The Valley Preferred Cycling Center

In a bit of a prelude to tomorrow night’s US Sprint Gran Prix, the East and the West came together this afternoon for Media Day at Valley Preferred Cycling Center. It was extremely obvious that each rider, regardless of which coast he’s from, wants to claim the top prize in the premier sprint championship. However, it was equally obvious, and perhaps refreshingly so, that a lot of attention was paid to the aura of T-Town.

A big draw in tomorrow night’s main event, which kicks off the 2012 World Series of Bicycling, is the Project London team. Four West Coast-based riders are in T-Town as part of a cross country tour of premier track cycling events. This stop in T-Town is one that the visiting riders have looked forward to.

“This is one of the premier tracks in the country for bringing riders up,” said T.J. Mathieson, a Californian riding for Project London. “There’s a lot of great riders from here. To come out and have an early-season face-off with them is great. We’re just excited to come out and play up that whole East Coast, West Coast rivalry.”

That sentiment is echoed by the entire Project London squad. For the East Coast riders, they too understand the significance of T-Town in tomorrow night’s event.

“The West Coast guys know what they’re in for,” said Trexlertown’s Andy Lakatosh, who will be wearing a Pure Energy Cycling kit tomorrow night. “Especially on opening night, there’s a lot of home turf for us local guys to protect. We want to hold our own. We’re all just looking forward to getting out there and going 100% every single race.”

Perkasie’s Matt Baranoski, who also rides for Pure Energy Cycling, had similar words.

“All the T-Town riders, we grew up on this track,” said Baranoski. “We take a lot of pride in knowing that we come from here and that this is where we call home. So it means a lot to us to defend it.”

About Project London: Project London, presented by Land Rover, carries the mission of benefiting the LIVESTRONG organization “while pursuing the development of young cyclists into champion professional athletes, fulfilling their dream of representing the United States of America in the Olympic Games.” Under the Project London banner, the cyclists are competing in several U.S. events. The goal, since the inception of the Project London program, has been to facilitate opportunities for the riders to make U.S. squads competing in the UCI World Cup, UCI World Championships, and the Olympic Games.

Can You Pick a Winner? Friday’s U.S. Sprint Gran Prix is the perfect race event to kick off our new season-long Fantasy T-Town game at Valley Preferred Cycling Center. In an effort to raise the profile of the pro riders that compete each week, and to give our fans, especially new fans, a rooting stake in the night’s event, Fantasy T-Town takes the core premise of the popular fantasy sports genre and applies it to a night of racing at Valley Preferred Cycling Center.

Stop by the Valley Preferred Cycling Center table tomorrow night in the plaza for all the details and to play your hand in Fantasy T-Town.

Event Details: The World Series of Bicycling US Sprint Gran Prix rolls off Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Valley Preferred Cycling Center. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets start at just $5.00. Kids 12 and under are free.

Photo by Anthony Skorochod of Cycling Captured