Record Setting Collegiate Cycling on the East Coast

PHILLY PHLYER, BOSTON BEANPOT SET BAR FOR COLLEGIATE CYCLING Record-Setting Attendance Highlights Professional-Quality Student Promotions

The 2007 Philly Phlyer promoted by the newly formed coalition of Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, Temple University, and Villanova University, featured over 525 student athletes participating.  The 2007 Boston Beanpot hosted by the longstanding promotional team of Boston University, Boston College, Harvard University, MIT, Northeastern University, and Tufts University included over 63 schools in the competition and rivaled the inter-conference race with 515 student athlete competitors.

This year's Phlyer was a joint event of both the ECCC and the Atlantic Coast Cycling Conference (ACCC), the first such road event in recent history.  Including its own share of ACCC and Canadian competitors, the Beanpot featured a new team time trial in addition to the classic Grafton road race and Tufts criterium.  Featuring one of the longest road courses of the season and one of the most technical criteriums anywhere, the Beanpot continued its tradition of hard racing.  Boston University race promoter Chris Hair remarked "This is the most grueling TTT course around, and racers really appreciated the challenge... Once they'd recovered."
Harvard race promoter Cory Johannessen noted that changes to the road course "Highlighted the hard climb up Brigham Hill, which came closer to the finish of each 13 mile lap."

Despite huge fields, the professionalism and smooth running of both events was noted by racers, officials, and spectators.  On hand for the Beanpot, Daniel Matheny, USA Cycling's new Collegiate Cycling Manager, observed that it continues to be "The standard to which all collegiate races should adhere."  ECCC Director Mark Abramson said "Both races exemplify what can be achieved by inter-school collaboration; they show that students really can work together to host races on par with the best professional and amateur events out there.  It's not a coincidence that the two largest and best run races are also the two races put on by a coalition of teams."

Leading the ECCC's continuing evolution and growth, both events included many innovations and key elements ensuring their success.
Among those, significant amounts of host housing were offered by team members, family, and the general cycling communities in both cities.  Coordinated in 2007 by the SUNY-Cortland team, the ECCC's host housing program helps offset the travel costs associated with attending races.  Cortland's Elyse Loughlin claims that "Both races had over sixty spaces on hand, and that went a long way to helping smaller teams to come out."

As with all 2007 ECCC events, the newly formed "Introduction to Bicycle Racing" men's and women's categories also played a key role at both the Philadelphia and Boston races.  Dozens of beginners competed in these novel categories, in which coaches guide the first half of the race, providing tips and ensuring a learning experience before letting the racers loose for fast-paced racing action.
The format has been been extremely popular with both racers and the coaches, drawn from the collection of veteran collegiate and local racers, team coaches, and ECCC volunteers on hand at every event.  Drexel race promoter Joe Kopena commented "The Intro fields are literally the future of racing and the most awesome thing around.  They're really succeeding in engaging new racers and ensuring participation and the quality of riding continue to grow."

Heading toward the end of the season, both events are certain to have helped prepare riders with large fields and intense competition for the Collegiate Cycling National Championships in May.  They have also again provided key points in the schedule, anchoring the March and April halves of the ECCC's spring season.  The size, professionalism, smooth running, and success of both events sets the standard by which the ECCC's full slate of great events are measured.  In that way, the Philly Phlyer and Boston Beanpot truly set the bar and lead the ECCC's charge to continually innovate, develop, and grow collegiate cycling.

This Article Published 2007-04-04 10:18:51 For more information contact: