Help make MBGP 2024 another great event
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The Chevron Manhattan Beach Grand Prix has a well deserved reputation as one of the finest bike races in the USA.  The race is steeped in tradition, history, and even a little folklore.  We are fortunate to have a great course at a beautiful location.  The City of Manhattan Beach has been extremely supportive.  The thing that really distinguishes this event above the others is the volunteer efforts of the South Bay Wheelmen, their friends, and fellow cycling supporters.

Year after year, we have over 100 SBW members and friends working on race day doing a variety of jobs.  We ask that you work as long as you can.  A minimum of four hours is needed for SBW members.  We try to make allowances for our members to race in one of the events.  This is also a requirement for race reimbursements and for SBW voting rights.  As a volunteer, we will feed and clothe (safety vests) you for the day...lunch, and a T-Shirt. We also will ask you to sign a volunteer release form that holds the parent cycling organization and insurer harmless (USAC), and protects volunteers in many circumstances.

Some volunteer work starts a day before the race, Saturday, for 9a to 3p setup of the finish line truss. See the other menu item Volunteer Info for more details within a couple weeks of the race.

Setup on race day Sunday starts at 5:00 AM.  MB police shut down the streets and the work begins.  Tow trucks may hook up remaining cars without passes and tow them.  The fence gang starts erecting the fencing and another group starts hanging the banners.  Registration is set up and the first racers start signing in at 6:00 AM.  The start/finish truss is moved into place, video equipment positioned, balloons and flags are positioned.  Cones and barricades are put in the corners.  Vendors set-up their booths.  Course marshals take their place, and at 7:00 AM, the chief referee fires his gun and the first of 8 races begins the race day.  In a very short two hours, Valley and Ardmore are turned from streets into a world-class race course.

After the end of the last race we have just minutes to tear down the Ardmore portion of the course and return it to the patient residents of Manhattan Beach.  Some volunteers remove banners from Valley fencing. We immediately shift to Valley fencing teardown and removal. Vendors tear down near the green belt, and we do a thorough job of cleaning the entire area.  When we leave at 4:30-5 PM, you would never know there was a race - "The road is cleaner than it was before" has been heard from city workers.

The MBGP Race Committee thanks you for your efforts on race day.  You will be contacted shortly by the Volunteer director or the person that is in charge of the specific venue you want to work.  Please remember that we are always looking for people to house some of the pro racers.  This will satisfy your club volunteer requirement.

Volunteer Opportunities and required number of volunteers (to make our goals, please work more than one job, or a couple of shifts on a specific job):

  • Saturday Finish-line setup (6): from 9-3pm at the finish line to set up the overhead structure. Also a truck to move banners from storage and place near the SBW team tent area. Allow Manhattan Open Tennis Semi's participants open access to the courts and unmarked parking.

  • Course Set-up on Race Day (30+): Begins at 5AM Sunday and needs racers and non-racers alike to start the race right. Good to have gloves and some diagonal cutters when attaching banners.

  • Race Day Registration (6): Begins at 6AM. Training sessions will be available.

  • Runners (2): Begins at 6:30 AM. Carry registration info between reg desk and finish line officials.

  • Race Clean (anti-doping) chaperones (up to 8): Could begin at 7 AM. Need mature, responsible people to notify and escort riders selected for drug testing to a nearby USADA sampling facility.

  • Course Marshal (50): Begins at 7 AM.  Need mature, responsible people.

  • 15th and Highland control (8): Begins at 6 AM:VIP and vendor control/help

  • T-shirts (6): Begins at 7 AM: display, sell, collect cash for T-shirt sales

  • Vendor coordination (4): Begins at 7 AM.  Work with membership to solicit vendors and control vendor logistics on Saturday and Sunday

  • Community Races (10): Includes registration and helping with the kids races.

  • Race Results (2): Work with officials to run video camera and tabulate results.

  • Prime/Purse Disbursement (4): Starts at 7:30 AM. Hand out the primes and cash.

  • Course Tear-down (30+): 3:30-4:30PM. Remove banners from fencing by cutting cable ties. Tear down and load fences onto fencing truck. Good to have gloves and for some, cable tie cutters. Remove race litter from roadway. 2 people return banners etc to storage with a truck/van.

  • Host Housing (3): Provide housing for 1-5 racers each.