Plenty of positive feedback given during tour of Mattamy National Cycling Centre
Walking into the Mattamy National Cycling Centre’s massive mechanical room, visiting engineers are immediately met with a loud hum of the generator and cooling units.
The volume is enough to make the tour guide a little difficult to hear, but not quite enough to drown out the ‘pretty cool’ and ‘wow’ reactions uttered by those in attendance.
“It’s amazing… quite remarkable,” said Isadora van Riemsdijk of Hamilton’s Arcelor Mittal Dofasco, one of about two dozen engineers who got a behind the scenes look at the recently-build velodrome yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.
The tour was hosted by the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers and billed as a celebration of the influence of engineering on sports — specifically the upcoming Pan Am/Parapan Am Games.
One of two tour guides, Kasra Banis — an assistant project manager with Kenaidan Contracting Ltd. for the design and construction of the velodrome — provided a detailed look at all aspects of the $56-million facility.
That included everything from bike lockers and handicap-accessible washrooms and seating to the heavily-enforced safety netting along the ends of the track that can withstand a thrown cycling traveling up in excess of 60km/h.
Hit with a flurry of technical inquires from his industry peers during the 40-minute tour, Banis explained how the track area must be maintained at a constant 24 degrees C and 35 per cent humidity in order to maintain the structural integrity of the Siberian spruce used for the 250m track.
Also of particular interest to the touring engineers was the fact that the facility features 700 tonnes of cooling power and — for the safety of riders — an emergency generator that kicks in automatically and can run for 24 hours (before refueling required) in the event of a power outage.
“The cyclists will never be thrown into complete darkness. Yes, 100 per cent.” said Banis, who held an especially attentive audience while showing the 42-degree incline peak of the track from the stands. “It was pretty cool to be part of this project. You don’t get to build a velodrome every day.”
Among those on hand for the event was Cycling Canada Team Physiologist Mike Patton, who echoed Pan Am Games Chef de Mission Curt Harnett’s recent comments about the new velodrome being a ‘game changer’ for this country’s elite competitors and Canadian track cycling in general.
“I’m thrilled to have this facility in our backyard. Not that I minded going down to L.A. to train, but that gets old after a while. My wife likes me closer to home,” he said. “It’s going to be a huge benefit to put down permanent roots here.
“Curt called this place a game changer. I’d say that’s an understatement.”
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