Opening Night Features USA Cycling 10-Mile National Championship, Pre-Race Live Entertainment, New Organic Concessions
Trexlertown, Pa. – The world's fastest bicycle racers return to the Valley Preferred Cycling Center -- America's most celebrated velodrome -- on June 18 to kick off the 35th Anniversary season with the Festival of Speed and the U.S. 10-Mile Championship.
Opening night also marks the beginning of the World Series of Bicycling, 10 Friday nights of international, Olympic-caliber racing that will feature the best American racers going head-to-head and shoulder-to-shoulder with riders from Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Canada, Cuba. Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and many other nations.
The VPCC will also host the 2010 USA Cycling Junior National Track Championships from July 8-11, which will feature almost 200 of the best young racers in the country.
This year fans can come early to enjoy our 2010 Happy Hour featuring the Mayfair Music Series presented by the Lehigh Valley Grand Prix and live music performed by top local entertainers from 5:30 to 7 p.m.. Sebastian Rivera will perform on Opening Night and the BC Combo is already booked for June 25. Happy Hour festivities also include drink specials from Michelob Ultra and other popular beers, the tasty all-organic concessions at our new Breakaway Café and a plaza full of fun activities for children and adults.
The anniversary is a true milestone in cycling history, said Executive Director and 2000 Olympic gold medalist Marty Nothstein.
"We've been around for 35 years. There aren't many bike tracks that can say that, even in the Golden Age of the early 20th Century when track cycling was the Nascar of its day," Nothstein said. "We offer more racing, more programs, more community activities than any other track in the United States – and maybe the world. And we are very, very proud of that distinction."
The VPCC has hosted several U.S. Nationals and Masters National Championships, the 1995 U.S. Olympic Trials, a 1999 World Cup and the Junior World Championships in 1978 and 2001. It's community training programs have introduced more than 22,000 people to track cycling and produced more than 140 national champions, seven world champions, three Olympic medalist – including Nothstein's 2000 gold earned in Syndey, Australia and 1996 silver medal in Atlanta, and the Olympic record in the match sprint set by Nothstein in Sydney.
Nothstein grew up in Trexlertown less than a mile from the internationally renowned race track and is a product of the great community programs such as the Air Products Developmental Cycling Program and what is now known as Red Robin Marty Nothstein Bicycle Racing League for youths ages 9 to 17.
"We have trained dozens and dozens and dozens of national champions and Olympic competitors right here on my home track and we want to build on that record," said Nothstein, America's most-decorated cycling champion with more than 30 national championships and three world championships in addition to his Olympic medals.
In addition to the World Series of Bicycling professional schedule and four days with the best young riders in the country, there will be 17 nights of the 24-7 Fitness Clubs Super Tuesday Pro-Am race nights and 16 Masters and Rookies events for a total of 46 race days on the 2010 calendar.
The Valley Preferred Cycling Center is the nation's foremost velodrome and the only one in North America to offer a full season of professional, Olympic-caliber competition through its World Series of Bicycling events every Friday night from June 18 through Aug. 27. In addition, the 24-7 Fitness Clubs Pro-Am Series on Tuesday night showcases the rising talent of riders from throughout the United States and other nations and often features the Friday night pros who frequently use the Pro-Am races for training.
Built by publisher Bob Rodale, the velodrome opened in 1975 and is celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2010. Rodale donated the facility to Lehigh County shortly after its construction and it is operated by the non-profit Velodrome Fund. As a county park, the track and the Bob Rodale Cycling and Fitness Park across the street are open to cyclists when not in use for training or racing.
For more information, go to www.thevelodrome.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
