Track Racing
| Track Racing at Penrose Park |
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| We in Missouri are very lucky to have one the country's 23 velodromes right here in St. Louis. Penrose Park was resurrected in 2005 due to the organizational work of Bill Howard and financial support of THF Realty. The track is always open for free practice, but from mid-April until mid-August, sanctioned racing is held every Wednesday night. If you are unfamiliar with track racing and would like to learn more, you may wish read some track racing overviews on wikipedia, cyclingnews, or fixedgearfever. |
| Penrose Park Background by George Behring In 1984, the St. Louis Velodrome was repaved with asphaltic concrete to match the existing surface material and was to have followed the existing contours. The original track construction began in 1961 with surfacing done in 1962. The National Championships were held on the track in 1962. The original surface remained intact until the late 1970’s when an MSD sewer beneath one of the banks collapsed and had to be excavated to be repaired. A portion of the track was resurfaced following the repairs at the expense of either the City of St. Louis Park Dept. or MSD. The resurfaced area did not follow well the original with a resulting high section or shortcutting of the curve. The remainder of the track surface was aging at that point as well making competition difficult and several racing seasons were lost. The present surface was applied in 1984, but was done twice. The original contractor hired by the City of St. Louis left the surface too rough. Maplewood Contracting (the company which did the original surface in 1962) did a second resurfacing. This greatly improved the situation and at least made the surface rideable. It was however, not the quality of the original track and through time, has further deteriorated. Lessons Learned Do not use a fabric such as Petramat between the old surface and new. This was done on the 1st repaving in 1984 and resulted in slippage on the banks between the existing and new surface. A normal primer to aid in adhesion is suggested. Scarifying of the old surface could be used to aid in adhesion and also help take down some of the high spots but this is an expensive procedure. The cross section of the new surface should be straight from the top of the bank to the toe or base which is below the white line. The current surface has a swale or wallow in the pole lane, which is incorrect. See figure. Also see method of rolling. Several deliveries of black top arrived late and therefore cold. It is speculated that drivers could not find the track and how to access it. The contractor should be encouraged distribute maps or utilize other logistics to avoid this. Do not hand roll the surface. This was attempted in the 1984 effort and resulted in an uneven surface and porous top. The process was slow and could not keep pace with the arrival of asphalt. The roller was pulled top to bottom on the bank requiring several men. Subsequently the weight in the roller was reduced which further reduced its effectiveness. |
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| Suggestions It should be recognized that asphalt has been abandoned in favor of concrete on modern velodromes due to technical difficulties in rolling the surface on a grade. Our velodrome bank is 28 deg. per original specs. and the contractor needs to deal with this situation. There may be other ways to roll this surface but there are 2 which have been successfully employed to date. A Ford (or other brand) tractor located on the infield near the center of the curve with 2 beams extending to a roller. The tractor pushes the roller up the bank and reverses to let it roll back down in a radial fashion. The roller is maneuvered between strokes so as to progress along the circumference of the curve. A reasonably heavy roller 3 to 5ft in length can be used. This method was used in the initial construction of the track. Another method was used successfully at the Kenosha Wisconsin velodrome. A standard motor driven roller was used. To prevent the roller from overturning or sliding down the bank, a dump truck was chained to the roller and driven parallel to the roller on the grade level exterior to the circumference of the curve. The carburetor had to be replaced with one that ran at any angle. In both cases the apron was the last to be surfaced providing more maneuvering space during paving of the most important and difficult area. |
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