The 2012 Longsjo is Ready to Roll. Are You?

We’re ready to race. Are you?

Hi everybody, the 2012 Longsjo is just a few weeks away, and we’re ready to roll.

We’ve got four days of great racing for Pro 1/2 Men, Pro 1/2 Women and Juniors.

We’ve got three days of tough racing for Women 3/4, Men 3, Men 4, Women 3/4, and Masters 40+.

We’ve got two stages for Cat Vs!

https://www.bikereg.com/NET/15901/52nd-Longsjo-Classic-Stage-Race-Fitchburg

Day One –  Thursday June 28th

We’re kicking things off in a new venue, with the Rollstone Bank and Trust Downtown Leominster Twilight Criterium on June 28th. There’s a great Health and Wellness Fair that Leominster has been working on. Similar events in Leominster have attracted 3K-4K spectators!

Day Two – Friday June 29th

This stage, for all categories, including Cat Vs, is the Fitchburg State University, Mass Start Hill Climb. It’s a nine mile course that brings racers to the summit of Wachusett for the first time since the summer of 2008. It’s going to be a grueling race. Will riders hammer from the start? Will they wait until the climb up to the summit to hit the gas? You can win the Longsjo on this stage, you can lose the Longsjo on this stage, and you can carve out an elite few in any of the categories. For the amateur riders, your starting line position is based on when you register. Southwest Airlines style. The sooner you sign up, the fewer riders you’ll have to pass or wade through on your way to the summit.

Day Three – Saturday June 30th

This is our traditional road race, with a really cool twist for the Men Pro 1/2, Women Pro 1/2, and Juniors. These categories will  start in Worcester, 16 miles away, and CLIMB all the way into Princeton center, before entering the normal course, and finishing in Princeton center. We’ve raced when it’s 100 degrees, 36 degrees, rain, wind, fire, (Jamis | Sutter Home team car in 2010) and this new partnership with Worcester just adds to the excitement.

Day Four – Sunday July 1st

After a huge fire forced the cancellation of the race last year. The traditional Workers’ Credit Union Downtown Fitchburg Criterium Course is back. The Johnsonia building, on the inside corner of turn four, is still being demolished, but the roads will be ready, the pavement cleared (Thanks Fitchburg DPW!) and the racing will be fast.

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We’ve got to get some movement on registration!

https://www.bikereg.com/NET/15901/52nd-Longsjo-Classic-Stage-Race-Fitchburg

Racers are notoriously late in signing up, and we promoters start tearing our hair out, right about…yesterday. Let’s face it, racing is expensive, but so is putting on races. We’ve got volunteers to coordinate, cities to finalize plans with, deposits to make, folks to insure, porta-potties to port, and when we see low numbers and high costs, we need to start making decisions. By registering NOW, you can help us make the right decisions.

Promoters need racers, and racers need promoters.

So, that being said. This is a final push. We’re offering some great incentives for “early” registration.

Free t-shirt for first 400 entrants. Cool design to be released soon.

If you register by Sunday at midnight, crash out while racing in the next three weeks, you can get your money back. We need to see, or verify a USAC incident report, but otherwise, you don’t lose out.

Right now, while supplies last, we have Buy One, Get One at the Fitchburg State University dorms. Register one bed, and send us the name of the person in the free bed. housing@longsjo.com

Prizes! For the first 400 entrants, we’ve got some signed copies of Argyle Armada, as well as one of Mark’s amazing gallery prints, copies of The Jersey Project, a bunch of race tires, some gear, gift certs., and we’re working with a good friend to score a couple wheelsets. We’ve got some cool stuff from Embrocation Cycling Journal too. More stuff is coming in every day.

We’ve got potentially equal prize money for the Pro 1/2 Men and Pro 1/2 Women. If the women get 50 entrants, it’s $10K. If there are 75 entrants, it’s $15K, If we have 100 or more women, it’s $20K. Right now we have ZERO Pro 1/2 Women registered.

We’ve worked for 8 months planning the race. We’ve got people flying in from all over the country to race with us. The nation’s top juniors will be here. You’ll see their names in Europe in a couple years. Just ask Lawson. This is shaping up to be an amazing year, but we need your support NOW.

We’ve got a magic number to hit by Sunday at midnight. We’re not saying what that number is. If we hit it, awesome! 

If we don’t hit it. We have issues.

