Maindy Centre which was formerly known as Maindy Stadium, now also known as Maindy Pool and Cycle Track, includes a cycle track and indoor swimming pool facility in the Maindy

Maindy

Maindy is a district of the city of Cardiff, Wales. It lies between the districts of Cathays and Penylan. It falls within the Cathays ward.A notable facility in the area is the Maindy Centre consisting of a cycle track and swimming pool. The cycle track was used in the 1958 British Empire and...

 area of Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. The cycle track was used in the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Cardiff, capital of Wales from 18–26 July 1958.Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,130 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games and 23 countries and dependencies won medals, including, for the first time, Singapore, Ghana, Kenya...

 and the swimming pool was opened in 1993.

Facilities

The 460 metres (1,509.2 ft) outdoor floodlit cycling velodrome was well known for its slight uneveness, caused by subsidence, as the stadium is build on the site of an old tip. There was a six lane cinder running track inside they cycle track at one point, but this has since been removed and replaced by a full size football pitch (in the middle of the velodrome. There was also extensive seating and covered area with a judges box in the 1960s, on an area which is now a grass bank behind the back straight of the cycle track. At that time, the finish line on the cycle track was located at the opposite side of the cycle track to its current location.

Maindy remains to be used extensively for training and racing and hosts many events such as the Cardiff International Grand Prix. It is used in particular for teaching youngsters to ride. At 460 metres in length and 25 degree bankings, the track is not as steep as the majority of velodromes, and therefore perfect for those new to the sport. The concrete surface is also used for floodlit training sessions during the winter, where road bicycles

Racing bicycle

A racing bicycle, also known as a road bike, is a bicycle designed for competitive road cycling, a sport governed by according to the rules of the Union Cycliste Internationale...

 are used as opposed to track bicycle

Track bicycle

A track bicycle or track bike is a bicycle optimized for racing at a velodrome or outdoor track. Unlike road bicycles, the track bike is a fixed-gear bicycle and so has a single gear and neither freewheel nor brakes. Tires are narrow and inflated to high pressure to reduce rolling resistance...

s.

The cycle track has recently been resurfaced, seeing an end to the characteristic red asphalt surface which covered it for several years, funded by the Eddie Smart

Eddie Smart

Edward Charles Smart was a Welsh cyclist and coach from Cardiff, Wales. He represented Wales at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica , in the scratch race, kilo, sprint, pursuit and road race.He ran a garage on Maindy Road, opposite the cycle track...

 memorial fund.

The Maindy Flyers children's cycling club is also based at the stadium, and boasts past members such as Geraint Thomas

Geraint Thomas

Geraint Howell Thomas, MBE is a Welsh professional racing cyclist who rides for the UCI ProTour team . A track cycling world champion and Olympic gold medalist in the team pursuit, Thomas has also enjoyed success on the road, winning the Junior Paris-Roubaix in 2004, the British National...

. The British National Derny Championships

British National Derny Championships

The British National Derny Championships are annual bicycle races held in the UK.The event is often known as the motor paced or stayers championships, but this is a misnomer because a motor paced or stayers race is one where the pacing machine is a modified motorbike of anything from 100cc to...

 were held at the stadium in 2007, local riders and past members of Maindy Flyers, Alex Greenfield

Alex Greenfield

Alexandra Greenfield is a Welsh road and track cyclist from Barry. She began competing at a young age with the Maindy Flyers children's cycle club before joining Cardiff Ajax. Greenfield holds the record for the 5 km Tandem Standing Start event on the track along with Katie Curtis, with a...

 and Katie Curtis

Katie Curtis

Catherine Rachel "Katie" Curtis is a Welsh road and track cyclist and a member of the Vision1 Racing squad.Curtis began competing at a young age with the Maindy Flyers children's cycle club before joining Cardiff Ajax...

 came second and third respecitvley. Another past members of Maindy Flyers, Matthew Rowe

Matthew Rowe

-Biography:Born in Cardiff, Rowe began racing at a young age, initially riding with his parents on a tandem. He began to enjoy cycling and became a member of the Maindy Flyers, based at Maindy Stadium...

, finished third in the men's championships.

The facility also has a 6-lane 25 metres (82 ft) length swimming pool, which was opened in 1993, and a 5-a-side pitch,

Boxing matches also took place at Maindy Stadium between May 1935 and July 1963.

External links

• Official Maindy Centre site
• www.runtrackdir.com site