BLAINE, Minn. – (Aug. 30, 2019) – The outdoor velodrome, a high-banked wooden bicycle racing track, at National Sports Center will operate no longer. The closure, announced this week, means the end of an era for local and international bicycle racing competition at one of the world’s largest amateur sports facilities.
Thursday night races on Aug. 29 were the last at the track, which once hosted the 1992 Summer Olympic trials not long after the track opened.
It is hailed as one of the only outdoor tracks of its kind.
Organizers of races and bicycling competition say the costs for upkeep on the 250-meter circuit became too much to bear in terms of keeping it open.
The track will be demolished.
