Cycling championships a dubious investment

[Jason Spaceman]

From today's Toronto Star:

'Cycling championships a dubious investment: Athletes trumped by civic ambition'

Read it at http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q11724C26

J. Spaceman

 

[S. Anderson]

"Jason Spaceman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> From today's Toronto Star:
>
> 'Cycling championships a dubious investment: Athletes trumped by civic ambition'
>
> Read it at http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q11724C26
>
> J. Spaceman

You know, he hits it pretty much on the head here. I've actually had issues with Dave Perkins before
(actually sent him an e-mail some years back about a piece he wrote..) but he's pretty much dead-on
with this. They keep talking about how they expect "250,000 to 300,000 spectators" in Hamilton. I'd
be VERY surprised if they get even 20,000. I'll probably look like an idiot after the weekend (not
hard, I know..) when they actually DO get 300,000 people there, but I honestly thinks it's an
impossibility. We barely get 200,000 for an F1 race in Montreal and they're CRAZY for F1 in Quebec!
In any event, thanks to the Cycling Champs. for the best October weather in 100 years!!! ;-)

Cheers,

Scott..

 

[Davey Crockett]

"S. Anderson" <[email protected]> writes:

> "Jason Spaceman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> From today's Toronto Star:
>>
>> 'Cycling championships a dubious investment: Athletes trumped by civic ambition'
>>
>> Read it at http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q11724C26
>>
>> J. Spaceman
>
> You know, he hits it pretty much on the head here. I've actually had issues with Dave Perkins
> before (actually sent him an e-mail some years back about a piece he wrote..) but he's pretty much
> dead-on with this. They keep talking about how they expect "250,000 to 300,000 spectators" in
> Hamilton. I'd be VERY surprised if they get even 20,000. I'll probably look like an idiot after
> the weekend (not hard, I know..) when they actually DO get 300,000 people there, but I honestly
> thinks it's an impossibility. We barely get 200,000 for an F1 race in Montreal and they're CRAZY
> for F1 in Quebec! In any event, thanks to the Cycling Champs. for the best October weather in 100
> years!!! ;-)

You sure are right about the weather. It is unbelievably mild for the time of year.

And yes, the Star article was pretty much on target. Somewhat akin to what I've been saying all
along. But I would put it a little more strongly

I'm just hoping it doesn't turn out to be too much of a disaster.

And I'm still wondering whether to ride out there tomorrow early or had down to the local brasserie
to watch the big screen TV.

Or possibly even stay home and watch.

Toodles....

--
le vent a Dos

Davey Crockett

 

[Bob Schwartz]

S. Anderson <[email protected]> wrote:
> They keep talking about how they expect "250,000 to 300,000 spectators" in Hamilton. I'd be VERY
> surprised if they get even 20,000. I'll probably look like an idiot after the weekend (not hard, I
> know..) when they actually DO get 300,000 people there, but I honestly thinks it's an
> impossibility.

It was, in fact, an impossibility. If they had really gotten that many people to show up the
logistics would have been a nightmare. One of the things that struck me about Hamilton was that it
isn't exactly a destination city i.e. there aren't that many places to stay because there isn't
really any reason to go there. The nearest large concentrations of lodging would be Niagara Falls
and Toronto. There is no way you could house that many people in the near vicinity without lots of
them sleeping in the street.

Mohawk College had free parking right on the course and the lot got pretty full on Sunday, but I was
surprised to be able to park that close that easily. The race had been going for three hours by the
time I got there and the lot was mostly empty.

Saturday was sort of funny. The day started out with fog that eventually burned off into a beautiful
sunny day. But the fog was persistent near the lake. So at one point I was at the top of Clairemont
Access near the James Mtn hairpin and could see clearly over the city. The leaves are turning color
and the steel mills were still hidden in the fog. I thought to myself, this is probably as
attractive as Hamilton gets.

Bob Schwartz [email protected]

 

[S. Anderson]

"Bob Schwartz" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> It was, in fact, an impossibility. If they had really gotten that many people to show up the
> logistics would have been a nightmare. One of the things that struck me about Hamilton was that it
> isn't exactly a destination city i.e. there aren't that many places to stay because there isn't
> really any reason to go there. The nearest large
concentrations
> of lodging would be Niagara Falls and Toronto. There is no way you could house that many people in
> the near vicinity without lots of them sleeping in the street.
>
> Mohawk College had free parking right on the course and the lot got pretty full on Sunday, but I
> was surprised to be able to park that close that easily. The race had been going for three hours
> by the time I got there and the lot was mostly empty.
>
> Saturday was sort of funny. The day started out with fog that eventually burned off into a
> beautiful sunny day. But the fog was persistent near the lake. So at one point I was at the top of
> Clairemont Access near the James Mtn hairpin and could see clearly over the city. The leaves are
> turning color and the steel mills were still hidden in the fog. I thought to myself, this is
> probably as attractive as Hamilton gets.
>
> Bob Schwartz [email protected]

Well, I just browsed some numbers, and they claim something like 90,000 were there on Sunday. And it
DID look pretty well attended, much moreso than I thought it would be, so it may be I AM a bit of an
idiot!! It may have been mostly locals who had nothing else to do since they couldn't get their cars
out of their driveways ;-) but even still, I was fairly impressed by the numbers on the course.
There aren't that many at a Ticats game, and they GIVE those tickets away!! And you probably did see
Hamilton at its best. The last week has been quite amazing weather-wise, and Sunday was really about
as good as it gets in October in Ontario. A great week..I hope anyone who attended had a good time
and enjoyed the weather.

Cheers,

Scott..