Observations on the bike race
I’d love to see the folks who put on Sunday’s Waynesboro Grand Prix bike races come back in August as planned, but it would take some modifications to have me comfortably on board.
I spent a good part of the day walking the course and talking with cyclists and the handful of city residents who made it out for the day of exciting racing. The racing certainly was something worth getting excited about, with a series of close finishes sparked by the challenging 1-mile course that organizer Tony Bilotta mapped out utilizing the brutal hill on West Main Street that runs in front of the Augusta Free Press Publishing office and then the speedy descent down 11th Street that had the competitors almost flying down toward the old City Hall on Wayne Avenue.
Issues that came to mind for me during my day at the races:
- Nobody seemed to know that there was a bike race going on. I ran into one city resident down from the post office along the race course who had to ask me what was going on to know for sure that the packs of cyclists going by us weren’t there just having a Sunday drive.
“There was something about it in the paper, but I didn’t know it was today,” he said.
My first inclination is to want to blame the local papers for not doing their job to get the word out, but I can say for myself that all I got from the organizers was a signup sheet. It would have helped to have had more formal contact from Mr. Bilotta or from the city tourism office.
It would also have helped me cover the race to have had somebody from the race to serve as a point of contact for media inquiries on race day. I tried to talk to Mr. Bilotta for a story on race day, but he had to break away the one time I was able to catch up with him. I never saw him after that, which is why we ended up reporting on race day with a photo essay.
I still haven’t even gotten back anything from the race organizers on winners.
- Nobody knowing what was going on meant nobody was downtown shopping. Remember the brouhaha over closing the streets and the impact of that on Bill Mikolay at Main Street Discount? The city ended up accommodating Mikolay by keeping Main Street open above his store to allow vehicular access for his customers. I didn’t see much in the way of activity at Main Street Discount or across the street at Chickpea’s or Shukri’s.
I don’t know that we can attribute the slowdown entirely to the race; I live downtown, and most Sundays down here are slow after church lets out. I will say that the throngs of people that we’d been sold on being downtown for the race never materialized.
To their credit, the organizers seemed to try to steer the people who did show up for the races, the cyclists and their family and friends and fellow team members, to patronize downtown businesses.
I didn’t sense a lot of activity to that end, but the effort was there, anyway.
- Positive Note: The course was challenging. I cycle a couple of days a week, and since I live on Main Street I have to tackle that hill that runs in front of our office/residence either coming or going every time I go out. The cyclists that I talked to yesterday said to a person that the Main Street hill was among the tougher that they have to encounter, and that the course overall is above-average in terms of degree of difficulty.
We’ve got something here, in other words. If we use it right.
- Bottom line: I’m a cycling fan, who rides regularly in the spring, summer and early fall, and even watches the Tour de France every year. (Yes, televised cycling. Guess I’m a big fan.) I’d love to see these races become an annual staple on our city calendar.
But …
What we saw yesterday was a lot of to-do about not much, frankly. Again, the racing was great, and you’re not going to hear me complain about having a competitive cycling event going on just outside my front porch. But to close downtown for a day for an event that was not at all well promoted and didn’t do much at all to bring us any business down this way is going to be a hard sell.
That said, I’d be willing to pitch in and help make the August edition of the Grand Prix a success if that would be considered a help at all. I’ve got some ideas for how to make the day something that hardcore cycling fans and the general community and the downtown-business community could enjoy.
I say that hoping that we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water here. We have something to build on from what we saw yesterday.
- Story by Chris Graham
Related posts:
- One more round on bike race The April 26 Waynesboro Omnium bike race will go on as scheduled, but the resolution to the issues raised by Vice Mayor Frank Lucente regarding...
- Fifth District race ‘emerging’ Item by Chris Graham freepress2@ntelos.net The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee thinks Tom Perriello has a chance to turn a red seat blue. “I’m thrilled that...
- Sime gets nod from local paper in 24th Senate race Item by Chris Graham freepress2@ntelos.net The first newspaper endorsement in the 24th Senate District race is in – and you might be surprised who received...
- Report: Savage dropping out of LG race Blogger Vivian Paige is reporting Friday morning that Richmond political consultant and activist Rich Savage is dropping out of the race for the Democratic Party...
- Immigration, race hot topics at BC Story By Erin Gutzwiller The issues of illegal immigration and racism have long been topics of spirited discussion. And the issues have not disappeared in...
I cannot say how It hit my radar. But I thought it a good idea as an event with my little brother.
We were there in time for the juniors. There was confusion on starting time on the website verus the news source, 12:45 vs. 1 pm. In the news, the event started at the Hampton Inn in downtown Waynesboro. I do not know where that is but found it in the Quality Inn parking lot. The descriptions and publicity was poor.
We enjoyed it but spectators were sparse. It was typical with demanding Dads, worried Moms and encouraging Grandmothers. It seemed that most participants if not all were from out of town.
