Velodrome Challenge rolls into town

Published 12:00 am Thursday, July 24, 2014

The Cadonau family’s Alpenrose Dairy, at 6149 S.W. Shattuck Road, has quite a jewel on its property, and the country’s cycling community had its collective eyes on the steep world-class velodrome last weekend.

Competitors from far and wide gathered for the 16th annual Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge, an elite-level three-day racing event.

There are not many tracks like it around the country — 25, according to the Alpenrose folks — and it’s known for its distinctive shape, concrete surface and 43-degree incline. Racers have to maintain speeds of 12.5 mph or faster just to stay upright. Imagine having to do that on your daily commute!

Competitors competed and races were won, and in the end, everybody had fun.