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 su

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