The riding surface has arrived at the Forest City Velodrome at the London Gardens in London, Ontario. The installation started immediately and will take approximately one week to complete. "We expect riders to be riding on the track by Thursday April 21," said 87 year-old Albert Coulier, who is spearheading the project. Coulier's sons, Bob and Ron Schelstrate, have designed and constructed the track to conform to all of the UCI's standards. "The surface will be fast and smooth, every bite as fast as any Olympic Velodrome in the world," indicated Coulier. Apollo Construction have built over 25 velodromes around the world in the last 50 years, including the 1976 Montreal Olympic Velodrome.
The opening night of racing will be Saturday April 23 at 7 PM. Many events are planned for the opener, Handicap and Chariot Races will feature the London track League riders, with the Detroit based Nas-track Madison League also putting on several Madison's throughout the evening. The Grand opening is then scheduled for the following weekend, Saturday April 30, in conjunction with the 37th annual Springbank Park Road race put on by the London Centennial Wheelers Cycling club.
