Decision on holding the Philly International Championship Race still up in the air

by roadside on Apr 27, 2009 3:54 PM EDT Comment 26 comments

For those not aware, the 25th Annual Philly International Championship pro bike race may not be held this year due to funding issues. Apparently, the final decision was to be made today on whether to go forward, but instead organizers will hold off another 24 hours with hope they will land a sponsor. GamJams, a local cycling blog did a good write up last week of what was going on with the lack of funding for this race this year and also what you can do to help! It would be a shame if this pro race were to be canceled in its 25th year. Update tomorrow.

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This makes me sad :-(

One of the most distinctive U.S. races out there, with a very storied past. Sad.

by gavia on Apr 28, 2009 12:04 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

very sad - the scene on the Mayanunk Wall was unbelievable

by lyne on Apr 28, 2009 12:19 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Growing up in Philly.....this is truly sad

Many fond memories of waiting on the bike path to play guide to the European pros. I’m sure they’ll sort it out…..I hope so.

by bradBordeaux on Apr 28, 2009 6:20 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

A few years ago

I passed the T-Mobile squad on the Schuykill River path going in the opposite direction. I turned around to gawk at them, and they turned around to gawk at me (probably because of my weird bike, a Softride). It was pretty awesome.

I’d really miss it if they kill the Philly race.

by Softie on Apr 28, 2009 10:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Back in 96, I think, I passed the Saeco team on my track bike (pre-craze days, mind you)

they freaked….

good times, sure every Philly cyclist has similar stories to ours….

Best moment was riding with Tafi…by far

by bradBordeaux on Apr 28, 2009 10:19 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Been looking forward to it all winter, especially when all you Cali types were getting excited.

For non-personal reason, it’ll be a huge loss for US cycling; I really can’t imagine a bigger one in terms of international profile of the event (even ToC doesn’t have the pedigree yet).

We were having somewhat agonized discussions about the prospects after our group ride on Saturday. As has been noted, the real kicker was losing CSC & Rock’s sponsorships, and having the city demand that the organizers pay the police overtime, etc. Of course, given that the budget situation here is bad enough that they’re proposing closing most public libraries and a lot of city pools this summer in order to be able to afford to keep police and fire staffed, one can understand this. It’s hard to blame the city, but there’s a death spiral thing here, since there is no doubt that the race brings an awful lot of people into town.

by Ed K on Apr 28, 2009 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

crap :-(

I wish I had a shit-ton of cash :-(

by gavia on Apr 28, 2009 6:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

At this point, no news is good news.

They still haven’t said it’s on. But they haven’t said no either, at least that I’ve seen in local media.

Living in hope.

by Ed K on Apr 28, 2009 6:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah, if this crumbles

a week of fantastic races will be lost. All in a single year.

by Sui Juris on Apr 28, 2009 6:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, the other two are on hiatus this year no doubt.

Though the plan is to find a sponsor to bring all 3 back, from what I’ve read.

by Ed K on Apr 28, 2009 6:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I really wish USA Cycling would stop killing the best events.

Everything was going great until they felt the need to seperate the US Championships to a different day in Greenville, SC.

’Cause we all know how epic and well publicized the race in Greenville is!

by Ryan_Liles on Apr 28, 2009 8:40 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed.....granted it's been ten years that I haven't lived in the States

but I just learned last year that they moved the US Championships to SC. What a travesty. When I talk to friends about the footy (soccer), we always agree that the US scene suffers so much due to lack of tradition. Take it or leave tradition is important, it solidifies support, encourages new members, and builds a shared history…. be it Cycling or Football. Look, I’ve raced amateur elite races here in France that were run on the same circuit, same course, as before WWII.

by bradBordeaux on Apr 28, 2009 9:12 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hey. Hey!

The Gville race is pretty great! (And much more accessible to Atl than Philly, thank you very much!)

by cg. on Apr 28, 2009 2:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t really see how that is possible.
Greenville is South Carolina which is no where near Atl.

The race in Philly is in, downtown Philly and is so accessible you always see guys with mullets drinking Pabts right beside business men, who are beside guys wearing lycra all day.
The entire course is packed to the rafters.
This has been the most watched bike race in the US for more then 20 years.

It’s a beautiful thing, except for the guys wearing lycra all day part.

by Ryan_Liles on Apr 28, 2009 7:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

G'ville is only 2 hours from Atl...

and is very accessible. Also, it’s a great place to ride and has a large cycling community including george (and craig lewis and others).

by cg. on Apr 29, 2009 12:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with everything you said.

Let’s look at the numbers –
Greenville, SC – 1,203,795
Driving time according to Google maps from Atlanta – “about 2 hours 19 mins”
Philadelphia, Pa – 5.8 million (Greater Philadelphia metropolitan area)
Driving time according to Google maps from NYC – “1 hour 46 mins”
When you see the proximity of NYC to Philly, the logic of Greenvile being close to Alanta is lost.

So, now let’s just say 10% actually watches the race from Greenville.
That is a total of roughly – 120,380 people.
Compared to 580,000 people in Philly.

Honestly, whenever you try to run the numbers on this, Greenville is never close.
Great place, good people, nice course, but is no where near as beneficial as having a race in a major metropolitan city.

If USA cycling was to rotate the US Nats to Atlanta, and then on to LA, up to Seattle, and east to Madison, then cool, but they’re not doing that.
They’re sticking the race in a nice sized down with no media outlet that is more then a 2 hour drive from any major city.

It is a foolish idea, and it does nothing to build up this sport in the US, which is one of the main things they are entrusted to do.
Which they have consistently never really done, as was my point in the first place.

by Ryan_Liles on Apr 29, 2009 8:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

contrarian

But . . . honestly, the Philly race is almost invariably winds up being a sprint-fest on a not-particularly selective course that did not attract the major US pros for a variety of reasons.

Philly deserves a race, sure, but not the USPRO, at least not on that course.

As for the media and spectator stuff, those have become red herring arguments these days.

by R Mc on Apr 29, 2009 9:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

dude - you're sooooo missing the point

these numbers of which you speak are meaningless to me!
i live in atl. i go to gville. my racing dollars would take me to europe or CA or even MO, but not philly. i’m very very very very happy to have the race in gville and for the race to stay in gville for as long as it possibly can.
(yes, it’s all about me!)

by cg. on Apr 29, 2009 10:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Naw, that’s all cool, but I wasn’t talking about you.

by Ryan_Liles on Apr 30, 2009 8:52 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hopefully they can get the moneys that are needed...

It was kind of a bad situation though with that race being the national championship for the Pros. I mean it was a huge race and people flooded the race course which was amazing for American cycling but it would suck to have a guy from Denmark or Spain beat you in your National Championship. Think if they allowed Americans to race in the Belgium Championships.

I don’t want to sound American-centric but it would have been nice to just have the race for Americans only so they could race for their jersey. Rather than getting it when you finish second, not really winning the race.

by Vlaanderen90 on Apr 28, 2009 2:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs