Penrose Park Velodrome

Hello everyone. We wanted to give an update on events at Penrose for the rest of the year. The City of St. Louis is tentatively allowing some events, depending on individual parameters, beginning in August. As you may know, the Penrose Park Veodrome is in a park owned by the City of St. Louis. We've been mulling / considering whether we should begin events at Penrose for an abbreviated season in August and September. The factors under consideration have been along the lines... of: Are we putting people at risk? Can we manage events with social distancing accommodations? Are people interested in participating? And, will we all enjoy it? We understand that different people perceive the current risk in different ways, depending on their workplace, families, risk / infections of their acquaintances, and any number of other factors. For us, racing at Penrose Park is about competition, but it has also always been about having a good time with our friends, and enjoying the space with other people. With that in mind, while the risk may be relatively low, we are unlikely to have competitive events for the rest of 2020. While important factors like Covid hospitalizations within the region are substantially down from their peaks, they remain at a significant level, and all of us, in our own lives, continue to exercise a lot of caution. In summary, while we could conceivably host some events this year, it seems like some vital essence of what makes Penrose fun will be missing, which is the camaraderie. We will take another final pass at this in July, but to set expectations, it is unlikely we will have events in 2020. Are we disappointed? Of course. We have a fresh track and lots of fun plans for the season. But it's one of many disappointments for all of us this year, and certainly not the worst. If you want to ride the track, it is always open from dusk until dawn, and we encourage you to get some laps in with a friend. Thanks!

Hello everyone. Due to forecasted rain at the track this afternoon, we are cancelling racing for this evening. (August 22nd) Sorry! But please stay tuned for timed state championship race events, taking place after Labor Day. See you soon.

Hello everyone. We were very excited for the 2020 season - the velodrome was done, grass was in the infield, we had races permitted early, we had potential sponsors interested, but obviously for all of us, in every aspect of our lives, we've been constantly adjusting our expectations. So here's a little update: As you know USA Cycling has cancelled all events until May 31st. It sounds like they are going to lift that order and allow events to resume in June, but details are ...still TBD, and across the country, local rules about events supersede whatever USA Cycling says. AND... The Penrose Park Velodrome is in a City of St. Louis park. While there is a partial "reopening" order that goes into effect on May 18th in St. Louis, athletic facilities in parks will still be closed. (to events, you are still welcome to ride at Penrose any time by yourself / in small groups). There is no way to know when the velodrome will be open again for events currently. It is dependent on how the virus progresses in the region. We have no current expectation on when events will be possible. ALSO: The other x-factor, even if we could / can hold events at some point in 2020, is whether people will feel good or motivated to participate. That may be a very personal decision for everyone, entirely dependent on your own experience these last months, the people around you you have to think about, your age, your instincts, your family, whatever. That is hard to predict, but it probably seems reasonable to expect that for a while, not everyone will be into it. That's fine! The folks who permit events for the velodrome all live in City, and generally speaking we've all been pretty cautious the last few months, not totally quarantined, but definitely limiting interactions, wearing masks, and being careful. That is to say, I am not sure WE are totally sure when we will be comfortable hosting events again. We are trying to think through it, but I think we'll make decisions largely based on what the numbers look like and how safe an event seems. So, no decisions have currently been made, other than to wait and see how things progress. That's the update. We miss you. Stay safe. Keep riding. When it's the right time, racing will come back. I might cry then, but I'll hide behind the shipping container so you don't see.

Final results are posted for the June 30th International Omnium. We had an incredibly close race in the Men's 1/2/3 with just a handful of points separating 1st place Spencer Seggebruch, 2nd place Dan Breuer, and 3rd place Jacob Slosar. Thanks to everyone who came and raced our first weekend event of the year! https://legacy.usacycling.org/results/index.php

Ok - just posting this now to put on everyone's future radar: There is a full season of Thursday night racing planned at the Penrose Park Velodrome. The planned season is May 7th through August 27th. Racing begins at 6pm each Thursday. There are "A", "B", "C" and Women's racing categories. We generally have three events per category per night, with a "feature" event listed in the flyer. Racing is USA Cycling permitted and requires an annual license or a one-day racing license.... We had planned on having every Thursday in April be an open training and clinic night, but it goes without saying, we currently aren't sure when we'll be able to start hosting those. We will fire those up when it is sensible to do so. We will also have some weekend events, but we will hold off permitting those until the rest of the racing schedule shakes out, as obviously there will be a lot of rescheduling going on. When the time is right - we're going to have fun at Penrose. Until then, the track is open for individual training. Stay tuned for future updates track racing family!

Check out our Joe & Karl Becker Missouri State Champion Scratch Race Champions: Men's 1/2/3 Ian Borella Men's 4/5 Tim Smith Women's Open Leigh Dukeman... A lovely night of racing tonight and lots more to come this summer. Don't forget about our International Style Omnium coming up Sunday June 30th.

Best concrete velodrome in Missouri. Now it's official.

Good news, water main work is wrapping up today and all is well and dry. We also have lots of new gravel to park on before the parking lot gets built soon. So riders arriving early are welcome to drive on the gravel and park near where the shipping container is currently located past the large tree, which will free up some space on the access driveway.

Well this was my most stressful day of racing ever. After years of carefully nudging and cajoling and begging to move this project forward so we could have a new track and not shut down part of a city park, I just want this to be done. Seeing water shooting out of the ground really stressed me out. So close, and still so much stuff can go wrong. But in true STL style, we raced anyway. SERENITY NOW

Excited to add a new event on Sunday June 30th - the Penrose Super Sunday International Style Omnium. 4 races with cumulative points deciding the winner of each omnium category. Categories for 1/2/3 Men, 3,4,5 Men, and Open Women. Cash prizes in all categories. Scratch, Tempo, Elimination, and Points Races. This should be a SUPER FUN and competitive Sunday race. Racing begins at 11:00am on Sunday June 30th.

Still a work in progress but the new website is up. But keep checking FB for the most up to date race info. https://www.penroseparkvelo.com/