I know riders hate this, but we’re going to hide the “Who’s Registered” page on BikeReg. It’s time to make a decision folks. Back in the good old days, you didn’t know who you were up against until race day. Now you won’t know if the field is close to selling out or not. That is a risk you take.

https://www.bikereg.com/NET/15901/52nd-Longsjo-Classic-Stage-Race-Fitchburg

With the help of some amazing partners, we’ve also got some great extra events planned for the weekend.

Thursday June 28th – Health and Wellness Fair – Leominster, MA

Food vendors, massage folks, fitness centers, cycling travel companies, outdoor companies, bike shops, and a kids hockey demo with Fitchburg native, and 2010 Olympic Silver Medalist, Erika Lawler.

Know someone who would like to connect with the expo? Let us know! ecollier@longsjo.com

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Friday June 29th

Argyle Armada – Photo Gallery Opening Reception

Mark Johnson of http://www.ironstring.com followed Garmin Barracuda for the entire 2011 season, and has produced an incredible piece of journalism in his book Argyle Armada (www.argylearmadabook.com) We’re putting on a show of his work at Ed Collier Photography (my other life -Ed), 12 Elm St. in Fitchburg (one block off the crit course) Opening Reception will be 6-9pm. Contact Alfred Gadway for more info: photos@jewellhillstudio.com

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Saturday June 30th

Bicycle Safety Rodeo 8-11AM

With the help of the Boy Scouts of America, kids ages 5-12, can get helmets checked, learn some safety skills, and get to join in the fun of our athlete village.

Family Fun Ride ~ 11:45

Want to lead the Elite racers and Juniors out of town? You can with the help of Worcester Earn-A-Bike. Starting at the Worcester Public Library, riders will head out before the start of the racing, and either wave at the edge of town, or follow the riders as the head up to Princeton.

Nashua River Brewers Fest! (21+) 2-8pm http://www.beersforgood.com

You survived two (maybe three) days of grueling racing. You only have the crit left. You deserve a glass or two of some of New England’s finest craft beers. Bring your race number with you, and get $10 off admission! Proceeds benefit The Cleghorn Neighborhood Center, MOC’s elder meals programs and Fitchburg Civic Days.

Argyle Armada – Photographers Discussion with Mark Johnson – 6-8pm Ed Collier Photography, 12 Elm St. in Fitchburg (one block off the crit course)

Hear Mark talk about everything from logistics, to gear, to publishing, to Vaughters’ sideburns. Space is going to be limited for this, but if you’ve ever photographed a bike race, and want to know how the big shooters do it, you don’t want to miss it.

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Sunday July 1 – Racing all day! (I’m biased, but) The Workers’ Credit Union Criterium Longsjo crit course is one of the most famous courses in American cycling. There isn’t a bad spot to watch the race, and we’re bringing in some fun events for families, and grown ups can always pop into the Boulder to grab a pint (post race) and watch the Tour, the live Longsjo feed, or step outside and watch the real thing.

Thanks to everyone for their great support (and for reading this long note). The 2012 Longsjo weekend will be filled with great racing, great memories, and will help us determine a path for the future of this incredible race.

See everyone in a few weeks!

Cheers,

-Ed

https://www.bikereg.com/NET/15901/52nd-Longsjo-Classic-Stage-Race-Fitchburg

Longsjo Major Taylor Fun Ride set for June 30

Tags

Bike Racing, Community, Cycling, Fun Ride, Longsjo, Major Taylor, Worcester

Major Taylor Monument at the Worcester Public Library

(Today’s blog entry is by Lynne Tolman, president of the Major Taylor Association, a Longsjo Classic 2012 sponsor.)

We can all ride the same roads. That is, you don’t have to be a competitive cyclist to experience the pleasures of pedaling.

Part of the enduring appeal of the Longsjo Classic is that many of the spectators lining the race course are on bikes too. We want to see the racing action, but we aren’t going to give up a day of bicycling just to watch other people ride. Luckily, we can bike to the race and do it all.

This year, the Longsjo Major Taylor Fun Ride on Saturday, June 30, incorporates riding options for spectators, from 3 miles to 42 miles or more, along with related activities at the road race start in Worcester.  Three of the race groups – pro/1/2 men, pro/1/2 women, and the Major Taylor juniors – will start from the Major Taylor statue at the Worcester Public Library, 3 Salem Square, Worcester, at noon. (Other categories start earlier, in Princeton.)

