Le Tour de Mont Pleasant to host state champs race, eliminates crit from programming
Race directors for Le Tour de Mont Pleasant are planning to make big changes to the 2015 event as they gear up to host a leg of the Michigan Bicycle Racing Association's state championship.
Traditionally a three-day race, this summer's Le Tour de Mont Pleasant will be just two days. Organizers are eliminating the downtown centered criterium race from the 7th annual Le Tour program. A criterium race — known in the cycling community as a "crit" — is a lap race usually spanning a mile. Le Tour de Mont Pleasant's crit looped around the downtown shopping district.
Removing the crit allows race directors to focus their sights on the championship, said Lisa Hadden, a co-director and founder of the race.
Mount Pleasant's portion of the MBRA championship is a road race, according to the association's website. Le Tour de Mont Pleasant holds a road race as part of its normal programming. The Mont Pleasant road race and the state champs will be billed as the same race.
"There will be many more people coming to the race on June 13, so we decided we needed to put our energy toward that and making sure all the rules and guidelines for the state championship are met before the race," she said.
Hadden also is the executive director of the Mid Central Area Health Education Center, housed in Central Michigan University's Health Education building. She said just because they're holding off on the crit doesn't mean it won't resurface in the main event next year. The 2015 event will continue its road race and time trial. Organizers may expand the event to a cycle-cross race in the fall. Cycle-cross is a form of rough-terrain cycling made popular in Europe, Hadden said.
Compounding the issue is Hadden's own health — she broke her hip in a cycling accident in August. Bowing out on medical leave last semester put extra strain on her fellow organizers in the process.
The cost of putting on the race varies each year, but its registration and sponsorship revenues usually range from $20,000 to $60,000 each year. The final cost depends on financial support from sponsors, the scale of the production and the amount of hours dedicated to running the event, said Ben Rollenhagen, an instructor in CMU's Physical Education department and a co-director of the race. Le Tour de Mont Pleasant also employs 200-300 volunteers.
Eliminating a full day of the race will help make it less expensive. It also could very well effect the participation rates, Rollenhagen said. Le Tour de Mont Pleasant attracts nearly hundreds of racers each year — last year, the race brought 732 registrants downtown. Rollenhagen added that for 100 people they bring, about $25,000 gets spent in Mount Pleasant.
"Last year, we had racers from all across the state, the Midwest and Canadians," he said. "We want to make sure they're getting their money's worth. Three days was beneficial because it's not like you ride for just 20 minutes and go home — other races in the state are just one day. The people we have know our reputation as an event, and the participation rate might go down."
City Chamber of Commerce pulling support
While planning the 2015 event, the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce decided that it would no longer host or sponsor the race. The loss of chamber sponsorship will do little to affect Le Tour de Mont Pleasant's finances, Rollenhagen said, but in his mind, the change was another reason why he and Hadden decided to eliminate the criterium, and a full day, from the race.
"It's unfortunate, but businesses in the downtown area don't support us like they always had," he said.
In the past, downtown business owners expressed that they saw few economic benefits from staying open on race day. Their chief concern, Rollenhagen said, was the race limits regular access for downtown commuters.
"Each year we did it, they were tired of making it work," he said. "Some places they were closing because of access, but I always felt like the downtown could have taken better advantage of the exposure they got. We did it in conjunction with other festivals, and it was logistically challenging, but the exposure was the best ever. Because we had three days, people were downtown spending money."
Hadden said the race has already made headway in filling the sponsorship void left by the chamber. One way of securing funding is the formation of a new 501c nonprofit company. Hadden said the organization is working to have a new one established by the end of this year that will be attached to the Mid Michigan Cycling Club.
The race was originally attached to chamber as its mainstay non-profit. Le Tour de Mont Pleasant began its relationship with the chamber since its inception -- Hadden was the former CEO of the group. Hadden said she always envisioned the race breaking away from the chamber -- she and other race organizers have been figuring out how to spin it off over the last two years.
