If you've spent any time at Marymoor Park in Redmond, you've probably walked past an oval concrete track with steeply banked turns and wondered what exactly happens there.
That's the Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome, and from spring through summer, it turns into one of the most active track cycling communities in the country.
Racers compete several nights a week. Kids take their first laps around the track. Longtime cyclists volunteer their time and hand equipment down to younger riders. Families show up on Friday nights just to watch. And every so often, one of the young athletes who learned to ride here goes on to compete at the highest level of the sport.
A Cycling Tradition More Than 50 Years in the Making
The Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome opened for racing back in 1975 as the Marymoor Velodrome. Since then, it's hosted National Championships, Olympic and Pan-American development events, the cycling competitions of the 1990 Goodwill Games, and generations of local riders.
Today the velodrome is run by the Marymoor Velodrome Association (MVA), a nonprofit made up entirely of volunteers, most of whom are local racers and cycling enthusiasts themselves.
That volunteer model matters. The people keeping the lights on at the velodrome are often the same people racing, coaching, announcing, running events, and welcoming new riders into the sport.
Emily Alexander is one of them. She has served on the MVA Board since 2023 and is currently Board President, but her history with the track goes back much further.
Emily moved to Seattle in 2012 and picked up cycling not long after. Friends introduced her to the velodrome, and she started coming out to watch around 2014. A couple of years later, curiosity got the better of her: she took a class, liked what she saw, and started racing at the track in 2016. These days she balances her volunteer work at the velodrome with a full-time career.
For Emily, part of what makes the track special is that it gives cyclists a consistent place to gather. Active velodromes are rare in the United States, and the nearest comparable facility to Marymoor is hundreds of miles away. Riders here get a fixed location where they can train, race, learn, and connect with other cyclists all season long.
That's helped build a community that spans newcomers and people who've been coming to the track for decades. Emily said even longtime racers who've stopped competing tend to stick around, donating their time and know-how to the riders coming up behind them.
What's It Like to Watch a Race at the Velodrome?
You don't need to know anything about cycling to enjoy a night at the track.
Racing generally runs from May through September, with several nights of competition each week. The format changes from night to night, so the racing looks a little different every time you show up.
For anyone unfamiliar with track cycling, announcers walk spectators through the different formats while calling the action live.
Emily describes the atmosphere as a mix of fun and excitement, with a little good nervous energy thrown in. Part of that comes from watching the same racers return week after week and seeing their progress build across the season.
Friday Night Racing, otherwise known as “The Show,” is built for spectators and families. There are food trucks, a beer garden, and a livestream on YouTube for anyone who can't make it out in person.
But for many families, the real draw on Friday nights isn't the main event. It's the Kiddie Kilo.
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Where Some of the Youngest Riders Get Their Start
Every Friday during the summer, kids get a shot at the track themselves. During the Kiddie Kilo, any child with a bike and a helmet can take a lap around the velodrome. The youngest riders get their own event too: the Push Bike Derby, where kids on balance and push bikes make their way down the homestretch.
Emily said the velodrome has drawn more than 100 kids to each Friday night Kiddie Kilo during the 2026 season. It's a fun intermission in the middle of a night of racing, but for some kids, it's also their first real introduction to the sport.
As they get older, kids can move on to summer camps run in partnership with the City of Redmond. No prior track experience is needed. Over the course of a week, a child can go from learning what a track bike even is to riding the track and taking part in a simulated race.
For some of them, that's just the start.
Helping Young Cyclists Find Their Place
The Jerry Baker Juniors program gives young athletes ages 9 -18 a place to train and race at the velodrome. It started out as a fairly informal setup, mostly for the kids of racers already at the track, and has since grown into a fully funded part of the velodrome's operations. Emily estimates roughly 50 young riders currently take part.*
The support goes well beyond giving kids a place to ride. Junior riders get access to free rental bikes, subsidized equipment and cycling kits, donated gear, and off-season training resources, with the velodrome community contributing to a trainer drive each year to help young athletes keep training indoors through the Pacific Northwest winter.
That kind of support addresses one of the biggest obstacles facing families interested in competitive cycling: cost.
"Cycling is a rather high-barrier-to-entry sport," Emily said.
Bikes, equipment, training, and travel add up fast. By covering equipment and other costs, the junior program lowers that barrier so more kids get the chance to find out whether cycling is something they actually love.
