America’s Short, Violent Love Affair with Indoor Track Cycling • Hacker News Board

Re: America’s Short, Violent Love Affair with Indoor Track Cycling

#11

Post by _9MOTHER9HORSE » Sat, Oct 01, 2016, 9:12 AM UTC

bbarn wrote: post #9

They missed something in this article. There is actually only 1 indoor velodrome in the US. The rest are outdoor. What's important about that, is, given any locale's elite cycling community, there's little reason to race on the track during summer when it's nice enough outside to square off against national level competition on the road on any given weekend if you're willing to drive a few hours. Move to the winter,…

By contrast, the UK now has six indoor velodromes, half of which were opened in the last five years.

Guess who cleaned up [0] at the Olympics this year?

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_at_the_2016_Summer_O...

Re: America’s Short, Violent Love Affair with Indoor Track Cycling

#12

Post by jkot » Sat, Oct 01, 2016, 9:41 AM UTC

6-day race does not scale. 2-hour events can be covered by television and can be hosted in expensive stadium. Madison Square Garden has one event every day.

Re: America’s Short, Violent Love Affair with Indoor Track Cycling

#13

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Oct 01, 2016, 11:34 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: America’s Short, Violent Love Affair with Indoor Track Cycling

#14

Post by mksndz » Sat, Oct 01, 2016, 11:37 AM UTC

davidw wrote: post #2

A discussion of track cycling in the US isn't complete without Major Taylor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Taylor

"I cannot go on with safety, for there is a man chasing me around the ring with a knife in his hand."

Re: America’s Short, Violent Love Affair with Indoor Track Cycling

#15

Post by 83457 » Sat, Oct 01, 2016, 11:46 AM UTC

sndean wrote: post #3

I've only ever been to Trexlertown ( https://thevelodrome.com ) and the DC velodrome. Didn't realize there were so many velodromes in all over ( http://www.usacycling.org/velodromes-in-the-us.htm ). If you're ever bored on a Saturday and you live close to one of them, they're normally free/cheap to go watch races, or participate. And a decent track bike, in my experience, is a lot more affordable than a decent road b…

There is a DC velodrome?

Re: America’s Short, Violent Love Affair with Indoor Track Cycling

#16

Post by jessaustin » Sat, Oct 01, 2016, 2:10 PM UTC

Animats wrote: post #8

Next to be phased out, baseball. Average age of US baseball fans: 53. (Football, 47; Basketball, 37).

Life expectancy at 53 in USA is 27 and 30.5 years for men and women, respectively. Especially given that older people are wealthier than others, MLB won't be in trouble for a long time.

Re: America’s Short, Violent Love Affair with Indoor Track Cycling

#17

Post by mcguire » Sat, Oct 01, 2016, 3:16 PM UTC

jkot wrote: post #12

6-day race does not scale. 2-hour events can be covered by television and can be hosted in expensive stadium. Madison Square Garden has one event every day.

Marathon track cycling went out of favor before television became an issue. Other marathon events, like the Tour de France mentioned in the article, or golf, are televised in some way. Presumably, those countries where the sport is popular manage to cover it as well.

Re: America’s Short, Violent Love Affair with Indoor Track Cycling

#18

Post by coldtea » Sat, Oct 01, 2016, 3:38 PM UTC

jessaustin wrote: post #16

Animats wrote: post #8

Next to be phased out, baseball. Average age of US baseball fans: 53. (Football, 47; Basketball, 37).

Life expectancy at 53 in USA is 27 and 30.5 years for men and women, respectively. Especially given that older people are wealthier than others, MLB won't be in trouble for a long time.

And yet, the older demographic is not as desirable for ad agencies.

Besides, it's not only whether they are wealthier but whether they'll do watch/attend baseball games after a certain age.

Re: America’s Short, Violent Love Affair with Indoor Track Cycling

#19

Post by mesofile » Sun, Oct 02, 2016, 12:50 PM UTC

83457 wrote: post #15

sndean wrote: post #3

I've only ever been to Trexlertown ( https://thevelodrome.com ) and the DC velodrome. Didn't realize there were so many velodromes in all over ( http://www.usacycling.org/velodromes-in-the-us.htm ). If you're ever bored on a Saturday and you live close to one of them, they're normally free/cheap to go watch races, or participate. And a decent track bike, in my experience, is a lot more affordable than a decent road b…

There is a DC velodrome?

There is not. Trexlertown is actually the closest velodrome to DC. Oddly they list it on that linked page as if it were an operating venue, but the track only exists as a proposal.