Looking Back, Looking Forward!

The sky is gray, the ground is always wet, and we will all soon forget what the warm embrace of the sun feels like.  What a perfect time to reminisce about this summer and the 2013 track season!  The MVA would like to take a moment and highlight some of the achievements from this season in hopes that we might spark opportunities to improve for next year.  Read on for more on what we think went well and how you can help shape and inform our preparation for the 2014 Track Racing season.

Olympian Sarah Hammer riding a victory lap at this year’s Marymoor Grand Prix. The Grand Prix, the annual centerpiece for the Velodrome season, has continued to draw impressive crowds and equally impressive riders.

The MVA is very thankful for our fantastic community of spectators and racers.  This year, we saw food trucks and cookies for the first time, improvements in our race schedule, and the continuation of several annual events that have helped shape the Velodrome into the excellent venue that it is.  Together, we were able to have a ton of fun and share some pretty epic moments together.  Let’s take a look at some data gathered from this summer.

Racer Data

• In 2012, the Velodrome attracted 156 new racers. In 2013, the Velodrome attracted 230 new racers.  That’s 33% improvement in one year!
• In 2012, we had 203 racers return to race from the previous year.  In 2013, we had 217 racers decide to stick it out.  
• In 2012, 249 racers purchased memberships.  This year, 319 racers took the plunge.  Another big increase!
• Last year, we had 65 female members. This year, that number improved to 88.  Just short of 20% of our racers are females.
• Finally, in 2012, we had 359 total racers.  This year, we bumped that up to 447.  That’s great news!

All this to say, people seem to be showing up in bigger numbers.  More riders means more help needed (keep checking in for opportunities to volunteer), more organization, more racing, bigger prizes, better action!  We can only hope 2014 will continue to follow this trend.  With the recent announcement of Master’s Nats at the Velodrome, we certainly expect our Masters community to be showing up in force.

Thank you for everyone’s continuing support for the Velodrome.  We look forward to seeing you out at the Roller Racing Winter Series and the Spring Auction, more details to come.