*** Wenatchee Elite Bike Race May Take New Course ***

Wenatchee, Washington -- 02/23/2006
Organizers trying to appease business
owners, but may keep downtown site.

Organizers of Wenatchee’s premier bike race have been
spinning their wheels trying to find a new location for the
May event.

Some downtown merchants have complained that taping
off a portion of Wenatchee Avenue to hold the Wenatchee
Twilight Criterium forces them to close their doors on a Saturday,
their busiest day of the week. The race course has traditionally
been on Wenatchee Avenue, down Orondo Avenue, south on
Columbia Street and up Kittitas Street back to Wenatchee Avenue.

Wanting to be sensitive to the complaints, race organizers
have been trying for weeks to find an alternate location that
would minimize the negative impact to three or four businesses
along South Wenatchee Avenue, but have so far come up empty
handed. The city will have the final say this spring when the matter
comes up for a parade permit to close city streets for the event.

“If we can’t use downtown, then we’ll have to scramble,”
said Ed Farrar, a local physician who is organizing the event
for the Wenatchee Valley Velo bicycle club. Farrar said the
race, scheduled this year for May 13, will probably stay down
town for now. He said the city and the Wenatchee Downtown
Association have helped him look into alternatives, but has not
asked that the race route be moved.

The two-block race is part of the Washington State Omnium
Stage Race Championship. The criterium is the highlight of the
two-day series of races that brings about 200 of the Northwest’s
top professional and amateur bicycle racers to Wenatchee each
year. Organizers estimate the event also brings between $40,000
and $50,000 to the community in the form of lodging, meals and
other purchases. It’s been held downtown the past six years.

Some restaurants set up outdoor cafes. The Velo club holds a
beer garden in the KeyBank parking lot. Bands play music for
spectators in Centennial Park.

But while some merchants profit from the event,
others lose.

“It’s impossible for us to make any money during that time.
We have to close,” said Jim Sullivan, manager of Prospector
Liquidation, 201 S. Wenatchee Ave.

Sullivan said race organizers have taped off Wenatchee
Avenue right in front of his store early in the afternoon in
past years, making it impossible for customers to park near
the store or even cross the street during the race. He’s had
to close the store three hours early in past years. He estimates
the store’s loss at $1,000 to $2,000. In addition to groceries,
sundries and clothing, the store carries large ticket items including
electronics and furniture, he said.

“We’ve been trying to build a business here,” he said.
“But it’s like we’re donating to an event that we’re not
involved in. If it enhances the downtown core at my expense,
then I don’t understand it.”

Sullivan said he wants to work with Farrar and the bicycle
group but would like to find a way his business can share in
the benefits as well as the loss. Prospector and the Safe Zone
clothing and department store just to the north are most severely
impacted by the race course, he said. The two stores share space
in the old Wells and Wade building but are not related.

Owners of Valley Pawn Shop, 222 S. Wenatchee Ave. and
Sassy’s Diner, 200 S. Wenatchee Ave., objected to the race
in previous years, but have agreed to work with race organizers
this year, Farrar said.

“If they close the road and start the race later, we could live with
that,” said Sharon Shaw, Sassy’s owner. The diner normally closes
at 3 p.m. “But we were dead that last two years. When the road is
closed we don’t get any business at all.”

Farrar said the main issue has been communication.
“They don’t like the idea of the street being closed,
but the main thing is that they get advance notice.”

Farrar said the start of the race will probably be moved from

3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. to reduce the time the race will coincide
with open store hours. He said the bicycle club is also looking
into ways it can help promote the impacted businesses.

Farrar said he initially tried to move the race route elsewhere
in the downtown area without success. One thought was to hold
it on Wenatchee Avenue and Columbia Street closer to the
Wenatchee Convention Center. He found out that a senior prom
was being held at the convention center that evening and the race
would make it dangerous for students to get from the parking lot
into the building.

Farrar also looked into holding the race a block farther to the
south, but Link Transit officials objected because that course
would make it impossible to get buses into Columbia Station.

Another alternative is to hold the race in Olds Station,
where it was held before moving downtown in 2000.

“But we’d lose a lot of ambience,” he said. “It’s a flat course.
It’s not spectator friendly. It doesn’t bring spectators downtown.
And there’s no place for a beer garden and music.”

Washington State Omnium Stage Race Championships
AKA - Wenatchee Twilight Criterium ( MAY 13th & 14th, 2006 )
The Start and Finish Line is at the Wenatchee Centennial Park.
For Registration and Information Click Here! to see the web site.
http://www.pazzovelo.com/events/races/2002/wenatchee

Washington State Omnium Stage Race Championships
- AKA - The Wenatchee Twilight Criterium in year 2005
at the Wenatchee Centennial Park was a big success.
Photos - Wenatchee Twilight Criterium 05-14-2005 By Gene`s BMX
http://genesbmx.bmxair.com/wa-omnium-stage-race/photos.html

CC - http://www.genesbmx.com/WenatcheeBikingInfo.html

Geneb...Wenatchee,Washington-USA
All Things Northwest in BMX!
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