2008 Recap - Crystal City Business Improvement District

2008 Crystal Ride
U.S. Air Force Cycling Classic
May 4, 2008
Overview
Overview
The second annual U.S. Air Force Cycling Classic took place on Sunday, May 4, 2008
on the streets of Crystal City. This event also kicked off the Crystal City BID’s Crystal
Fit Campaign.
The event began with an amateur ride that started at the Air Force Memorial and
continued through the streets of Crystal City on a 12.5 km loop. The ride was open to
cyclists of all abilities. Bronze, Silver, and Gold Medals were awarded for those who
completed 2, 4, or 8 laps, respectively, within the 3 hour window. The amateur ride had
300 participants.
Service academy races followed the community ride. The inter academy races began
with a team race between the Air Force, the Army, and the Navy on the 12.5 km loop.
After the team race, the academies fought it out in a series of sprints along Crystal
Drive in the heart of Crystal City.
The academy races set the stage for the main event, A 100 km professional race
featuring teams from all over the world. The race began at the Air Force Memorial, and
finished on Crystal Drive. 15 profession teams competed, and the crowd was treated to
thrilling finish with Lucas Haedo overtaking Andrew Randell at the last moment in a
sprint to the finish line.
During breaks in the professional race, the crowd enjoyed kids races. Children of all
ages got the opportunity to race on a smaller loop in Crystal City.
Course Map
Sponsors
The 2008 Crystal Ride U.S. Air Force Cycling Classic was sponsored by Booz Allen &
Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, News Channel 8, Federal News Radio,
The Washington Times, TW/1500AM, Comcast, Cycling News.com, Mavic, Saab, and
Fit Arlington
Advertising
To promote the event, advertisements were placed in the Metro, the Politico, and the
Connection Newspapers.
Where the Ad
was placed
Cost
Est. # of
Impressions
Cost Per
Impression
CBS Outdoor –
Metro
$4,800.00
3,388,056
$0.001
Connection
Newspapers
$1,702.95
48,345
$0.035
Politico
$930.00
109,200
$0.008
Total
$7,432.95
3,545,601
$0.002
In addition to the advertisements, posters were distributed to the businesses of
Crystal City. Those posters cost $985.95 to print. Also, banners promoting the event
were placed throughout Crystal City. Those banners cost $3,093.61.
The total cost for advertising for the 2008 U.S. Air Force Classic is $11,512.51.
Metrics
The 2008 Crystal Ride U.S. Air Force Cycling Classic had 300 participatory riders, 45
academy riders, and 15 professional teams.
Web Metrics, from April 20-May11
Keyword
“air force cycling classic”
“crystal city classic”
“crystal city ride”
Other ride related keywords
Total Ride Related Visits
Number of Visits
11
8
8
145
172
Referrer
Airforcecyclingclassic.com
Waba.com
Total Website Referrals
Number of Visits
105
89
194
The event page for Crystal Ride received 1,063 pageviews from 877 unique visitors
from April 20 through May 11. The visitors spent an average of 2:45 on the page,
and 67.54% of those visitors left our website after viewing the Crystal Ride event
page. The event page was the 3rd most popular landing page during this time
period, with 505 visitors going directly to the page.
Expenses
Press
The 2008 Crystal Rides U.S. Air Force Cycling Classic was covered in the Arlington
Connection and the Alexandria Times. The race also received numerous blog
mentions, including: Ode Street Tribune, DLP Racing, Team Type 1, Cycling News,
Scott’s Right of Way, and the Daily Peloton.