Thousands Turn Out For 2nd Grand Prix

Thousands turned out to watch hundreds of cyclists race in the second annual New Haven Grand Prix, on a course that began at the intersection of Chapel and College, took a right onto High Street and shot up to Elm, then headed back toward the Green to Temple Street, to return to Chapel Street.

Three races — for juniors, semi-pros, and pros — anchored the evening from 5:45 Friday until after dark, as cyclists whipped around the multiple-lap criterion course.

Official events also included a mechanics’ championship and a freestyle trick show, in which expert cyclists climbed ramps, blocks, and trailers, then leapt back down to the ground, even using willing victim-volunteers from the audience as human hurdles.

The Grand Prix doubled as a chance for New Haven to do what it does well: Have a party in the streets downtown. In addition to closing the streets on the race course, College Street was closed in between Chapel and Crown, and food vendors, from Mezcal and Tikkaway to Zuppardi’s and Catalina’s Cupcakes, lined up to serve the masses.

With a balmy warm late-summery evening in effect, the permanent restaurants along College Street, especially Elm City Social and Owl Shop, turned into places to eat, relax, and enjoy the festivities.

With everything on offer in the heart of downtown, the outside of the course on Chapel Street was jammed with people, who surged across the street in a hurried pack during the races at designated course crossings. Along High Street, where it all quieted down a bit, course guards tried, sometimes in vain, to prevent college students from sprinting across the path. And on the corner of Temple and Elm — where a crash during the first men’s race took several cyclists out of competition, fortunately without serious injuries — a handful of spectators could appreciate the cyclists’ sheer speed as they glided, bicycles humming, around the turn.

The food trucks along College Street enjoyed long lines throughout the evening. It was less clear how beneficial business was for the established restaurants and bars along the course. As the Sierra Nevada beer tent set on the street had a throng of customers — making College Street feel a bit like it does during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, albeit much more family-friendly — the new Anchor seemed to have few customers.

Donna Curran, one of the owners of Zinc on Chapel Street, spoke up about how the races were affecting her business, starting during lunch when crews began to close the roads. By her estimation, the restaurant would do about half the business it usually does on a Friday, leading to losses of about $6,000. She had to ask three people from wait staff and two people from the kitchen crew to take the night off.

The losses particularly stung because, according to Curran, city officials had offered little meaningful chance for the affected businesses to have their say as to when and where the races would be held in planning for the event.

“It’s fine to want to build up downtown, but to do it on the backs of small businesses and working people doesn’t seem so productive to me,” Curran said. City officials told her that the races would be ​“great for business,” she added. ​“I’ve been running this for 17 years. Who are they to tell me what’s good for my business?”

Other businesses along Chapel Street, she said, were ​“very frustrated” as well.

Curran argued that more coordination and communication between the city and downtown businesses would have been welcome. (During her conversation with this reporter, city Economic Development Administrator Matthew Nemerson happened to drop by; he told Curran he was ​“sorry for everything.”)

However, Curran said she also appreciated that the Grand Prix was an occasion for lot of people downtown to have fun on Friday evening.

This sentiment was echoed by Tim Cabral, co-owner of Ordinary on Chapel Street, which had set up a table on the sidewalk to sell pulled-pork sliders to passers-by. Business, he said, ​“could go either way, because there’s so much going on.” But he was energized by the crowds, especially families, that had come out to see the race.

“It’s a great night for New Haven,” he said. 

Lucy Gellman contributed reporting.