Why is the track for cycling not straight?

Question

yes i meant sloped

Answer 1

depends on your bike and the track, if your cycle is lean and made of light materials a velodrome is the place for you,  if your cycle is a mean beast of a thing you should be outdoors cycling over old people and their dogs, but if your talking about cycling around town next to noisy traffic the track is never straight or easy plus you take your life in your hands, car owners detest people that nonchalantly pedal past them whistling a happy tune while they're stuck in gridlock sweating away and getting more agitated by the second, mind you it is fun seeing their bloated red hapless faces suffer in resignation behind the windscreen.

Answer 2

The sloped track adds to the excitement because it allows the cyclists to build up momentum and speed but given that track cycles don't have brakes it's also a means of slowing your bike down at the end of a race.

Answer 3

If you mean why is it an oval, it's because a closed loop keeps all the action in one spot, so people can watch the whole race.

If you mean why are the sides sloped, it's the same reason as why the track is sloped for car tracks.  Centrifugal force pushes the rider to the side as they go around a curve.  Sloping the track gives them a means to resist that push to the outside.  It's also pretty dramatic to watch someone ride by at speed, leaning WAY over at an angle that they couldn't maintain if they were riding slower.