooms and a doctor’s office. The two structures will be connected via a tunnel.

The Velodrome is located next to the National Sports Center in Tel Aviv and its construction was made possible through a Municipal investment of 70 Million NIS.   When completed, the velodrome will meet the Olympic standards of a 250 meters cycling track. The Velodrome comprises 900 tons of steel, 620 seats, 17 thousand connecting plates and 100 thousand screws and aims to attract cyclers from Israel and around the world.

Thank you for the infos Tel Aviv International Press.

Good luck for Giro....

My Advice on Winter Training

During the winter period or the lazy months some seasonal cyclist try to avoid cycling.This caused by a lot of factors like the layer up onion effect, which some seasonal cyclist might find it too much to handle.Also the fact of not owning a winter bike could be a peer pressure factor making the ride miserable where everybody else take out the nice bike geared up for winter with mudguards and the rest to not get the bum dirty.What about in the old days when they had to cycle in the middle of the snow is shorts and nothing else. It is funny because a lot of those having winter bike also are the same cyclist that follow the Velominati Rules.Which if i recall after many debates with those cyclist rules number 5 say something like to tough up to be polite.But look at this picture and actually be a real cyclist.

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This guy(that you all must know him) had is family jewels up on his throat.Therefore before instead of posing,or being vain just try to ride normally and be like everybody that is saddledrunk. Intoxicated with the freedom of cycling.

Going back to advise you on training during the winter months, it is to carry on cycling of course,and taking in consideration all the festive meals and the relevant drinks(if you do drink) and Christmas Parties that you have to attend.

One of the worst mistake made by some cyclist during off season is to loose drastically weight and follow some stupid diets that will only damage your body causing deficiency of vitamins. This is totally unacceptable because during off season and winter cold months your body need all the fats to keep you going. Therefore I suggest to all of you to eat as much as you can, like the old chinese buffet 0.99$ per person, during the winter months with a big "BUT" which is to make sure that your bike does not get cobweb around it and  flat tyres.

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So just keep pedalling 3 times a week or more and maintain your regular distances, slow up your pace because you dont want to get injured due to the cold muscles. Then just enjoy and feel SaddleDrunk.

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Some friends that are pro-cyclist or/and pro-athlete in others sports different than cycling are taking holidays around the world just chilling and reading books,listening to music but their passion is still in their minds, in doing some sort of training related to their own discipline.

My training for the winter is to keep carry on cycling, running short or long distances, swimming and going skiing keeping my legs and core always training.

I like to indulge myself in food badly during the winter times,but I struggle to put weight on.Remember my proverb,which is not a chinese one is "Just keep Rolling" meaning don't stop. Your will power, your mind are the strength of your body.

You have to remember that during those periods if you go out you could be the only one out with the animals.The crispy air helps you breath and training harder for the condition during the summer.You might notice some different sceneries even if it is your local route, smell new essences from the wild.You may find Santa getting ready with the raindeers.

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Remember also to take part in different winter series or sport events that you might enjoy it to keep the competition mood high. So, when you come to do your first event next season you do not have the common human being feel, known as "pissing my pants".

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Merry Christmas from SaddleDrunk.