Detroit Is The Capitol of Motorcycle Cool – The Thunderdrome Effect (Video)

One thing is a pretty sure bet, if you lay down a strip of asphalt in the shape of a track, it won’t be long until people are racing on that track. Racing what? You name it; bicycles, cars, motorcycles, scooters, lawn tractors, pretty much anything with wheels.

Another solid bet is that during hard times, a quest for cheap thrills can take on the trappings of a crusade.

Detroit has seen some tough times, but tough conditions make for some hardass types, and the guys from The Mower Gang and the creators of the Thunderdrome are typical of that nail-spitting set of diehards.

Back when the Mower Gang discovered the abandoned and thoroughly disused Dorais Park Velodrome, it was essentially just another strip of godforsaken asphalt in a city that has lots of that commodity.

Back in 1967 when one Mike Walden had the audacity to begin creating the Dorais Velodrome near Outer Drive and Mound Road, his vision for the facility was aimed at making the ultimate site for bicycle racing. But after being used for its intended purpose for most of 20 years, the track had deteriorated to the point where it was essentially useless. The site had fallen on hard times during the 80′s when car gangs, holding illegal races mostly in the cover of darkness, trashed the track. The weight of the cars pounding across the concrete pads had caused the sloping surfaces in the turns to shift out of line and disrupted their alignment.

The Mower Gang attacked Dorais Park with tractors and hand tools and dug out the Velodrome, and then, on came the organizers of the Thunderdrome to put on the finishing touches and put the track to good use.

The result seems to be pure, high-octane thrills and spills…