Charleston, West Virginia — Charleston officials say it was a successful first-time bike ride for the nearly 500 cyclists who swept through the city throughout last week.
The USA Cycling Pro Road National Championship concluded its first five-year run in the nation’s capital on Sunday.
Tim Brady, president and CEO of the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau, told Metro News that the six-day event, held May 14-19, attracted hundreds of athletes and athletes from across the country. Fans gathered and said the event is expected to have an economic impact of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The two winning cyclists will participate in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Brady said eight months of planning and preparation went into putting on the event and the success it has brought is only encouragement for next year.
“We’ve seen a lot of community enthusiasm and we’ve seen people take this event seriously, which is great for us because we’ve been doing it for five years. And I think we’re looking forward to year two, and we have all this enthusiasm from the community now. A year to build on it and grow it and make it even bigger and better next year. is.”
Brady said that while there will be some changes here and there, ultimately next year’s race route will all remain the same, with a focus on downtown Kanawha Boulevard and the Bridge Road area for the final two days of the event. to the Greenbrier Street and Oakridge Drive areas, he said.
He said road closures were a major concern for many residents leading up to the event, but with clear communication and instructions, they proved not to be an issue.
“It took a lot of effort from a lot of people, but we made it work. Yes, a lot of roads will be closed during this race, but most of the time things are going smoothly. “I think people understand that even if it’s closed, you can still access just about anywhere in Charleston,” he said.
Brady said it will still be several weeks before we know the numbers the race brings, but the economic impact of the race on the city should be significant.
He said the calculations look at a variety of data, including mobile phone data and postal codes for credit card transactions, so it gives an accurate picture of where everyone is coming from.
He said that, but judging by the state of the event, it had quite an impact.
“Hotels are full, restaurants are running out of food, and we are estimating a significant economic impact. We are hesitant to give numbers until we have all the data, but as you know, the We saw crowds, we saw a lot of things, a lot of people coming from out of town,” Brady said.
He said the event was a success thanks to the cooperation of the city and all of its departments, as well as Charleston Regional Medical Center, which covered all of the athletes’ medical needs.
But Brady said the event was a little short on volunteers and he hopes to recruit more volunteers next year.
