Building Velodromes Is Neat!

[Razors Edge ★]

...and this short interview is actually full of neat ideas and some cool pictures.  A shame the US can't figure out the velodrome in every city dream but his outdoor, portable velodrome idea seems intriguing, but I didn't see pictures.

PEZ: What timber do you use - and how do you know it’s properly seasoned?
We use engineered wood called ‘LVL’ [‘Laminated veneer lumber’ is an engineered wood product that uses multiple layers of thin wood assembled with adhesives, ed.] made in Finland. We use ‘Masterplank’ by a company called KERTO. All pieces are absolutely uniform in strength and moisture content. We use it for same reason we don't use skis made from one piece of wood anymore. Also, NO SPLINTERS!!!

Mike Gilleran, owner of McCausey Specialty Products (Michigan) our LVL supplier, was the only one to trust me and helped me to develop this new velodrome surface technology. Laminated wood does not split and we can use 700,000 nails - one nail every 6 inches or less - to create strong and fast track surfaces. (Other velodromes only use 280,000 nails). For our last velodrome in Japan, we used 600,000 of 3 inch and 4 inch stainless steel wood screws instead of nails. It’s another improvement.

PEZ: What do you think of plywood tracks?
It’s OK for a cheap track, but there’ll be no records; flexibility absorbs energy. Durability outdoors is a problem, too.