July 1, 1893 – It was a beautiful day for a bike ride! At least in San Francisco where on this day they opened the first American wooden bicycle race track. Velodrome is the proper name of the venues that started popping up all over the world in the late 19th and early twentieth century as people racing bikes around a wooden oval track was all the rage.
According to Wikipedia, the first such cycling stadium was built in 1877, the Preston Park Velodrome in Brighton, United Kingdom, constructed by the British Army. Some of these sites after that were purpose-built just for cycling, and others were built as part of facilities for other sports; many were built around athletics tracks or other grounds and any banking was shallow.
We have talked about football fields being placed in the infield of these velodromes on many of football history podcasts on SHN.
To find more great daily sports history make sure to check out the Sports Jersey Dispatch and Pigskin Dispatch.
More From Sports History Network
1972/1973 NBA Champion New York Knicks – A Total Team Effort
After winning the NBA Championship in 1970, the Knicks returned to the playoffs in
The First 20 Number One Overall Drafts Picks – NFL
Welcome to the Total Sports Recall podcast. I’m Harv Aronson and this episode is
The First 20 Number One Overall Drafts Picks – MLB
While the NFL steals the spotlight when it comes to amateur drafts, the other
The Changing Role of Sports Mascots
Sports history is usually told through championships, box scores, coaches and athletes. Yet another
Remembering Tampa Bay’s First Two Seasons
In 1976 and 1977, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers experienced what is probably the worst
Brief Overview of Women’s Weightlifting History
The first USA Women’s National Championships were held on May 23, 1981, in Waterloo,
How Kylian Mbappe is becoming ‘Mr World Cup’ as France hunt down Argentina
The brace against Iraq came nearly three hours apart, either side of a weather
The Championship Games That Changed a League Forever
Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/yellow-and-white-trophy-_XTY6lD8jgM Some title games do more than decide who wins. They alter how