For those in or near Pennsylvania, the track formerly called the Lehigh Valley Velodrome, founded by Bob Rodale, publisher of the Prevention health and wellness magazine, is still in operation, now under the name Valley Preferred Cycling Center. They have many programs for aspiring track riders, young and old, and, I would guess, pro and amateur racing nights as well.

I used to do the 2.5-hour drive from Baltimore with my girlfriend in the 1980's to watch the Friday night racing, which included national and international stars whose names I'd recognize from Velonews articles.

Random memory: I vividly recall standing behind the wall at the top of the track with my girlfriend, waiting for the women's miss-and-out race to start, with the racers lined up against their side of the wall, when the woman racer nearest us began giving me an ostentatiously lascivious up-and-down look. My girlfriend thought it was funny. Or so she said later.