Photography by Andrew Hethering
Tucked along a stretch of East Point’s Sumner Park, the Dick Lane Velodrome is a concrete time machine where neighborhood kids, adults, and elite athletes alike chase speed and strategy in thundering laps. The high-banked racetrack, a centuries-old invention, invites cyclists to push the limits of physics at breakneck speeds in a crucible of grit and centrifugal force. Races are held on Wednesday nights. The racing fee is $15, and it’s always free to watch. Once the whirr of bike tires on banked pavement fills the air, it’s impossible to look away.
The story behind the arena began in 1972, when a handful of East Point residents and city officials attended the Munich Summer Olympics and were dazzled by the races they watched at the velodrome Radstadion. Why not, they considered, build such a track in East Point?
Dick Lane is a towering figure in the history of East Point athletics. Lane—who, at 16, became the youngest player to be in the starting lineup of a University of Georgia varsity football game, and was a runner-up for Mr. Georgia in 1948—served for decades as superintendent of East Point Parks and Recreation.
In 1961, Lane organized a popular bicycle race that pitted local Tri-Cities politicians against each other; the race soon attracted politicians from around the world. Building the velodrome was his next move. The city council appropriated $6,000 for the track’s construction, and Lane—by then serving as a state legislator—slowly secured the rest of the funding from local, state, and federal sources. The final price tag was about $200,000; the velodrome hosted its first race in March 1975.
Today, the Dick Lane Velodrome, or DLV, as it’s often referred to, is one of 21 active velodromes across the country. Its oval-shaped track, one-fifth of a mile around, is tilted at 36 degrees in the turns. It doesn’t meet the qualification standards to host world championships or Olympic events, but it does hold pro competitions as well as the junior national championships.
The track is operated by the East Point Velodrome Association, which hosts professional races and a robust youth cycling league. Once kids hit the banked turns, they’re hooked, says Wayne Whitesides, president of the East Point Velodrome Association.
“We’ve had numerous kids go on to race in professional cycling, including the national championships, collegiate championships, and even in the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France,” says Whitesides, who also announces the Wednesday night races. “We pride ourselves on our kids who we have helped gain collegiate scholarships and additional schooling opportunities by learning to ride at the track.”
Some of the current cycling coaches came up through the youth cycling league and now run the program. “Seeing that and having our new youth taught by them is a great inspiration,” Whitesides says.
The velodrome is a space where anyone—from a curious kid to a seasoned sprinter—can test their mettle, find their rhythm, and feel the rush of riding fast. On race nights, families line up on blankets and lawn chairs to cheer for kids amid the sounds of laughter and cowbells. When the sun sets over East Point and the lights hit the track, the scene feels like much more than a race. It feels like home.
This article appears in our August 2025 issue.
