\n Leading the campaign is David Viner, a long-standing member of Halesowen Cycling Club, which already has its own outdoor velodrome and a history of producing top-level cyclists.\n<\/p>\n
\n The club counts former Olympic and Tour de France riders among its past members.\n<\/p>\n
\n David believes the West Midlands is being \u2018left behind\u2019 when it comes to indoor cycling facilities, with the nearest venues currently in Derby, Manchester and Newport.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI think the best option would be a cost-effective indoor track,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cA standard 250-metre banked track with space inside for other sports.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAs Zena Wooldridge once said to me, \u2018all we need is a shed\u2019.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n He pointed to a successful example in Calshot, Hampshire, where a velodrome operates inside a former First World War aircraft hangar.\n<\/p>\n
\n Support for the campaign is also coming from parents.\n<\/p>\n
\n Andrew Downing, from Wollaston, says his 15-year-old daughter Jaime has shown real promise in track cycling but faces long journeys to train.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cTo reach the Derby Arena we travel around 50 miles, which can take up to two hours each way,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIf we had an indoor velodrome within 5 to 10 miles of home, she could train regularly and develop her skills properly.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Campaigners say the region\u2019s unpredictable weather often makes outdoor tracks unusable, disrupting training and putting local riders at a disadvantage compared to those living near indoor facilities.\n<\/p>\n
\n The campaign has said to have gained backing from some of the biggest names in British cycling, including Dame Laura Kenny, Matt Richardson and Lizzie Deignan MBE.\n<\/p>\n
\n David added: \u201cThey understand how tough it is for young riders who have to travel huge distances just to train.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAn indoor velodrome in the Black Country could transform cycling, school sport and community fitness for generations.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Campaigners hope the velodrome to be built in Dudley, creating a multi-use sports hub for children, adults and disabled athletes alike.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leading the campaign is David Viner, a long-standing member of Halesowen Cycling Club, which already has its own…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-340333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}