GP Gloucester Needs Your Support
18 Oct 2012
Hi everyone,
We had another banner at event at Stage Fort Park a few weeks ago. I know we ask a lot of ECV members and our friends in the cycling community in the lead up to the race in the search for volunteers. Now I fear I need to ask yet another favor.
Residents of Ward 5, the home of Stage Fort Park have complained to the City. It’s unclear if this article and this editorial from the Gloucester Times is the source of this sudden interest in the post-event condition of the park. Regardless, after 14 years of racing in Gloucester, we’re now in a position where voices of support are important.
If you are so inclined, a letter of support is greatly appreciated. The “To whom it may concern” saluatation is appropriate as I would use these letters at various meetings with the City that are upcoming. Please also include your city and state in the letter.
My next meeting is November 7th, but supporting documentation needs to be sent to the clerk by the 31st of October.
Please send your letter to:
Paul Boudreau
Essex County Velo
PO Box 5534
Beverly Farms, MA 01915
Many thanks for your continued support of the Gran Prix of Gloucester.
Regards,
Paul Boudreau
President, Essex County Velo
Race Director, Gran Prix of Gloucester
Oct 18, 2012 @ 17:17:24
What is it with Gloucester and trying to kill cycling related events? Look at all of the hassles trying to run a triathlon have created in that town? Look at the centuries that used to run out of Gloucester but don’t anymore. Now this?
I can fully understand that it should be left the way it was found. The staff does what they can but it takes some time to bring it back. This event brings a lot of people to the area.
Maybe the residents have no idea that this event is one of the premier events in the country and it still has great potential to grow.
Come on people get on board! It’s a great event with great friendly people.
Oct 18, 2012 @ 19:47:13
Do you have any info on how much commerce comes into the area with GP Gloucester? How many hotel rooms used, how many meals at restaurants, all that stuff? How many spectators are there, really?
Cyclocross is a sport that’s accessible to everyone, of all ages, not just hyper-fit young men. Cyclocross has age group races starting at ten, and going up to 80+. I don’t know of any other sport where that is true. It’s open to anyone who can ride a bike.
Yes, it’s hard on the landscape, but landscapes are resilient. Parks are made to be used, to be played in, to be enjoyed by a variety of residents and in a variety of ways. GP Gloucester has done its best to put the landscape back the way they found it. They have given the city a great event that has a worldwide reputation.
Oct 19, 2012 @ 11:18:37
Hi Paul! I will mail a letter to you today. It would be an absolute shame if the GP was forced out of Stage Fort Park. We’ve never met, but my husband and I just opened up a little bike shop here in Gloucester. Please let us know if we can be of any further help, since this issue greatly affects us as well as all the other local businesses.
Regards
Kathleen Toomey
Owner
Big Mike’s Bikes, Gloucester.
Oct 19, 2012 @ 12:28:36
Wrote you a letter, wrote a letter to the editor of GDT, and am sharing this on my Facebook page as well as posting it on teamgloucester.com. I suspect most (all) of the complainers 1) have never actually seen the event and 2) don’t spend as much time at Stage Fort Park as they claim if they were *so* surprised to see all the damage immediately post-event (seeing as it happens every year). I’d also bet they haven’t been back to see it all nicely reseeded and looking good a mere month later. We love the Grand Prix in Gloucester! What a shame it would be to lose such a top-notch event in town.
Oct 19, 2012 @ 12:29:24
RMK if you count the kids race on Sunday, the age actually starts somewhere around 2 1/2 with the kick bike competition : )
Oct 19, 2012 @ 13:50:40
OMG…a selfish little man named David Dow summed it up, “It shouldn’t be allowed” and complained about a permitted event sanctioned by the town council. Part of the permitting process included remediation/restoration. Parks are supposed to be used, not be museum pieces.