# RE: Early Covered Cycle Track



## filmonger (Nov 9, 2015)

Interesting covered Bicycle Track... maybe someone should start a tread on Velodromes and cycle tracks ( if there is not already one? )


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## Iverider (Nov 9, 2015)

Removed pics of West Baden Hotel to keep ON TOPIC of Velodromes!


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## filmonger (Nov 9, 2015)

Miami Velodrome 1921





Easter Mon 1900 Carmarthen velodrome





Italian velodrome 





Danger of the drome





Buffalo velodrome - First velodrome in Paris





Cardiff Velodrome


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## walter branche (Nov 9, 2015)

*stuff, velodrome*





---velodrome .


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## bricycle (Nov 9, 2015)

filmonger said:


> Interesting covered Bicycle Track... maybe someone should start a tread on Velodromes and cycle tracks ( if there is not already one? )
> 
> View attachment 249603




I could be wrong, but I think this was Major Taylor's home track....?


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## barracuda (Nov 9, 2015)

San Jose has had six velodromes, beginning in 1892. Here's the Burbank Velodrome (aka Garden City), 1935 - 41:









And here's the Hellyer Velodrome, still in use:

[video=youtube;OG-W5gFmbFY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG-W5gFmbFY[/video]


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## Eric (Nov 9, 2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnIjFfz4HrM


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## Iverider (Nov 10, 2015)

Bri, this is 100 miles south of Indy. Pretty sure this was a highwheel track.


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## corbettclassics (Nov 10, 2015)

Most Highwheel tracks of the day were packed clay.   There were a few wood board tracks built though …like "Madison Square Gardens" for the 6 Day Race.


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## Iverider (Nov 10, 2015)

The covered track at West Baden may have been clay. It doesn't appear to be a banked Velodrome from the photo, but it's very hard to tell. The Wheelmen just had a meet at West Baden and discussed the track while visiting the location that it used to be constructed upon.


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## Iverider (Nov 10, 2015)

Here is another postcard view of the covered track at West Baden. It is HUGE!. I begin to wonder if it was for racing at all, or if it was just a recreational attraction. Of course with a track this size, SOMEONE had to race on it right?


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## Iverider (Nov 10, 2015)

More pics reveal a double decker track. Bikes up top? Ponies down below? Photo Circa 1910





Also found some history from a local website.
The covered bicycle and pony-cart track was a wooden double-decker  structure,   built in the late 1880s by Lee W. Sinclair. The track,  which was promoted as a   structure unlike any other, was a third of a  mile long. It was located just   south of French Lick Creek and the  bridge, now known as the Joe Louis Bridge,   which was adjacent to the  sunken garden.
 The two-level oval structure was supported with wooden posts.  Starting near   the top of each post was an inverted triangle,  constructed from wood planks. At   a distance, this design created an  arch-like appearance between the posts. The   lower level, which was  twelve-feet tall and enclosed by a plank railing, was   used for  pony-cart rides and horseback riding. During the day the upper deck was    used as a bicycle track. At four o’clock in the evening, comfortable  rocking   chairs replaced the bicycles. The lighted top floor became the  fashionable spot   for the evening strolls along the promenade.
 The area inside the track contained three tennis courts and a  baseball field.   The hotel provided excellent spring training  facilities for many professional   baseball teams.
 In the late 1920s, hotel owner Edward Ballard wanted to have the  massive,   deteriorating structure dismantled. After receiving price  quotes from several   salvage businesses that he considered unreasonably  high, Ballard declared that   he would just put a chain across the  bridge and let it fall down. Three weeks   later, a tornado demolished  most of the structure. Ballard had the structure   insured, so the  insurance company had it taken away; in addition Ballard   received  $100,000 in retribution. When the tornado struck, three months remained    on the insurance policy and Ballard did not plan to renew it since the  structure   was badly in need of repairs.

 Today, all that remains of the track are pictures and a vacant lot with a   baseball field that has recently been reopened.


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## Larmo63 (Nov 10, 2015)

In those days the biggest sports were bike racing, boxing, college football, and professional baseball.


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## filmonger (Nov 10, 2015)

Woooow - that is cool and great research! I love this kind of stuff!

here is the Track in SanFrancisco from the 1897 Referee


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## 66TigerCat (Nov 12, 2015)

Cycle Track-Revere,MA


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## filmonger (Nov 12, 2015)

Whats that structure behind them?


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## barracuda (Nov 12, 2015)

San Francisco, 1896:





San Francisco, 1919:


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## 66TigerCat (Nov 12, 2015)

filmonger said:


> Whats that structure behind them?




I believe it's a roller coaster.


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## MrColumbia (Nov 12, 2015)

Here is some images of Hampden Park that was in Springfield Mass. Just a couple of miles from where I live now. George Hendee of Indian Motorcycle fame got his start racing there.


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## MrColumbia (Nov 12, 2015)

George Hendee










This is an actual photograph of the park.


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