My little update. Having persuaded reception I didn't need to do the intro to track course, I still had to pay for it but it meant I could book a beginner session. Anyone who rode the club session would fly through this. All they wanted to see was that you could ride in a pace line and pull off the front withtou bringing everyone in the line down. Everyone passed, including some who weren't really looking or signalling.
Having then persuaded reception that I had passed beginner (they had to go and find the piece of paper the coach had written on) I did my first intermediate session on Monday. From a skills perspective we had to show we could weave. Everyone rides round the track with at least 2 bike lengths between them and the rider infront. On the whistle the rider at the back weaves through the line, over and under, shouting their intention to the rider they are overtaking. Again everyone passed this. There's no expectation of fitness here, it's quite a mixed bunch still. Although we did have British team para rider Alex Jones circling at the top of the track on about 10 grands worth of bike while we were riding.
To "pass" intermediate and then have a number of drop in session options we will need to pass something called stacking. Which Paul tells me is "sketchy as (some word I don't recall)". So I may update on that from the Princess of Wales next week.
I would say if you enjoyed the intro we did, get booked on a beginner session on a Monday night. £15 including the bike hire. You can keep riding beginner if you want. There are definitely a few people doing that. It's very much mixed ability, and the coaches have no issue if people want to swing up for a few laps, get their breath back and drop back onto the line.