The Fun Ride will start at the Worcester Public Library at 11:30 a.m., ahead of the racers, to reach a prime viewing spot. For the first couple of miles, Worcester Earn-A-Bike director Gray Harrison, a Major Taylor Association board member, will lead riders on mostly flat streets, suitable for the most casual riders, on any type of bikes. Everyone is welcome, from families with young children to Lance Armstrong wannabes,  as long as all riders wear helmets.

We could have called this part the Underground Worcester Tour, because riders will get a rare view of downtown, in two respects. For one, police will be stationed at every intersection in the city to control traffic, so we’ll have smooth pedaling through the urban core – no choppy games of chicken with impatient motorists. Also, we’ll ride escorted through the Johnson Tunnel at the northern end of Main Street! While we’ll get a look at the famously steep George Street, we won’t ride up that hill. (You’ll have to come back for that July 22.)

Less than two miles out, the Fun Riders will stop on Salisbury Street at Park Avenue, and – perhaps with other folks joining us, flash mob-style  – we’ll form an impromptu cheering section on the sidewalk and watch the racers go by. The race will be “neutralized” (that means the racers are not actually racing) until Assumption College, farther up Salisbury Street, so the colorful packs of riders will look more like a parade than a competition at this point.

From Park Avenue and Salisbury Street, the more casual Fun Ride participants can ride with Gray back to the library, where free shuttle buses will be available to take spectators to Princeton Center.

From Park Avenue, more ambitious cyclists on the Fun Ride might want to continue on their own a few miles up Salisbury Street – the road does start to climb – and make Assumption College their stop-and-watch point. That’s where the race is no longer neutralized, and the real competition begins. It’s about four miles from the library. After the racers go by, Fun Riders can follow them on the race route to Princeton Center (we’ll give out more detailed maps at the start). The race route covers about 21 miles from Worcester to Princeton, and most of the second half is on Route 31. Riders who know the area may want to get off Route 31 and take a scenic detour using such back roads as Quinapoxet Street or Elmwood Avenue to Princeton Street in the Jefferson section of Holden and then, in Princeton, Ball Hill Road to Brooks Station Road, or Ball Hill Road all the way to Route 62, which leads east into Princeton Center.

Princeton Center, where the race ends, is another prime viewing spot, made festive with various concessions, plus commentary from the race announcers. Before the finish, the racers cover multiple laps on an 11-mile loop that passes Princeton Common again and again. The race gets steeper and steeper as competitors climb Gregory Hill Road to the center of town and turn up Mountain Road toward Mount Wachusett.

Whether joining the Fun Ride or not, spectators are encouraged to come to the Worcester Public Library early that Saturday to check out the Longsjo athletes’ village. You can meet the racers and their support crews as they get ready in the library parking lot, quiz them about their training regimens and racing tactics, and get a close-up look at their bikes and team cars.

It’s Day 3 of the four-day stage race, so the teams tweaking their race strategies will be factoring in what happened in the Leominster Twilight Criterium on Thursday and the mass-start hill climb up Mount Wachusett on Friday.  And they’ll need to save some strength for the Downtown Fitchburg Criterium on Sunday. Here’s the complete Longsjo Classic schedule.

Plus, of course, you can admire the Major Taylor monument that has graced the Worcester Public Library entrance since 2008 and learn about the 1899 world champion cyclist who was nicknamed “the Worcester Whirlwind.” The statue is Worcester’s first monument to an individual African-American.

The Friends of the Worcester Public Library will have coffee and pastries for sale.

Also in the library parking lot, boys and girls ages 5-12 with their own bikes and helmets can sharpen their riding skills in a children’s bicycle safety rodeo from 8 to 11 a.m. Rodeo participants will get bike inspections and safety instruction, and pedal through the skills courses. If they’re Cub Scouts, the activities count toward their Bicycling Belt Loop.

Lynne Tolman

What we’ve been working on for the 2012 Longsjo Classic

Tags

Cycling, Fitchburg, History, New Engalnd, Non-Profit, Stage Racing, UCI, USA Cycling

Hi everyone!

If you’ve been following our facebook or twitter feed, you may know a little bit about what is going on with the 2012 Longsjo Classic. The website, longsjo.com, is being updated (though slowly) with the current information. We’ve gotten some emails asking for updates, and I’m going to use this post to not only introduce people to the new blog, but to let them know what we’ve been working on.

