karmical

i'm still trembling from hearing these words today at the bike to work celebration held downtown this morning. just as i was leaving nancy nadel said those very words, something about a plan on building a velodrome in attempts to focus the energy generated by sideshows and the such in a positive direction... something about lets spin laps instead of doing doughnuts...

wow state of shock the very last thing i thought i'd ever hear this morning...

maybe if i'd gone to some of those bicycle coalition meetings and city planning sessions i would have known about this earlier...

i'll post more information as i find it, since i'll be talking with her office later on today...

juvi-kyle

Terror_in_pink

i am now moving back.

pitboss

These are the words I love hearing most in cycling:
"We are building a velodrome"

Yo K-
Do tell...when you find out more. This must be a fairly recent thing.

ZappCatt

A velodrome would be cool....but as a direct responce to side shows? She has got to be kidding..

onetwentyeight 

omgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomg. if this is for real thats amazing!

karmical

i'm all over this one. she has never mentioned this before, not that i go to that many council meetings and the lot, but i do have to peek in time to time in general city level bs with regards to the medical thing, and i have had the pleasure of talking to her a few times, but this one...wow out of nowhere... just got my vote for mayor, let me see if i can find that pin of hers, it goes on my bag...

dudeman

now you will all be able to ghost ride the whip around the velodrome!!!

onetwentyeight 

the hyphydrome.

r-dub

I really really really hope it's true, but I'm not holding my breath. She's a bit of a flake as a council member.

katio

With our stunna shades on of course.

jonb

awesome.

karmical

that really works bro


and yeah 'dub she is kind of politically wishy washy... don't piss on the fire... lets stay focused and positive and flood her office with questions and support maybe they have no idea how much support can be generated by the cycling community...


hyphydrome...thats some funny stick man...

vomitron

The world-class velodrome in your city ain't good enough for you?

OneTinSloth

i hate to be a negative nicholas, but...

i'm not going to hold my breath waiting for this. it's about as likely as them making a BART stop at treasure island to pick up all the cyclists who rode there from the east bay in an attempt to get to SF (once the bike lane on the new span of the bay bridge opens up, that is).

Terror_in_pink

LA isn't Oakland. I love LA, but i LOVE Oakland. Its all about the day to day living that i'm more cocerned about. The air in LA is too dirty for me and it's too far spread out. Still, I love it anyway, especially the rad sense of community.

gnatthew

They were SUPPOSED to build one in SF https://www.sportsvenue-technology.co...ran_velodrome/

onetwentyeight 

and theyve been trying to get one in Marin for about 20 years.

papalok

What other v-dubs are in the Bay besides San Jose right now?

onetwentyeight 

uhhh... the polo fields? heh.

papalok

ah...well then, where's the petition for this Hyphydrome?

asterisk

karmical,

give us some ****in contact info. i'm from berkeley; lets have even more oakland-berkeley competitve silliness at the veedub.

Jaminsky

I think this probably would have happened if we had won the bid for the 2012 olympics, but we didn't... Karmical (what up), do you know if that guy older Greg who rides that ridiculous Eisentraut around has anything to do with this velo? I spoke to him around a year ago and he was talking about a building a velo with a figure 8 in sf, but he might have switched to oaktown because of availability. This would be so absurd if it happened. I would be shocked if UC didnt have something to do with this due to the fact that berley doesnt have its own velo. They have a track team right?

plantdude

The last time a velodrome was proposed (per the above mentioned link) it was in response to San Francisco trying to get the 2012 summer olympics, as you can't possibly get them, without proposing a world class indoor cycling track. They lost that bid, so the plans fell through the cracks. Well...SF is now trying to get the 2016 games, so maybe there's a renewed effort on the part of HOK (the architects for the previous project) and other folks.

I for one, would love to see one built in Oakland. If we, as a community really want it to happen, we'll have to make it happen ourselves. I have been scheming about the feasibility of building one for past two years or so. All we need is some funding (how about the "Googledrome" and a 99--year land lease from the City of Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley, Albany, or even Richmond. Then maybe a local shop(s) could take part. There are also recreation grants available for things like this. From some of my initial analysis, I think one could be built for between $250K and $500K - granted this would be for an outdoor, concrete, very simple velodrome, such as at Hellyer Park.

I just finished my 3-yr master's in Landscape Architecture (yesterday, in fact) and would love to be part a contingent of folks that are motivated to make this happen. I have worked on the design and construction of several skate parks, and a velodrome is not all that different, at least with regards to materials.

If folks are interested, let's set up a "brainstorming fixed ride" just to shoot the sh*t, explore locations, and talk about the reality or illusion of making it happen! Are there other designers, engineers, experienced and/or motivated cyclists that are interested?

I know this is a bit dreamy, but hey, I just finished a 3-year masters and am feeling pretty euphoric...

onetwentyeight 

fwiw bokabon (puck) works for HOK. Dunno if he can shed any light...