The first bicycle racing at the ground was on Whit Monday, May 25th 1885 when the Peterborough Athletic Club held a sports meeting. Some of the best athletes in the area were competing but the day was marred by heavy rain which made the going very difficult. There were three bicycle handicap races, the one mile was won by Dan Albone of Biggleswade, the two miles by WJ Rowe of Peterborough Bicycle Club^^ and in the club race H Baldwick, off 20 yards, just beat scratch man Rowe. The attendance was 2,500, music was provided by the First Northamptonshire Rifle Volunteers and there was dancing in the evening followed by a fireworks display.
Peterborough BC held their own annual sports meeting later in the year on September 12th using a marked out circular track of five laps to the mile. Rowe and Albone were again the best riders with the former winning the club ten miles championship race.
The Athletic Club's Whit Monday sports became a popular annual fixture, there was an attendance of 5,000 in 1888. In 1886 Peterborough BC held a series of evening meetings which attracted crowds of 1,500 people, these meetings were repeated for several years. Peterborough BC also held occasional August Bank Holiday sports meetings.
The New England Bicycle Club** organised an impromptu race meeting at the ground on July 15th 1892 when the planned cricket match at the ground was rained off. The club raced at the ground several other times at cricket matches and held their own race meetings there up to 1898. The club seemed to be defunct within ten years.
The Rowe Cycling Club*^ organised an open meeting on August 5th 1899, the attendance was nearly a thousand. The main event was the NCU (Northampton Centre) 25 miles track championship race. The finish was most thrilling, two laps from home Ramsay of Oundle and Rowe of Peterborough were neck-a-neck, passing and re-passing each other until Rowe forged ahead and won by half a wheel. The prizes were donated by the people and tradesmen of the town and the club made a profit on the meeting. The well known trick rider A Pellant entertained the crowd. The club organised evening races at the ground for the next three years.
Both Peterborough Road Bicycle Club and Rowe CC held their race meetings and evening sports at the ground in the early 1900s. The last bicycle racing on the cricket ground was at the Peterborough Athletic Club sports on June 5th 1911, the crowd of nearly 4,000 watched three bicycle races over half, one and three miles.
The cricket club left the ground in 1966 to moved to Bretton Gate, the original ground is now Stanley Park.
^^ Peterborough Bicycle Club was formed in 1873 and their first road race was held on October 4th 1873 with seven competitors. Mr Morley was the captain, Mr Catling secretary and Mr Julian treasurer. The club headquarters in 1879 was at the Bell and Oak Inn. In 1899 Peterborough Bicycle Club and Peterborough Tricycle Club joined together to form Peterborough Cycling Club, they had a membership of 180. Peterborough Cycling Club still exists and is one of the oldest continuously active cycling club in the UK.
** The New England Bicycle Club formed around 1891 in Peterborough. New England is a district of Peterborough. Thirteen members of the club were found summoned for riding furiously whilst taking part in a 20 miles road race between Warrington and Bourne on June 27th 1895, they were each fined half a crown.
*^ Rowe Cycling Club was formed around 1898, the club was managed by several members of the Rowe family and Oliver Rowe was the leading racing cyclist in Peterborough. The Rowe Cycle Company had two shops in Peterborough, on Cowgate and St Leonard's Street.