1. The Longsjo is 100% back on.

No one wanted to let last year’s cancellation be the end of the Longsjo. The Longsjo is different than a lot of other events, in that it’s a memorial event to an incredible athlete and human being, Art Longsjo. That makes the race something more than just a black and white thing, it makes it a type of entity. That makes it really hard to pull the plug and move on, even when doing just that is, in theory, easier than putting on a race of this size, in this region, and in this economy.

2. Changing things up a little bit

We needed to find some new excitement, and some new partners this year. Immediately after the cancellation last June, representatives from the cities of Leominster and Worcester called and offered to help. What was amazing is that they both asked if there was a way is they could help right away. We were floored. Changing the direction that late in the game wasn’t something we could handle at that point, but you don’t forget that offer. As we moved forward with plans for 2012, we knew Leominster and Worcester were going to be a part.

3. No NRC in 2012

We’ve struggled the last couple years, and with the cancellation in 2011 USAC figured it was best to leave us off of the National Race Calendar in 2012. We’re not worried about it. Racing is racing, the prize list isn’t going to change all that much, and if we prove ourselves, we might re-apply in 2013.

4. The stages and categories

For 2012 we will have four days of racing for Men Pro1/2, Women Pro 1/2, and Juniors (June 28-July 1). We will have three days of racing for Masters 40+, Women 3/4, Men 4, and Men 3 (June 29-July 1)

The stages are as follows:

Thursday June 28, Rollstone Bank and Trust, Leominster Twilight Criterium (M 1/2, W 1/2, Jrs.)

Friday June 29, Fitchburg State University Hill Climb (We’re still looking for a catchier title) Mass Start Hill Climb to the summit of Wachusett Mountain State Reservation (all categories)

This is going to be a brutal hill climb. We’ll be starting a short distance from the base of the mountain, and then heading up to the very top, where the race hasn’t gone since 2008. We’ve been working on this for a while, and it’s going to be epic. Except for M1/2, W1/2, and juniors, your start line position is going to be based on when you register. If you know you’re going to be racing, sign up early. If you wait, you’re going to have to make your way through the field on your way up the climb. Each field will start separately. We will have a couple Cat 5 fields for this event. There is no TT, so that means you only have to bring one bike.

Registration opens at 6pm EST on Thursday March 15th on BikeReg.

Saturday June 30. Road Race (sponsor info is in the works…good stuff)

The Masters, Women 3/4 and Men 3 and Men 4 will race the traditional 11.4 mile circuit in Princeton and Westminster with the finish once again in Princeton center.

The Men Pro 1/2, Women Pro 1/2, and Juniors are going to start in Worcester in front of the Major Taylor statue at the Worcester Public Library, ride neutral through the city, and then begin racing up into Princeton, where they will join the traditional course. Those fields will be under full rolling enclosure, and will finish in Princeton center. Here is a PDF of the story that ran in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette. 

Sunday July 1, Workers’ Credit Union Downtown Criterium, Fitchburg, MA

This is the stage most people think about when they think about the Longsjo. It is here to stay, and isn’t going anywhere.

All seven fields will be racing this stage, as well as at least one Cat 5 field.

5. The Prize List

Even though we’re not on the NRC in 2012, we’re only going to lower the prize list for the Men Pro 1/2 to $20,000. We’re confident in this number, and we expect to draw a full field of riders.

The Women Pro 1/2 are a slightly different story, though we feel a still fair option. The prize list for the Women P 1/2 will break down like this:

If we get up to 50 riders the prize list will be $10,000

If we get at least 75 riders, the prize list will be $15,000

If we get at least 100 riders, the prize list will be $20,000

6. Registration 

As we mentioned earlier, registration will open on Thursday March 15 at 6PM EST.

There will be 50% refunds only until June 1. You can transfer your registration to another rider (finances handled entirely by you) ONLY ONE TIME. By that we mean that if the new rider cancels, that registration is ineligible for a refund or another transfer. More details about this will be on the forthcoming flyer and on Bikereg.

On a marketing note, we’re looking  for some guest bloggers to contribute to this forum. Essentially, your posts can be about anything Longsjo or cycling related. We’d like to avoid having the same person write all the time, and keep things fresh.

That answers a lot of the questions that people have been sending in. We continue to ask for a little more patience with the website. It will be updated soon. Feel free to ask us any questions you have either through Facebook or Twitter @longsjo_news. See everyone in June!