Lovecraft bemoaned that he, as an adult, could not ride a bicycle in Providence. It was not the done thing, for grown-ups. But Small State, Big History makes the remarkable point that in 1925 the city opened the grand Providence Cycledrome, 1925-1934…

bicycle racing was a major sport. … The Cycledrome, built in 1925, had bleacher seats that could accommodate 10,000 fans.

The site was perhaps a bit out-of-the-way for Lovecraft, though…

Located on the Providence-Pawtucket line off North Main Street

… and he was away in New York City when it was built and opened. Not that he would have visited for the races.

There may be a circumstantial link to such things though, since…

even earlier than the Cranston cycledrome was another stadium specifically built for bicycle racing constructed in Providence off Broad Street. Known as the Colosseum, it was built by local theatrical impresario [Colonel] Felix Wendelschaefer, who was also the manager of the Providence Opera House. Built in 1901, the Colosseum’s wooden grandstand was said to accommodate nearly 10,000 spectators.

It didn’t last long, as Small State, Big History states that the last races there were in “September of 1903”.

But the timing is right. I imagine that the 11-13 year old “veritable bicycle centaur” Lovecraft, and his gang of cycling boys, were only too aware of such a thing. Lovecraft had a number of connections with the Opera House in his youth and teenage years. Having the pre-Wendelschaefer manager as a family friend, and later calling the place a “second home”.