This past Saturday BowCycle held a “Club Appreciation Night,” honoring their sponsored clubs with free run of a closed store, some killer deals and some Goldsprints mixed in for good measure.

For those unaware (as was I), a Goldsprint is essentially a roller race held in front of a crowd. In our case there were three track (ie. fixed gear) bikes attached to rollers. The rollers were attached to a laptop which then projected our progress over a 300m sprint.

The whole event was a great time – just being among like-minded folk, mingling with riders from the other clubs and talking bikes. But it got me thinking… Goldsprints are a fantastic, low barrier-to-entry way to get people stoked on riding.

The sprints can be short enough that a high level of fitness isn’t really required and it’s a great way to get both a little camaraderie and a little competition going.

I could see something like this really being successful at some of the larger races going on in the province. Perhaps it’s something everybody’s favorite guy Sheldon Smart can look to incorporate into this years Nationals… Charge $1 a sprint and have the money go towards Cancer or something like that. Could be good times… I could then tear the legs off Smart amidst dozens of adoring onlookers ;-)

Below is a short clip of me grinding it out… Looks like I need to get me some leg speed like this guy ;-) And since my video was a little lacking, I also included something that captures the essence of the event a little better.