Brady: Hope not dead for 2013 bike race

It might be shorter. It might be smaller. But hope is not lost that the Philadelphia International Cycling Championship will go on this year.

That was the message from U.S. Rep. Bob Brady Friday as he met with civic and business leaders to find a way to resurrect the 2013 race, also known as the Manayunk Bike Race because of that neighborhood's starring role in the course.

After race organizer Dave Chauner announced this week that he had would have to cancel the competition because he lacked a sponsor, Brady leaped into a familiar role - savior of struggling Philadelphia events. He has stepped in to find money to maintain the Dad Vail Regatta, the Mummers Parade and other civic celebrations.

Holding on to the 2013 bike race may prove a more daunting task than the others, though. The sluggish economy has tightened corporate purse strings, and Lance Armstrong's public disgrace has created image problems for cycling.

But Brady said he feared that the could disappear altogether if it did not take place this year.

"It's my feeling that if you lose '13, '14 is going to be tough to get back," Brady said.

He said he had talked to companies about sponsorship, but would not identify them. City costs also have become a factor for organizers of races and other events because the Nutter administration charges for police, street-cleaning and other expenses.

Last year, the city charged Chauner $345,000, most of it still unpaid, he says, because Philadelphia officials have not been willing to explain how they arrived at that figure. But Mark McDonald, a spokesman for Mayor Nutter, said the city gave Chauner an itemized estimate prior to the race, and that he ignored requests for payment.

Brady, also chairman of the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee, said he was not concerned about that dispute.

"I'm certainly not going to worry about his bills," Brady said. "That's between him and the city."

Brady said he doesn't have a sponsor or sponsors in mind who can provide the financial push to save the 2013 cycling championship, but he said he believes it can be saved "if we can move quick enough."

He said he and others had discussed shortening the course to save money but also to ensure that cyclists whiz by more often to generate excitement in the crowd. Shorter courses have become more popular in American cycling, as organizers seek to make more like "NASCAR in tights," one source said.

Brady said some people believe they have a week left to save the 2013 cycling championship but that others say there is more time than that to pull off the big rescue.

"I just have to make sure I get enough help to get it done," Brady said. Mayor Nutter, who pledged to bring the race back in 2014, told Brady he would support him if he was successful in identifying sponsors and organizers who could put together the competition this year. It had been scheduled for June 2.

City Council members James F. Kenney, Mark Squilla, Curtis Jones Jr. and Dennis O'Brien are working on the effort with Brady, he said.

Jane Lipton, executive director of the Manayunk Development Corp., joined Brady at the brunch meeting at Winnie's Le Bus in Manayunk, where those two were seated at a table with eight others.

Brady and Lipton spoke to the press after their hour-long private brunch discussion. "It is extremely gratifying that we are on the same page" in trying to save the 2013 Philadelphia International Cycling Championship, Lipton said. If it takes two meetings or 20 meetings to get the support lined up to revive the 2013 cycling championship, Lipton said she's committed to that.

"We will not give up until there is no other option," she said.