http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/local/12167885.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on Tue, Jul. 19, 2005CYCLE RACE, RODEO WILL WORK TOGETHERBoth events will
take place on the same weekend next yearBy KEVIN HOWE and VICTORIA MANLEYHerald
Staff WritersIt can be done. It will be done.That was the message of officials
at the California Rodeo Salinas and theSports Car Racing Association of the
Monterey Peninsula who face theprospect of putting on two huge events in the
same week within eight milesof each other.But from July 20 to 23 next year, it's
going to be crowded in MontereyCounty. Really crowded.Get-out-of-town-if-you-can
crowded.On one end there will be an estimated 50,000 or more cowboys and
cowfanskicking up dust over the course of the California Rodeo Salinas.On the
other, another 50,000 or more motorcyclists and motofans will swarmMazda Raceway
Laguna Seca in Monterey each day for the MotoGP WorldChampionship Series.They'll
happen on the same weekend because the rodeo and the motorcycle raceare stops in
a series of events, the professional rodeo circuit and theinternational
motorcycle racing championships, and any change here wouldrequire changes
elsewhere.The rodeo, which opens a four-day run on Thursday, has been a
tradition inSalinas since 1911. While the rodeo board had considered changing
its 2006dates to avoid conflict with next year's Red Bull Grand Prix, it decided
togo ahead with the original schedule, July 20-23, said rodeo President
TomPettitt.The motorcycle event returned to Monterey County last weekend for its
firstU.S. appearance since 1994. It is set to take place in Monterey
Countyannually through 2009, but rodeo and Laguna Seca officials say the two
bigevents won't overlap in future years. Scheduling of the Red Bull race
nextyear was dictated by the scheduling of the World Cup soccer
championships."It's just to 2006," said Gill Campbell, general manager of Mazda
LagunaSeca Raceway. "We're very much like the rodeo. They're subject to a
nationalseries and circuit; we're subject to an international series and
datescheduling. We had no choice but to go with this date."Campbell and Sally
Hamana, marketing coordinator for the rodeo, said thesponsoring organizations
plan to get together to see what needs to be doneto make both events
work."They're just going into their event," Campbell said. "We're just
gettingout of ours. We'll get together once this weekend is over."The good thing
is we have 12 months. If we jump on it right away, dealingwith all the
challenges, we'll have no problems whatsoever."Hamana said the two organizations
will be "getting coordinated, not inopposition."Rodeo officials were reluctant
to upset the Pro Rodeo schedule over aone-time conflict, Hamana said, an action
that could have endangeredCalifornia Rodeo Salinas' place on the
tour."Preplanning and hard work," she added, "will get us over it."Juxtaposing
the events will have an impact on two-lane Monterey-SalinasHighway, said Jeff
Morgan, assistant transportation planning engineer forthe Transportation Agency
for Monterey County, but he said racing officialsdid a good job with this year's
traffic plan.Traffic in and out of Laguna Seca was slow but through traffic
onMonterey-Salinas Highway "was not bad," Morgan said.While this year's
motorcycle event slammed area hotels and motels, theconfluence of events next
year may not make things appreciably worse sincethe rodeo draws more of a local
crowd, officials agreed. But even a repeatof this year's competition for hotel
space will fray some nerves."It's a tough situation," said Brenda Roncarati,
president/CEO of theMonterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. "At this point, it
looks like a rockand a hard place."Some hotels, including Portola Plaza Hotel
and Monterey Beach Hotel, arealready booked solid for the event weekend next
year, Roncarati said. Manyrace fans checking out of rooms last weekend made
reservations for next yearon their way out, she said.Concern also remains about
a potential shortage of volunteers, since bothevents rely on unpaid staff to
perform many of the basic functions."The trick to this is going to be giving
everyone a heads-up early on,"Hamana said. "There's no reason they can't do
both."
XML Sitemap