It could have been a much more beneficial event for the area, businesses and the residents.
Thanks to all the supporters and police.
I posted a race story on SWAC GIRL’s blog.
I would have PAID for a sandwich — if a business had been open. None were.
The tattoo parlor was open.
Chickpea’s, a restaurant on your walk down to tattoo parlor, was open. Shukri’s, a restaurant just beyond the tattoo parlor, was open. Shukri’s was one of the sponsors of the event. I heard their name mentioned several times over the loudspeakers as being one of the sponsors of the event. I talked to employees at both who would have loved to have had folks come in and pay for a sandwich.
I just read your blog, Mark, on the SWACGirl site. Downtown is usually not that dead on a Sunday. The reason you didn’t see a lot of traffic is because the police had it blocked off. I live downtown, and I know well how many cars to expect to see passing my house on a Sunday. They don’t always stop to do business down here, but they’re here.
Also, the two restaurants I mentioned above, Chickpea’s and Shukri’s, are open every Sunday. As is the Main Street Discount across the street. That you didn’t know that suggests to me a failure of the race organizers to properly communicate with race participants.
I was a vocal supporter of the race coming downtown back during the brouhaha over the proposed street closure. The one thing the detractors said they feared was that closing the streets would negatively impact business. The answer back was that we’d see hundreds of spectators who would be encouraged to do business with our local shops and restaurants while they were here.
Not only did the hundreds of spectators not materialize, but I have to think that the couple of dozen who were here weren’t as enthusiastically encouraged to do business here as we had been led to believe. Which is unfortunate, and not a good sign for the plans to have another bike race later this year.
Let’s not forget about the cyclists! There were some cyclists out there who really worked and put their training out on the course, from the Juniors on up. Maybe one way we could promote the next race better is by writing what actually worked with this race, explaining some of the exciting racing going on; I can tell you that this race had some GREAT racing! Please feel free to post the following to your or any local newspapers.
Title: Winck capitalizes on strong legs and strong team
On paper, the first installment of the 2009 Waynesboro Grand Prix looked to be a Cat-1/2/3 duel between Team Nature’s Path / 3 Sports and Van Dessel Bike Factory. The duel was shut down at the outset. Teammates Peter Hufnagel and Adam Winck (TNP) rode away from the field during the first seconds of the race. The duo maintained a 25-second gap on the field for much of the first half of the grueling, hilly, hot 90-degree afternoon circuit. Mark Kutney (Van Dessel) picked up the pace early at the front of the peloton for a few laps, but Team Nature’s Path easily shut down many would-be attacks, blocking for their mates up the road. Until Reid Beloni escaped with 5 others. Unfortunately for Beloni, this chase group included a strong Mason Haymes (TNP), who would eventually ride up ahead of Beloni. Winck would go on to ride away from Hufnagel, establish a commanding 45-second gap on the field by the closing laps of the race, and win.
Beloni, isolated, would eventually catch Haymes. Two additional Nature’s Path riders lept out from the field to support Haymes and contest the two remaining podium spots. Charging up the final hill marking the wheels of three Nature’s Path riders, Beloni would have to settle for 4th overall. “They had the numbers to work me over. I was close to second, but those two were in front of me and I finished 4th,” remarks Beloni.
UVA rider Stephen DeLisle kept the main field on their toes, picking up a field prime, attacking out of the pack a few times, and sprinting solidly in to eighth place overall.
The Van Dessel squad was weakened by crashes in an earlier race on the day. In the preceding Masters race, both Daniel and Mark King crashed on the turn leading in to the ascent. The pair would complete the Masters race and line up for the Cat-1/2/3 race. Mark would eventually pull out, having suffered bruised hip and ribs. Daniel would sustain another fall, yet still finish his second race on the day. Bill Scanlon (Van Dessel) would eventually crash out of the Cat-1/2/3 race after also putting in a good effort in the Masters race. Van Dessel no doubt looks forward to a turn in fortune at the second W’boro Grand Prix later this year.
This was the first race for the winner, Adam Winck, in a Team Nature’s Path / 3 Sports kit. On a training ride the day before, I asked Winck if he had any Pro-level aspirations. “I’m 27,” he responded. Open for interpretation???
– Sean Garvey
I guess if they were open –they didnt LOOK OPEN.. so I missed them..my fault.
I also thought there might be vendors like you see at First Night- selling hotdogs etc. Like a stand up near the start finish.
I was surprised that the businesses that were open, were not offering any kind of “race day specials” and making an effort to show they wanted some business. Just being open and waiting for the people to come doesn’t always cut it. Like Mark, I thought there might be some vendors, or possibly the couple of restaurants coming up with some sample trays for the small group gathered at the start/finish line. As it was, I walked over to Kroger to get a drink and something to eat.
To be fair, race organizers should have done a lot more to advertise, and let people know where and what was going on.
Great racing though, I hope they come back in August.