Aeronautics at the Race Track

 The bicycle saucer track at Fiesta Park held its oval form for about four years, and played host to races for portions of two of those. At other times the track infield was used for football, lacrosse, soccer, political rallies, graduation ceremonies and other such civic events, agricultural and home & garden expositions, and even aeronautic shows. Many of the participants in the various events that took place at one show in early May 1909 were from local high school clubs; both Polytechnic High School and Glendale High School were entered in gliding contests. Among the most popular activities was the balloon ride which, "under the skillful handling of Capt. Mueller and a crew from the Aero Club [of California]" made forty ascensions on the show's second day. Much of the show was given over to testing flying machine apparatus, which kept spectators "actively engaged in dodging soaring gliders, holding down the captive balloon... [or] examining the exhibits."

with a glider being pulled by an automobile in the foreground,

a banked turn of the track is in the back

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Los Angeles' Fiesta Park is but one of the many bicycle racing venues that will be covered in Fast Digs volume two, still in the works and expected to be released in early 2023, but Fast Digs volume one, covering the years before 1900, can still be purchased here.