Bicycle Series Makes 2 Stops in Southland

The Wheat Thins Mayor’s Cup bicycle racing series, which attracted a crowd of 18,000 around Philadelphia City Hall and is averaging close to 10,000 spectators at its 13 other stops, will spend the Labor Day weekend in Southern California.

The 19-stage series, with several 1984 Olympians and former speed skater Eric Heiden competing, will make its 14th stop Sunday at Ocean Beach in San Diego, then will move to Beverly Hills for more races Monday.

The Beverly Hills course will be four-tenths of a mile and will take riders along a circle of Rodeo Drive, Brighton Way, Beverly Drive and Dayton Way.

As many as 200 riders are expected for two men’s races, and another 80 for the women’s race. The 15-mile women’s race will open the competition at 12:30 p.m., with the men’s top regional amateurs going 20 miles at 2 p.m. The men pro riders will race 35 miles, starting at 3:30 p.m.

Tom Schuler of Downers Grove, Ill., Heiden’s teammate on Team 7-Eleven, is the series leader with $6,570 through 13 races, with Wayne Stetina of Chatsworth second at $4,151. Heiden and Schuler will be flying in from the world championships in Italy for the race.

It is not known, however, whether all the major names from the series--especially Olympians Mark Whithead of La Mirada, Steve Hegg of Dana Point and Rebecca Twigg and former world champion Marianne Berglund--will make it.

Berglund is one of the top three female cyclists in the country, along with Twigg and Betsy Davis of Lavalette, N.J., the women’s money leader at $3,040.