As one of the country’s only Olympic-size, banked-oval cycling racetracks, the Boulder Valley Velodrome (BVV) should have cemented the Front Range’s status as a cycling destination in 2013, when it was slated to host its first riders. Instead, the south Erie venue suffered a string of setbacks, including a windstorm and flood that all but destroyed the place before construction was finished. Then, just three years after the track finally opened in 2015, the owners put the venue up for sale. After several buyers fell through, the velodrome closed for the season in fall 2019 and never reopened because of the pandemic. Boards rotted, paint flaked, and by 2023, the BVV looked more like an abandoned amusement park ride than a world-class sports venue.

That’s when local cyclist Todd Stevenson stepped in to save it. “There was a realization that, if something didn’t happen, the track was going to go away,” Stevenson says. Team Colorado Cycling, Stevenson’s nonprofit youth race team, and six other parties combined to make a successful bid, and after $100,000 in repairs, the now nonprofit facility hosted its grand reopening party a year ago this month. While its size and high elevation attract world-champion-caliber cyclists, BVV also offers three levels of certification classes designed to take riders from never pedaling in a velodrome before to racing in one. The welcoming culture is essential: With more than $8,000 worth of paint required to cover the track’s 16,000-square-foot surface, even basic upkeep is expensive. “We need riders, and we need volunteers,” Stevenson says. “That’s what’s going to sustain this place.”

5280 August 2024
5280 August 2024
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This article was originally published in 5280 August 2024.
Nicholas Hunt
Nicholas Hunt
Nicholas writes and edits the Compass, Adventure, and Culture sections of 5280 and writes for 5280.com.