What happens off the track may matter just as much. Emily has watched young riders build confidence, accountability, and responsibility. They pick up new skills and new ways of learning. And they get a consistent, safe place to build relationships with peers and adults across the cycling community.
"It's a place for them to also just sort of grow as people," Emily said.
From Learning to Ride to Competing on a Bigger Stage
For kids who find a real passion and talent for racing, the community is there to help them see how far they can take it.
Marymoor has a long track record of developing elite cyclists. Riders who came up here have gone on to become national champions, world champions, Olympians, and Paralympians, and today's junior riders are continuing that tradition.
Emily shared that in recent years, athletes from the program have set their sights on the World Championships. The program has given those riders a place to compete while also providing some of the financial support needed to pursue opportunities beyond Redmond.
For the young person who simply wants to try something new, there’s a bike and a place to learn. For the athlete who discovers that they want to see how far they can go, there’s a network ready to help them pursue it. Both are important parts of what happens at this track.
A Personal Connection to the Velodrome
Better Builders’ connection to the Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome goes well beyond seeing the company name along the track.
For Better Builders owner Pete Baughman, this is a community he knows firsthand.
Pete began racing at the velodrome in 2011 and continued through 2022. Both he and his wife competed there weekly, and they even had the opportunity to participate in a Masters National Championship event at the track.
More than a decade spent racing there gave Pete a firsthand appreciation for the people and sense of community that surround the sport.
“The velodrome and the track cycling community are near and dear to my heart,” Pete said. “Having personally been part of that community is a big part of what inspires and motivates me to continue supporting it.”
That history also makes the development of young riders particularly meaningful to him. Supporting the velodrome helps ensure that another generation has a place to discover the sport, develop their skills, challenge themselves, and find a community where they can grow.
“I really value the opportunity to help develop young riders and give them a place to discover and grow in the sport,” he said. “Supporting their future is something that feels genuinely meaningful to me.”
Better Builders owner Pete Baughman racing at the Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome, where he competed regularly from 2011 through 2022.
What Community Support Makes Possible
Keeping a 50-year-old outdoor cycling facility running, and running well, takes real community support. Emily estimates that roughly 50% of the velodrome's operating budget comes from donations, grants, and sponsorships.*
Those contributions help make a wide range of programs, equipment, and improvements possible, including:
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Funding programming, including the junior team
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Keeping up a quality fleet of rental bikes
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Purchasing things like start gates and an eMoto bike that allows the track to run high-caliber racing and offer expanded training opportunities
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Making improvements to the spectator experience
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Dedicated Program Director and Junior Team Director positions
In 2026, for instance, the velodrome added new livestream graphics showing spectators how many laps remain in a race. A few years before that, it invested in a new fleet of rental bikes so newcomers trying track cycling for the first time could ride something in good shape.
Support isn’t only financial. Volunteers also contribute their time during cleanup days, helping maintain the track surface itself. After more than five decades of Pacific Northwest weather and racing, keeping the facility in good condition is no small task.
That's what makes having the Better Builders name at the track meaningful to our team. We're fortunate to build and remodel homes throughout Seattle and the Eastside, but being part of a community means more than the homes we work on. It also means backing the organizations and people creating opportunities for local families.
The velodrome is a good example of what happens when people keep investing their time, expertise, and resources into something they believe is worth preserving.
Want to Experience the Velodrome?
One of the easiest ways to support the Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome is to just go see it. Racing runs from May into September, and you can check the velodrome's calendar to find an upcoming race. Friday nights are a particularly fun way to get introduced, with racing, announcers, food trucks, the Kiddie Kilo, and plenty going on around the track.
Kids interested in learning to ride can look into the summer camps offered in partnership with the City of Redmond. Adults can get on the track too. Beginner classes run during the racing season and serve as the entry point for anyone interested in eventually racing. The four-hour classes include a rental track bike, so beginners just need to bring a helmet. The velodrome can even supply flat pedals for riders who don't have cycling-specific shoes.
You don't have to ride at all to be part of the community. The Marymoor Velodrome Association depends on volunteers for everything from merchandise and the Kiddie Kilo to spring track-cleanup days.
Visit the Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome website to explore:
- Upcoming races
- Classes
- Youth programs
- Volunteer opportunities
- Ways to support the track
- Sponsorships
- Follow on social media
Whether you want to race, volunteer, or just spend a summer Friday night watching from the sidelines, there's a way in.
*Program participation and operating-budget figures are based on estimates provided during our August 2026 interview with MVA Board President Emily Alexander and are pending final confirmation.