Obviously I'm late to the party here, but I use the SD Velodrome a lot and am really disappointed to hear about this. Sure, the damage is just cosmetic, and before long it will be forgotten, but for those of us who care about the place there is more to it than that.

Our track is a little different from some others - it is a little rough around the edges, but it's home to a thriving local racing scene, a great program for juniors, and a number of classes that have brought many new riders on to the track. There are scheduled sessions where the track is open to anyone on any bike. It's the sort of place where a new rider with a question can easily approach a former olympian, national champion, and/or many other accomplished riders and coaches for help. It's also the sort of place where we have a beach cruiser race and a pinata on the last night of the season - we're about fun.

For those of us who care about this, we happily pay the modest membership fee for access to the track (and this is a bargain compared to some tracks where you have to pay every time you ride), pay entry fees to race, and otherwise try to support the place by buying food, donating prizes, etc. It's worth it for what the track offers.

It's because we value the track, and try to take care of it, that we get pissed off when people decide they can just hop the fence and have the run of the place. It's like stealing - they use the place without assuming any of the responsibility. This kind of attitude - take what you want regardless of how it affects others - is what makes people angry, and what contributes to the eventual loss of valuable resources like the velodrome.