Grassroots Bicycle Racing makes Olympic and World Riders - a Brief History of the Allegheny Cycling Association

Mike Friedman (current rider on the Garmin-Slipstream professional team) giving back to the community by serving as a marshal in ACA Summer Criterium Series (Photo: Fred Jordan)


I had the honor of speaking to the founder of Allegheny Cycling Association (ACA) – Mr. Mark Powder – during one of the ACA summer criteriums. The purpose of the interview was to learn more about the history of the ACA, and see if I can provide some useful information for promoting bicycle racing in Taiwan.

The ACA was organized by a group of people, mostly teenagers, in 1972. Mr. Powder was the first president of the club.[1] Their goal was to put together small friendly bicycle races in Highland Park (Figure 1). The acquisition of the course was not very difficult – all they needed was a city permit. But the city provided the access with one condition: the course had to remain open to vehicles and pedestrians during the race. This posed a serious threat to the safety of the racers, and once a safer course was found, the race was moved to the new site. The new course was in the parking lot of Pittsburgh Zoo (Figure 2), which was unused during the evening hours. Again, the acquisition of the course was not that difficult, thanks to someone in city hall who supported the sport.

In the 1970s, the ACA was the only bicycle club registered with the United States Cycling Federation (USCF) in the Pittsburgh area. Back then, a bicycle club registered with the USCF had to hold at least one race annually to maintain its status, but the ACA held races once a week throughout the summer .

In the 1980s, due to Greg Lemond’s Tour de France wins and good international results of many US cyclists, a lot more people were attracted to the sport. Cycling was no longer just a kid’s sport, and the officers and board members were mostly replaced by older adults. During that time, a few cyclists who had done ACA races went on become great cyclists, including Tom Chew (Danny Chew[2]’s brother), who made the Olympic team, and Davis Phinney, who became the first American to win a stage in the Tour de France.

The ACA races were held in the Pittsburgh Zoo parking lot for almost two decades, but in 1999, the zoo authority decided to install gates in the parking lot and open during evening hours, which effectively killed the ACA races at the Zoo. For some time, the races were held in a local high school’s parking lot. This was hardly a good choice because the course was very short limiting the number of racers and forcing the racers to make really tight turns. Fortunately, Oscar Swan and Bud Harris found out that city hall was going to turn the abandoned driving training center on Washington Boulevard into a park (Figure 3), and after some negotiation and help from inside city hall, the ACA convinced the city of Pittsburgh to build a 0.5-mile velodrome (A.K.A. Oval or pseudodrome as some people call it due to its non-standard design) on the site. Finally, the ACA races had a permanent home. One of the most notable cyclists developed in the ACA races in the 1990s is Mike Friedman, who now races for the Garmin-Slipstream professional team. Mike just returned home recently for a vacation and raced the Fort Cherry road race at McDonald, PA and several ACA races at the Oval. Mike's presence really boosted the morale of local racers.

The ACA Summer Criterium Series is held at the Oval on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from April to September.[3, 4] Tuesday races are open to men Cat C (USCF Cat 4 and 5) and women. Wednesday races are open to men Cat A (USCF Cat 1, 2, and 3) and B (USCF Cat 3 and 4). Cat C and women’s races feature a new rider training and clinic program, taught by local coaches or experienced racers, before the race starts. Cat C and women’s races start with 5 neutral laps, and race 30 laps. During the races, marshals who are coaches or experienced racers lead the neutral laps and then stay behind the racers when the racing begins to give instruction and keep the race safe. Cat A and B races have 40 or 50 laps. Also, once a month, Cat A and B races take place on the same site but a different and more difficult course (P-course; Figure 4). They are more challenging because there are three non-banked corners on the course. Some people think the Oval course is holding racers back because there are no real corners involved. I disagree. Everyone has to start from scratch, and the Oval course with its banked corners makes the learning curve less steep for most people. But I think, for new riders, who are interested in racing on the road should do the P-course races when they qualify to gain experience on courses with corners (Cat C riders are not allowed to do the P-course races for safety reasons).

