Laoshan Velodrome

This is where it will all kick off in less than 12 hrs, Laoshan Velodrome, home to the track cycling events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

View from the seats. MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images

The beautiful wooden track. More photos on the Olympics homepage.

View of the track, the infield, and the amazing ceiling. More photos on the Olympics homepage.

The purpose built velodrome is a pretty impresive venue. The building itself covers more than 33,320 square metres. The three-story building is 33.8m tall, capable of seating 6,000, including 3,000 temporary seats. It is capped with a dish-shaped dome ceiling, where more than 200 lights are installed, which is designed to look like the spokes on a bicycle wheel. The building also contains a 3 story bicycle parking garage for visitors, which holds 5,000 bicycles. Pretty freaking sweet.

The track itself is 250 meters in length and 11 meters wide. The wood-surface track (made from "special fast wood" apparently) has a seven-meter race lane and a four-meter safety lane. The track is banked at between 13 degrees and 47 degrees. Yikes. Makes every track I've ever been on (granted, that's only three) look as flat as a pancake.

The velodrome was designed by the famous Schürmann Architects, arguably the best designers of velodromes in the world. The firm goes back through three generations of the Schürmann family, built its first velodrome in 1926, has since completed over 120 more, and is responsible for some of the most famous tracks in the world, including the beautiful Velodromo Vigorelli in Milan.

So, as I said, less than 12hrs to go to till the first competitive races happen at Laoshan, with the Men's Team Sprint qualifying starting at 4:30 PM Beijing time, which is 5:30 AM Eastern time in the USA (and, not that anyone but me really cares, 5:00 AM Caracas time).