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A
Message from the Director
The Fort Collins Velodrome
Association was formed to realize the dream of a world class community
velodrome in or near Downtown Fort Collins. When complete, the facility
will provide healthy and exciting spectator friendly track bike racing
and training for local and regional youth novice, licensed amateur,
collegiate, and professional riders on a weekly basis, and provide
an attractive venue for major events such as U.S. Track Nationals,
Olympic qualifying and UCI World Cup races. Additional uses for inline
skating, model car racing, and perhaps concerts are possible.
In
addition to providing benefit to the cycling community, it will
provide measurable benefit to the Fort Collins community at large.
Youths who cannot meet the financial and travel requirements to experience
road and mountain bike racing will have new opportunity. The developing
Downtown Fort Collins entertainment and cultural "Chautauqua" will
gain a new and unique athletic and entertainment asset, and convention
and visitor businesses will profit and collect more city sales tax.
A major project
like this, to be located in an already "hot" development
area of the city, will require support from city government. While
this may help
solve their current budget woes eventually, right now the best one
could hope for is free land in an existing city park. That would
be huge.
Building the track will require donations from individuals, racing
associations, philanthropic organizations, and sponsors. Once built,
a non-profit association will maintain and operate the velodrome
(on a balanced budget) with income from patrons, sponsors, and user
fees. There are several models for this elsewhere in the U.S.
As
we begin the fundraising, questions about the scope of the velodrome
project will invariably arise. Three levels of success are envisioned.
We will aim for the "bull's eye", and land on the target
where our fundraising directs us.
- To attract annual UCI
World Cup events, Olympic training and qualifying races, and
vie for World and National Championship events, a year-round indoor
wood
velodrome with supporting training, sports medicine,
physical
therapy, and massage facilities as well as nearby hotels/dorms would
be ideal. The ADT Velodrome in Carson, CA and a proposed
velodrome in Austin TX would be comparables. Fort Collins would be
a preferable
Olympic training site due to its proximity to the Colorado
Springs Olympic facility and its favorable situation, elevation,
and climate for
year-round road training. These uses would still allow plenty of
schedule time
for regular
community and local regional racing/riding. This is the "bull's
eye"
- To attract occasional
World and National events, and to still vie for Olympic training
and qualifying uses nearly year-round, a covered, but not totally
enclosed wood
velodrome, with some designed control of our frequently windy conditions
is required. This level of success,
at somewhat lower cost than #1 above, could be the centerpiece
of a bicycle racing park, with parking, an outdoor closed 1K criterium
course, perhaps as well as BMX, MTB, and Cyclocross tracks. Restrooms
and permanent concession stands could complete the park. There
would be no comparable to
such a facility in North America, and yet plenty of time for regular
local riders and racing would be set aside.
- A basic lighted,
but uncovered outdoor wood velodrome, with restrooms, parking,
and
hillside or grandstand spectator seating, would still be a success
for local,
regional, and possibly national users, but would be unlikely
to attract World Cup or Olympic level events due to weather unpredictability.
The Mike Walden Velodrome in Rochester Hills, MI, and the National
Sports Center Velodrome in Blaine, MN would be comparables. Concrete
tracks like the very successful Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown,
PA, and the 7-Eleven Velodrome in Colorado Springs are low cost
and
maintenance, but the inevitable "spills" on concrete
are much more injurious than on wood. A concrete velodrome
would be a lowest cost, minimal success, far from the "bull's
eye".
It is possible that our
velodrome may open in two to four years.
Sincerely,
Tim Anderson
Director
The Fort Collins Velodrome Association
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