One of the most amazing aspects of the ACA Summer Criterium Series is the lack of sponsorship and relatively cheap entry fees – 10 dollars. For the 10 dollars, 1 dollar goes to the ACA, 3 dollars go to USA Cycling (USAC), which has replaced USCF, and the rest goes back to the racers as prizes and awards during the races. For such as small fee, the ACA Summer Criterium Series has been able to survive three decades and continue to help develop new riders. In contrast, big races with lots of sponsorship, such as the Thrift Drug Classic, Tour de Toona, and Tour of Pennsylvania, often only manage to survive for a few years because they require a large amount of sponsorship, and they probably don’t give as much back to amateur racers.

I’ve heard more and more races are being held in my home country, Taiwan, in recent years. Instead of targeting government-sponsored racers, these races are more accessible to amateur racers, which have really attracted people to the sport. It is quite common to see more than a thousand riders signing up for one event. However, the quality of these races is not well-controlled. One recent incidence really comes to my attention. At a race held in Ilan in July 5th, 2009, the race organizer promised free water, a lunch box and transportation to all attendees. But due to a large unexpected number of finishers, as claimed by the organizer, hundreds of people not only didn’t receive any water and lunch, but also got stuck waiting for transportation for up to 10 hours.[5]

The problem I see here, is not poor organization skills, but the attempt to do too much. Almost no races have a field limit in Taiwan, resulting in more than a thousand attendees. And with more attendees, the demand on support becomes greater, and things are more likely to go wrong. Also, almost all of these races are mass start hill climbs, or end with massive climbs, so the requirement for pack-riding skill is lower.[6] Pack-riding skill is one of most important element in becoming a successful road racer. During a road race, it’s often the racer with the most leftover energy who wins, instead of the strongest rider. Good pack-riding skills can help a rider accomplish this. Another benefit is that a rider with good pack-riding skill is less likely to crash during a race. I believe the trend of how races are held in Taiwan is not beneficial to the development of the sport. I believe the Taiwanese organizers should start thinking about holding smaller, grassroots races like ACA Summer Criterium Series, which, although don't make news headlines, help develop skills of racers far more than big races, and can even make Olympic and World class riders.

p.s. Many thanks to Mr. Chris Popovic, current president of the Allegheny Cycling Association, and Mr. Jack Neyer, current board member of the Allegheny Cycling Association for their review and correction.

p.s. During my research on ACA’s history, I also learned about USA Cycling, the government body of all cycling sports in US. I am really impressed that it has never received government funding, and the development of world-class riders is solely through the help of passionate volunteers.[7, 8] Actually, the leaders of the country didn’t seem to care about making Olympians until 1978, when the U.S. Olympic Committee was appointed as the coordinating body for all Olympic-related athletic activity in the United States.[9] Yet, even before that time, the US had many world-class athletes.


Figure 1. The Highland Park Loop


Figure 2. The Zoo Parking Lot Loop


Figure 3. The Oval Course


Figure 4. P-course



Bibliography

1.ACA. ACA Past Officers. Available from: http://www.acaracing.com/pastofficers.html.
2.Meinzer, M. Life Cycle: For Danny Chew, it's all about the bike. 2007; Available from: http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A30212.
3.ACA. 2009 ACA Summer Criterium Series: Tuesday New Rider Series. Available from: http://www.acaracing.com/schcr09t.html.
4.ACA. 2009 ACA Summer Criterium Series: Wednesday Intermediate/Advanced Series. Available from: http://www.acaracing.com/schcr09w.html.
5.Outrageous service at an Ilan race (Chinese). Available from: http://news.pchome.com.tw/living/tvbs/20090706/index-12468783150221239009.html.
6.Races in Taiwan (Chinese). Available from: http://www.cyclist.org.tw/index.php?fn=contest&no5=C.
7.USACycling. USA Cycling Fact Sheet 2009 Available from: http://www.usacycling.org/forms/media/FactSheet_USACycling.pdf.
8.USACycling. USAC Development Program. Available from: http://www.usacdf.org/.
9.USOC. The United States Olympic Committe. Available from: http://teamusa.org/content/index/1155.