May 15, 2007
Bridge Street
(Sam Sampere of the Onondaga Cycling Club on Bridge Street)
The “Media Blitz” for the Syracuse Race Weekend continued this week with co-promoter Sam Sampere setting up an appearance on local talk show Bridge Street. The show follows “Live with Regis and Kelly” at 10am weekdays. It uses a similar format to Regis and Kelly too. I don’t have much of a chance to watch this show as do most working folks, but we wanted to hit the demographic which would include moms to promote the Kids Race at the Syracuse Race Weekend.
(Trying on the helmet.)
Sam’s angle was to talk about commuting since it is National Bike Month and Friday is Bike to Work Day. Sam brought in gear from Syracuse Bicycle to show what a commuter would need to hit the road. Included in the gear was a bright fluorescent orange Bell Commuter helmet, a head mounted LED light, tube, and all-in-one tool. All the gadgets were popular with the hosts trying the helmet and LED head light on.
(LED headlight was a hit)
(Checking out the mini pump)
(Check out the purple shorts…ok they are actually blue)
Sam is know throughout the club for the wild colors he wears. When he was being considered as an addition to MaxPowerCycling some unnamed folks said “Is that the guy in the purple shorts?”. Well when Sam showed the blue shorts that looked slightly purple I laughed inside thinking of the purple shorts and fluorescent helmet combo. Motorist would be hard pressed to miss that combo on the road.
The segment went very well and both Gary and Julie seemed interested in cycling. They were both reluctant to try but had respect for Sam and the folks with tiny butts riding through Lafayette.
At the end of the segment they talked about the Syracuse Race Weekend and the Kids Race which is the highlight of the entire weekend. (Check out more info at syracuseraceweekend.com)
I did not end up going on with Sam since the producers only wanted on person to interview. It worked out well with just Sam and having four folks up there would just cause confusion. Oh well, my shot at TV fame still alludes me. At least I have this blog.