The Valley Preferred Cycling Center

As the Lehigh Valley’s main track cycling stadium, the Valley Preferred Cycling Center has been wowing crowds for half a century. 

Also known as the Lehigh Valley Velodrome or simply “T-Town” (for nearby Trexlertown), this professional cycling center was the brainchild of publisher Bob Rodale, president of Rodale Press. Rodale became enamored with track cycling at the 1967 Pan American Games and wanted to bring the excitement and action of the sport to his home turf. 

Rodale reached out to celebrated cyclists Jack Simes III and David Chauner to help attract a bevy of international athletes, and broke ground on his “concrete crater in a cornfield” in 1974 on a plot of land that he owned with his wife, Ardath. The velodrome’s first race was held on Oct. 12, 1975. In the years since, it has hosted World Cups, Olympic Trials, international competitions, and more, producing more than  140 national champions, seven world champions, and three Olympic medalists.

The venue itself is outdoors and uncovered, with a large oval track sporting 30-degree banked turns and 12.5-degree straightaways over a length of 1,093.6 feet. Grandstands hold approximately 2,000 fans, and there are showers and locker facilities for the athletes, as well as public restrooms and concessions. 

A network of national and international racers make the Valley Preferred Cycling Center their home each summer. In fact, each Friday evening from June through September spectators can cheer on pro track cyclists under the lights, with races such as the “Festival of Speed” and the “T-Town Showdown.” There is also a rotating lineup of vendors dishing out barbecue, Mediterranean wraps, and classic snacks like kettle corn so fans can make a night of it. 

These days the non-profit Velodrome Fund operates the venue, which also houses a Cycling Hall of Fame. Inductees include Shaun Wallace, a British former professional cyclist who dominated the Valley Preferred track in the 1980s, and cyclist Karen Bliss, the first local woman to earn the role of “star.”

The Valley Preferred Cycling Center hosts VeloFest, the largest cycling marketplace in the United States, twice annually (typically in spring and fall). It’s the perfect place to buy, sell, and trade all things cycling, with hundreds of vendors stocking vintage gear, modern parts and more.