Cycling / Tim Brown : Baum Seeks New Sponsors for Canceled Race

Alex Baum’s desire to make the Kern’s Mulholland Classic an international affair has not waned, despite the race’s cancellation for this year.

In its two years, the single-day, point-to-point event has begged to expand. One hundred and thirty-eight professional and amateur cyclists competed last year in a race from the Pepperdine campus in Malibu to Griffith Park in Los Angeles. The race drew riders from around the world and this year Baum, the race organizer, had commitments from teams like 7-Eleven and Coors. Two-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond also was expected to ride, according to Baum.

This year’s version of the Classic was to be run over three days. Plans called for a San Diego-to-Newport Beach time trial, followed by a time trial in Griffith Park and finishing with a challenging 100-mile jaunt from Malibu to Griffith Park. ESPN, he said, had expressed interest in televising the event.

“It became one of the best races in the country,” said Baum, who should know. He has been chairman of the Bicycle Advisory Commission for the City of Los Angeles for 14 years and is a longtime international cycling figure.

However, the bottom dropped out two months ago when Kern’s representatives called to say that they were in a budgetary jam and were withdrawing their sponsorship. Baum was left with too little time to find an alternate sponsor and had no choice but to cancel the Classic, which had been scheduled for Sept. 29-Oct. 1.

“It was shocking,” he said. “I was left high and dry with no sponsorship at all. It is very expensive to put on a race right now.”

Which is why Baum is back on the phone, lobbying for sponsors. He is confident that at least one corporation will recognize the potential for such a stage race in Southern California.

“I think we can find it,” he said. “We will be able to substantiate the race. But I don’t want to get my hopes up or anything until I get the signature on the bottom line.”

Worldly possessions: In the World Cycling Championships in Chambery, France, Maureen (Mo) Manley of Thousand Oaks and her U. S. teammates finished fifth in the team time trial, more than 1 1/2 minutes behind the victorious Soviet team.

In the three-year history of the event, the U. S. team had never finished worse than third, winning a silver medal in 1987 and a bronze in 1988.

The men’s time trial team was fourth, it’s best finish. The previous high was eighth in 1986.

Chatsworth’s John Tomac is expected to compete in the amateur men’s road race scheduled for Saturday.

Add Worlds: Track specialist Janie Eickhoff, a Los Alamitos resident and a regular at the Encino Velodrome, won a bronze medal in the women’s points race of the World Championships.

Future endeavors: One week after three top-five finishes in the Junior National Championships, Haldane Morris of Sherman Oaks is leading 17-18 age-group riders with five of nine stages completed in the Tour of the Future.

The United States Cycling Federation has proclaimed the eight-day stage race based in Bisbee, Ariz., as the 1989 Junior National Tour. Results of the tour will be considered for future USCF programs.

The Suntour-Montrose team, of which Morris is a member, is running a close second to Team USA.

Subaru series: North Hollywood’s David Brinton of Team Crest was 12th in Sunday’s Subaru Cycling Classic criterium in Atlanta. The finish earned Brinton nine points in the series and moved him into 14th place overall.

Jack Van Der Veen, riding out of Thousand Oaks for Vita Crunch/Esprit, was 11th in Atlanta and is 25th in the standings. Cam Johnson of Westlake Village and Conejo Velo Club, Thurlow Rogers of Van Nuys and Montgomery/Avenir and John Tomac of Chatsworth and Celestial Seasonings are also among the top 40 overall.

In the women’s standings, Manley is 29th and Dara Rogers of Granada Hills and La Grange is 33rd.

The next stop in the series, originally scheduled for Sept. 10 in Washington, D. C., has been relocated to Salt Lake City on the same date.