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Velodrome home: Dentist spearheads movement for city cycling stadium
By CHRISTINE MCMANUS Coloradoan | ChristineMcManus@coloradoan.com

Grass-roots efforts are sprouting in the bicycling community this spring to bring a velodrome race track to Fort Collins.
Downtown area dentist Tim Anderson is leading the pack.

Several weeks ago, he posted his velodrome brainstorm online for 700 members of the online Bike Fort Collins Google Group. The response has been significant, he said.

As seen in the Olympics, a velodrome is a banked oval track, usually outdoors, for bicycle racing. Bleachers for audiences surround the track. Some velodromes around the world double as concert venues.There are about 20 velodromes in the U.S. The closest one to Fort Collins is in Colorado Springs, more than a two-hour drive away.
In the widely distributed e-mail, Anderson cited more than 15 reasons why he believes "a velodrome belongs in downtown Fort Collins."

Pushing the envelope
"The response has been incredible," Anderson said. "People are raising their hands, interested in helping make this happen."

Anderson and others want to push the envelope on Fort Collins' reputation as a bicycle town. True, one of New Belgium Brewing Co.'s best-selling beers, Fat Tire, is named after a bike, and it is made in Fort Collins. And Colorado State University Rams cycling team is a national powerhouse. The town is home to many racers and several pro and amateur cycling teams. One reason to build a velodrome is that highways get busier every year, Anderson said. Transportation officials at both the state and county levels are pressuring clubs and charities to reduce road racing.

As the father of two sons who race, Anderson sees a velodrome as a whole new opportunity for local youth programs. Partly because track bikes are simpler and cheaper than mountain or road bikes, velodromes in other cities attract underprivileged youth, Anderson said. Tracks are often also used for in-line skating.

As a businessman, Anderson believes practices and tournaments at a velodrome would generate visits to nearby restaurants, taverns and shops. Bike businesses and food and beverage vendors could also participate.

Personally, bike racing has improved Anderson’s life. The 49-year-old recently renewed his interest in bicycling and lost 52 pounds, going from 220 pounds to 168 pounds.

“Because cycling has restored my health and energy, and given my sons a sport they love, and because my community has supported my practice of dentistry, I hope to be able to give back something meaningful,” Anderson wrote in a letter to Eddy Merckx to rally the historic champion racer’s support. Although Anderson has not yet heard from Merckx, he is talking with leaders in the cycling community.

Eddy Gragus, former U.S. Pro Champion racer, said a velodrome in Fort Collins is a great idea. With 20 years’ experience in the cycling world, Gragus has national contacts and is willing to help.

“The Front Range is a mecca for competitive cycling in the U.S.,” Gragus said. “We’d have to get a good business plan together and convince the city it’s a good idea.”

Land, money, perception
Gragus said a velodrome would cost about $2 million to build, once a location is found. Indoor velodromes cost about $5 million to build.

“If you had a sponsor like Woodward or HP, the velodrome could be named for the sponsor,” Gragus said. “If we had a world cup here, their business would be advertised internationally.”

Gragus said he wants to meet with local cyclists to figure out the next steps, such as investor strategies. Though he did not commit to lead efforts, he said he wants to be involved. Gragus is presently busy earning his master’s degree in accounting.

Finding a location might be the biggest challenge. Despite an interested investor, Boulder-area bicyclists have been networking with Boulder and Lyons officials to find their own suitable location for a velodrome for more than a year. Anderson hopes to capture that momentum and bring it here. Anderson has set his sights high to find a site. He is thinking of talking with New Belgium Brewing Co. or Pat Stryker. The philanthropist announced plans last year to build a concert venue on the Oxbow property just north of downtown, near the New Belgium Brewing Co. Fort Collins City park land could be another avenue to check into, Anderson said.

The challenge cyclists have faced in small-town Lyons was public misconception, said former Lyons mayor Tim Kyer.
Kyer is friends with the financial backer of the Lyons velodrome effort, Doug Emerson, who owns University Bicycles of Boulder.

“ People had no idea what a velodrome is. They got confused with the word — they thought we were going to put a big dome in part of the city’s undeveloped park space,” Kyer said. “They felt like we were going to be giving something away.”
A clean sporting industry is exactly the type of economic stimulus Lyons could use, Kyer said. Though the effort has not made it to the governmental approval process, he believes a velodrome would have brought $2 million in revenues into the town, once it got up and running.

En route to Estes Park, Lyons is focused on drawing day-trip visitors for economic stimulation. The town already designated a whitewater park. Cycling activists in Lyons should have started with community meetings to educate the public on their ideas, Kyer said.

Another Fort Collins supporter is Rick Price, co-founder of the bike-friendly policy advocate group Fort Collins Bicycle Program Inc. Members successfully asked the Fort Collins officials not to eliminate the bike coordinator position during recent budget cuts and layoffs.

“ We’re trying to see what kind of a grass-roots interest there is,” Price said. “We don’t know how this would be funded. There is a lot to be explored.”

If the interest continues to build, Price could lead another campaign. Price owns Experience Plus Specialty Tours, a company that leads biking, hiking and walking tours. “For two and a half years, we have had the League of American Bicyclists silver medal in the community for being bike friendly,” Price said.

Anderson is collecting a list of supporters. Though he is one of the slower members of Team Rio Grande, he plans to race a lot this year.

“ I might not be the fastest, but I’m getting better. The team keeps telling me that I’d really rock if I could help make this happen,” Anderson said.

Originally published April 24, 2006