February 26th Press Release
THE PHILLY PHLYER AND PHOENIXVILLE FURY
Biggest college race in U.S. now a two-city event.
Q. What has 1200 wheels and a 3.9 Grade Point Average?
A. The Philly Phlyer and Phoenixville Fury Collegiate and USCF Race
Weekend, that's what.
The Phily Phlyer started in a West Philly apartment, where a few young racers from Penn and Drexel cooked up the idea of bringing back college cycling to Philadelphia.
With the support of both schools, and the city of Philadelphia, and sponsorship from Arkema Chemical Company. the 2006 Philly Phlyer was born. We were hoping for at least 14 teams to break even," recalls organizer Joe Kopena. More than 40 college cycling teams appeared for a great debut. The icing on the cake was a great showing by Penn's newly invigorated cycling team which won both its events.
For '07, the race took a big step forward, becoming both an ECCC (Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference) and an ACCC (Atlantic Collegiate Cycling Conference)event. Result: in its 2nd year, the Philly Phlyer was now America's largest college cycling race, with more than 500 riders from all over the east coast. The 2008 race will be even larger, with more schools and more local organizers. Local sponsors include: Arkema, Trophy Bikes, and Plexiglas.
This year, four local colleges are helping stage the event--Drexel, University of Penn, Temple University and Villanova. In each school, the cycling scene is growing, now that there's a hometown race to work for. And it's now a two-city event, with a road race on Saturday in Phoenixville, and the time trial and road course in Philadelphia on Sunday. Phoenixville race start time, 8:30 am, 200 Bridge St. Philadelphia race start time 8 a.m. Memorial Hall, Concourse Drive, West Fairmount Park.
An additional benefit for Philadelphia is bringing hundreds of college athletes here to get a look at the city. Racing through Fairmount Park, along some of the course made famous by Philadelphia's Commerce Bank Bike Championship, is sure to create some positive memories of the city.
For spectators, both races will offer plenty of action. The Phoenixville course goes right through downtown, and both the time trial and road race will run along Concourse Drive near Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park.
Click here for a race flyer:
http://eccc-info.com/2008/flyers/2008_03_08_philly.pdf
For more info about the race, or to volunteer go to: