Well, it was fun while it lasted. Even if it was for one year.
Sorry I haven’t blogged on this yet (the governor’s anti-union legislation has taken up much of my blogging time these days), but the City Council essentially sealed the fate of the International Cycling Classic bike race at its last meeting by not reviving it.
As you will recall, Bucyrus International announced last fall that it would not sponsor the event, which was known as the Bucyrus International Cycling Classic in 2010, again this year. This, combined with the chairwoman of the committee not wanting to fill that role again in 2011, put the race in jeopardy.
However, I worked with the ICC to secure a pledge of $7,500 from Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare to pay half of the “site fee” for 2011. Fundraising was underway for the rest of the $15,000 fee, and additional funds, when the council voted in late January to extend an opt-out clause in our contract with the ICC until March.
Then it got complicated. The race was formally cancelled when the city did not receive necessary paperwork in time from the ICC regarding the extension. It’s a long story, but this was ultimately due to the paperwork being sent to the wrong email address.
The City Council debated the issue at its Feb. 16 meeting, and no motion was made to revive the race (nor, I suspect, would a motion have been supported had it been made). So the event remains cancelled.
And I do not expect any additional efforts to bring back the race for 2011.
I feel bad this happened, and I hope we can one day bring it back. I continue to support the race and see it as a great way to market our city to a new and diverse audience while also delivering a fun and exciting spectator event for our residents and others.
We simply did not do this event justice. In order for something like this to work, it has to be a multi-year commitment. I know the Cycling Classic would have been better in 2011, even better in 2012, better still in 2013.
Imagine if we had killed Evening on the Avenue after its first year … a decision that could have easily been made due to low participation early on. The community would have been robbed of a special celebration without giving it a chance.
I feel that way about the bike race. I’ve seen this work in other communities, where it has turned into a memorable event that the city looks forward to every year. I was hoping that could happen here. Unfortunately, it won’t … and that’s a loss for South Milwaukee.
South Milwaukee Blog 
To bad to see it go. On another note it is good that you are posting something other than budget bill posts. I know you feel strongly on this issue, but I have come to realize that minds on both sides are unlikely to change.
What was the monetary effect on the businesses downtown?
Mixed. For some, great. For some, not. But I think the potential one-day boost to downtown businesses because of the event was only a secondary benefit. I saw it first and foremost as a marketing opportunity for our city — a way to show off South Milwaukee to hundreds of riders, and more fans. We don’t do marketing well in our fair city (in fact, we don’t really do it at all). These types of events help. The other primary benefit I saw for the bike race is the race itself. It’s a cool sporting event that is a fun night out for our residents. That in itself has some value.
In discussing with the Mayor this evening, only one business at 9th & Milwaukee Ave benefited. The other businesses saw no increase in business from the 1,200 or so that watched the races.
I disagree with the mayor’s assessment. It might be better put that one business he heard about saw a benefit (and I’m sure he’s talking about Azteca). Still, no matter what impact the bike race had on business vs. a normal July Tuesday night, that, to me, is a secondary value of the race. I think it’s unfortunate it got cast in that way — that somehow it would be this major one-day lift in sales for downtown businesses. I never expected that would be the case. By far the biggest reason this is/was a good event is that it raises the profile of our city in the eyes of people who literally may never have heard of us before. It’s a long-term play … not a question of how many beers Spirits sold during those 10 hours.
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