43
Spokin’ word: Tour of Valley begins today
Photo
Phil Moore, executive director of the Mahoning County Convention and Visitors Bureau, discusses the Summer Festival .of the Arts, the Youngstown Jazz Festival and the Tour of the Valley bicycle race Ñ all slated for July 9-11. Regional leaders are calling it ÒThe Bigges Weekend of the Summer.Ó
Tour of the Valley
Gallery
If You Go | Biggest Weekend
Tour of the Valley
Today
4 p.m. Time trials begin at Mastropietro Winery, Berlin Center.
Saturday
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Columbiana Road Race on a 33-mile course in Columbiana County and in the city of Columbiana.
Sunday
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Criterium in downtown Youngstown; a criterium is a one-mile lap repeated 20-25 times with fast turns and quick sprints.
Summer Festival of the Arts
Saturday and Sunday
10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday: Located on the YSU main campus, the festival features dozens of artists demonstrating and selling their wares, an ethnic festival, live performances and children’s activities.
Youngstown Jazz Festival
Saturday 4 p.m.: Festival begins at Central Square downtown with headliners Spryo Gyra and David Benoit. Tickets are $15 (children under 12 are free when with a parent) and can be purchased at the Summer Festival of the Arts or by calling the Regional Chamber at 330-744-2131, ext. 12; or Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000.
Other Youngstown institutions, such as the Mahoning Valley Historical Society and churches along Wick Avenue will have festivals or special events this weekend.
By JOHN BASSETTI
YOUNGSTOWN
As executive director of the Mahoning County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Phil Moore has been busy leading up to this weekend.
Starting this afternoon, the second annual Tour of the Valley cycling event will occupy both rural and city streets in Mahoning and Columbiana counties.
Because the Convention and Visitors Bureau is the main sponsor, Moore wants the weekend to be a success.
“We’re far and away the primary financial sponsors of this,” Moore said of the event, which carries the title “Youngstown Live” Tour of the Valley.
Moore, as a county employee assigned to the Commissioner’s office, wears many hats in his position, but the Tour of the Valley presents challenges for someone trying to play promoter and goodwill ambassador.
He’d like to see an equal, if not better, turnout than the nearly 4,000 spectators and participants estimated to have been at the 2009 TOTV.
Feedback from area hotels and motels that served Tour tourists was positive.
Moore was proactive this year by offering to match pro cycling team riders with lodging.
“We contacted hotels and gave them an opportunity to house a team,” the director said. “And we had several hotels sign up,” he said of the Holiday Inn (Boardman), Red Roof Inn (Poland), Hampton Inn (Canfield); Comfort Inn (Ohio route 46, Austintown) and Dutch Village Inn (Columbiana/North Lima).
“Teams had to register early to get in the hotels we lined up for them,” he said.
The hotels agreed to work with the MCCVB by offering special prices, the director said.
In recalling last year’s Tour, Moore noted that the racing crowd preferred sandwiches over fine dining.
“They don’t go for big fancy meals, but the sandwich places did a great business.”
To satisfy the health-conscious racers, Mastropietro Winery in Ellsworth Township served primarily pasta fare on opening day in 2009.
“The whole menu was set up with the riders in mind,” Moore said, noting that the same selection will be available today starting with outdoor dining at 5 when TOTV time trial are in progress.
“It’s for spectators and riders when they finish their run.”
Out-of-town team riders are also staying with friends and relatives, especially if they’re originally from the Valley.
One of those is Mark Corroto, a former assistant city prosecutor now living near Columbus.
Corroto and two friends compose Team World of Pain, a Masters class team.
George Conti and Dave Chambers, both of Powell, will join Corroto. The trio signed up for all three TOTV stages.
Corroto, now the prosecutor for the city of Delaware, and Conti are 50 and 57, respectively, while Chambers is in his 40s.
Team World of Pain didn’t enter last year’s TOTV because both Corroto and Conti were recovering from cycling accidents.
Corroto’s destroyed his bike and sustained a concussion after hitting a dog. Conti’s crash resulted in six broken ribs and $50,000 in medical expenses.
“It’s amazing that he’s back riding,” Corroto said of Conti.
A World of Pain refers to a line from the movie “The Big Lebowski.”
Individually, Corroto has done well so far with three firsts and a couple seconds in road races in the 50-plus age group.
The Masters classification could be tricky because of the variance of ages.
Corroto, who recently turned 50, has an advantage in the 50-plus category, but not so if he’s racing Masters 40-plus.
“Ten years means a lot,” said Corroto, who noted that 38-year-old Lance Armstrong bemoans racing against guys 31 in the Tour de France.
“There’s a big drop-off when you hit 40 and another big drop-off at 50. You have to be more cagey at 50.”
If, for example, Corroto is competing directly against younger riders, he’d be considered Cat 4.
“Hopefully, I can be competitive with other Cat 4s.”
Being in Masters may not be a breeze, either, if an ex-pro decides to join.
“If an ex-pro wants to go out and give it a shot for the weekend, those guys can be really tough. They can chose to race with other pros or beat up on us.”