Cycling around the Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi
One of the best things to do in Abu Dhabi is cycling around the Yas Marina Circuit – home to the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix. The TrainYas sessions take place a couple of evenings per week.
What is the Yas Marina Circuit?
The Yas Marina Circuit is where the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix is held. The race is generally the last of the season, and held in November.
For the rest of the year, the Yas Marina Circuit hosts cyclists and runners.
Where is the Yas Marina Circuit?
The Yas Marina Circuit is on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. It is close to the Ferrari World theme park and the Yas Waterworld water park.
Cycling on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Circuit
What makes the latter so special is how it is used when Lewis Hamilton and co aren’t whizzing around it. Test drives take place and fast car driving experiences are indulged in, but on certain nights the cars are kicked off the circuit altogether. It is given over to runners and cyclists as part of the TrainYas programme.
From the early evening onwards, two wheels take over from four. The 5.55km circuit is given over to cyclists, some of whom take it as a fairly serious training exercise, pedalling furiously along racing lines whilst clad in lycra, thighs pumping up and down like steam engine pistons.
Others are kitted up in the shorts and T-shirts they’d be wearing anyway, and taking the opportunity for exercise with a novelty twist. Thousands of bikes – some expensive, some basic cheapies rented for an hour or two from operators out the front – are pedalled around the circuits at various speeds. The floodlights are on and the lightshow from the LED panels on the W Abu Dhabi hotel adds a sense of spectacle.
When can I cycle on the Yas Marina Circuit?
Unfortunately, the dates for the TrainYas cycling evenings on the Yas Marina Circuit are somewhat inconsistent. You can, however, view the schedule on the circuit website. Usually, it’s a couple of times a week, with Mondays and Thursdays as the default.
Nevertheless, it is one of the best things to do in Abu Dhabi on an Abu Dhabi stopover.
When does the Yas Marina Circuit cycling start?
The Com Yas Village opens at 17.30 on the TrainYas evenings, with bikes available for collection from 18.00. Pick them up from the Com Yas Village.
How much does bike hire at the Yas Marina Circuit cost?
There is no cost to hire bikes at the Yas Marina Circuit on Train Yas evenings. Entrance and bike hire is free, with a large selection of children’s and adult’s bikes to choose from. Bike helmets are also available free of charge.
Even for a relatively out of shape plodder who hasn’t so much as looked at a bike for two years and has no intention of doing more than two laps, it’s a thoroughly memorable experience. There’s something incredibly heartwarming and public-spirited about it – a track constructed for a big money sport being used in such an everyman way. Of course, pretending you’re Max Verstappen while puffing and panting around doesn’t hurt either. There’s a fantasy element in the whole charade that makes it irresistibly appealing.
