The Winter Garden Sixes and More


 Whoossh... right over my head. These came in more than two weeks ago, but I have been so busy with other research and writing stuff I completely forgot. 

The Winter Garden began as an ice skating rink, home to various Los Angeles area hockey teams - from amateur to professional to collegiate (did you know UCLA, USC and Occidental College all had ice hockey teams?) hosted speed and figure skating competitions, a six-day walking marathon, featured in Hollywood films, transformed into a tennis court for "Big" Bill Tilden's farewell tour and, infamously was the scene of a Chicago gangster shooting. 

This short volume (32 pages), No 8 in the CLR Effect Occasional Series, will take you on a tour of one of the most important, but least known venues in Los Angeles bicycle racing history. Starting with the laying of the cornerstone (ceremonially using ice cream as mortar), the story moves through the early days of amateur, professional and collegiate hockey in the city, before moving on to the three six-day bicycle races that took place (1932, 1933, 1934), along with sprint and distance races in 1933 and 1934.

Incidentally, the glitch (only discovered this evening) in the bookstore has, I believe, been fixed and all the CLR Effect books available for purchase should be visible.


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