Pioneers of Peril

At a frantic pace, each rider would circle the broad, banked motordrome. Planks would rumble beneath their wheels as lap after lap they would seek to exploit opportunities to overtake competitors. With the yellow flag, one lap left. Then the checkered and a sprint to the finish line. For the victor a prize purse and boasting rights.

Board track racers were among America’s first sporting superstars. They quite literally put the ‘roar’ in the Roaring 20s, an era of industry and engineering, when machines came to dominate the public consciousness. The motorbikes these racers rode were simple, stripped-down, and designed for one purpose only — speed. In truth they were little more than light bicycles with powerful engines. Not surprisingly, board track racing was incredibly dangerous often as famous for its mortality rate as it was for its winning riders. But board track racing offered a jolt of adrenaline irresistible to both rider and spectator. While the wooden plank surfaces have been replaced my more durable materials, the legacy of board track racing lives on in the wide, banked motordromes of motorsport today.

The smell of fuel wafted through the air. Clad in wool sweaters and simple attire, young men of incredible daring would straddle slightly-built but powerful motorized bicycles waiting tensely for the start. Pedaling hard at the gunshot, each bike would lurch forward as the first jet of fuel sparked. Soon they would accelerate to 100mph or more.