For more than three decades that lasted through 1930, Newark, NJ, achieved international renown for its outdoor board cycling track. The best racers from both sides of the Atlantic and Pacific competed there from May through Labor Day. They raced around the pine oval before paying crowds. The grandstands were always full and it made cyclists America’s best-paid athletes at the time.
Newark served as the home base to a vital American racing circuit on the Eastern Seaboard. The outdoor track, the Velodrome, measured six laps to the mile, a little less than 300 yards around. The steeply banked turns accommodated racers in vibrant jerseys who rode at speeds topping 35 MPH. They set dozens of world records and put Newark, NJ in the record books!
Newark was a popular destination for racers until the property it used expired at the end of 1930 and by then the Great Depression had a hold on the national economy. The Eastern Seaboard’s Velodrome circuit collapsed.
Since then Newark has become one of the lowest ranked cities in America for being accessible to walkers and bikers. Today, citizens and bikers in Newark are attempting to change that by channelling the history of the city.
0 comments:
Post a Comment