Dome the ‘Drome
Monday, February 5th, 2007
For those of you who are not aware, the physical condition of the National Sports Center Velodrome is not good. As I understand it, the structure that holds up the track surface is pulling off it’s concrete foundation. How long the track is going to last is up to speculation, but if it goes another decade it would be amazing.
Those of us who use the velodrome all summer long are really going to miss this thing once it’s gone, unless there is a track that is going to be built either in the current track location or in another location someplace in the Twin Cities. It seems to me that the most important thing required in order to help assure that another track will take the place of the NSC track is that a strong racing and training program exists in order to show a potential investor that there is a viable market for a new velodrome.
This post is not to criticize Bob Williams or the program at the NSC. Bob is doing a great job. But I do not feel that the number of individuals who are taking advantage of the current facility are sufficient enough to motivate those who might deem it worth replacing. So the question is, how do we get more people involved in the velodrome program? Most everyone that is willing to race in the summer are already taking part. So what’s next?
Dome the ‘drome. Putting a cover over the velodrome and extending the training and racing program over the winter would be plenty of motivation for those of us who spend the entire winter stuck in the basement on a trainer. To be able to head over to the track for some real ‘on the bike’ workouts and races would attract a number of riders to the velodrome who have plenty of other options available to them during the summer. It would only be natural that a number of those who take part in the program over the winter would also chose to continue racing and training on the track once the warm weather shows up.
So what do you think? Sure, the most important issues to discuss would be “who is going to pay for the dome?” and “does the National Sports Center even want to keep this track program running?”
But, in addition to these questions, do we even all agree on the value of a cover over the track?
I am open to your comments on this issue.
