Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 10, 1994 TAG: 9405100105
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: EXTRA1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
He figures the "visual impact" would be a hit with everyone, especially television viewers watching the race on CBS and ESPN.
Visual impact? Race organizers are projecting crowds as high as 30,000 to 40,000. Matzuk's talking a visual hydrogen bomb blast.
It's a mighty loud image. Even more so considering the source, a man who's done as much as anyone in bringing the international event to Blacksburg and Western Virginia two years running - and who would just as soon keep a low profile when it comes to taking credit.
That's hard to do when you're at a banquet of the Greater Blacksburg Chamber of Commerce, as Matzuk was in late March, and you're named the town's distinguished citizen of the year, mainly for your role in bringing the race here last year.
"I appreciated the thought," he said. "I felt like I deserved it, but I didn't need it. I don't care very much for the spotlight."
Matzuk, chairman of Blacksburg's organizing committee for the Tour, is quick to credit others for their role: people like Town Manager Ron Secrist and chamber director Harvey Shephard. But as much as anyone, it has been Matzuk and his behind-the-scenes work that has kept the bicycles rolling.
"Mike is the man with the vision. He's the one who always says we can get it done," Secrist said. "He is the conductor of the orchestra."
There's the loud thing again. This, of a man who is decidely unpretentious and low-key. He shies away from cameras. He speaks steadily, hesitating at times to pick the right words. Wearing cheap sunglasses, he conducts an interview sitting on the asphalt outside East Coasters Cycling and Fitness, which he co-owns with three partners.
But on any given day, Matzuk plays communication point man. While commuting between the Blacksburg East Coasters and another shop in Roanoke, he's taking phone calls and faxes, relaying information from race organizer Medalist Sports to Secrist, Virginia Tech or perhaps officials with Holdren's, the Tour's title sponsor for Blacksburg.
Luck has helped him with his work. It was he who initially contacted Medalist two years ago, hoping the town might garner a stage "start" in 1994. It got it a year early. It planned the same this year, but the luck kept rolling.
In December Medalist notified Blacksburg that The Homestead was backing out of a stage finish for this year's race. Would the town be interested in taking its place?
The town jumped at the opportunity, but there were details to be worked out, and time was tight. With many of the town's hotels booked to capacity because of Tech's graduation this weekend, Wytheville removed one of the stumbling blocks by offering to house many of those in the race entourage.
Then there was money to raise. Local organizers figured it would cost upward of $50,000 to host a finish, a far cry from the $15,000 or so a start would cost. Most importantly, Blacksburg needed its title sponsor.
"It might have been the biggest challenge that we've had," he said, making sure again to credit Shephard's efforts with the chamber. It's also something Matzuk himself didn't relish doing. "I don't like asking people for things," meaning money.
The fact that Roanoke already had its time trial locked in didn't make it easier. Many of the major companies that could afford to spend a chunk of money to sponsor the Tour had already been contacted by Roanoke
organizers.
Matzuk spent a day in January, calling 30 or so companies, looking for the heavy hitter.
"I got everything: no call-backs, immediate call-backs, immediate no's, a couple of giggles," he recalls. "It's not an inexpensive event to put on."
Holdren's was one of three or four that expressed interest. "They didn't say `yes' right away," he said. "They said `maybe' right away."
Eventually, though, Holdren's committed.
"Part of it was his enthusiasm," said Stan Cross, vice-president with Holdren's. "He's done a lot. He's done a ton."
Still, Cross said, "You can have all the enthusiasm in the world, but if the event is not of the type that produces results, who cares?"
"It wasn't just a matter of, `Here's another bike race,'" Matzuk said in describing the ammunition in his argument. ``They're associated with probably the major event that's going to take place in Southwest Virginia in 1994."
But finding financial support still takes a back seat to the race itself. The course hadn't been mapped early this year. Matzuk and one of his employees lent their expertise to the course selection.
"We were the best ones to do the job," said Matzuk, who rides the roads and trails around Blacksburg almost daily.
"We felt like this needed to be a hard stage," he said.
So Matzuk redirected early plans to have the race run up Virginia 700 to Mountain Lake, and instead advised that it run up the steeper Virginia 613. Organizers say this stage - the race's longest - will separate the contenders from the pack.
He also deflected early plans to send the race down Main Street - past his shop - and advised that it should come in through Happy Hollow and over Harding Avenue and directly into downtown.
"It's conceivable that this [stage] could decide the outcome of the race, 'cause it's a bear," he said.
Then there's the little things.
A few weeks ago at one press event, it was Matzuk who was seen climbing a ladder to pull down a Holdren's banner that had blown onto the roof of Squires Student Center on the Tech campus.
"He works too hard," said Matt Winston, a Tech spokesman. "He's got a lot to contend with. He knows everything that's going on."
"Luckily I don't have a car phone," Matzuk said, and the commutes between Roanoke and Blacksburg give him time to think. Sometimes at the end of a day, it's all he can do to get out to Brush Mountain on a mountain bike for a couple of hours.
"There are times when I say, `Why am I doing this?'" he said. But then he thinks back to last year, and it's back to work.
As for the Hawaiian shirt idea - "I think it would look real good on camera," he said - don't discount it. It was Matzuk's idea to have starters fire off muskets at the beginning of the race last year - an idea that was rewarded with air time on TV.
"I don't like anything to be boring," he said. "A little flair"
"We tried to get a cannon," he said. But Tech had already stored theirs away until football season. So the muskets had to do.
"The reason I do it is just because I'm excited about it. I like the sport. It's fun," he said. But again he credits the others involved, mentioning the cooperation among Tech, the town, Medalist and others.
by CNB