Center’s new chief rides wave of success
After more than a decade organizing bicycle races or working in related industries, Joan Hanscom found herself at the top of the sport as a vice president of USA Cycling.
But in her role supporting local race organizers across the country from afar, she found herself pining for the days she was more directly involved in preparing some of the sport's biggest races.
That shouldn't be a problem in her new role as the executive director of the Valley Preferred Cycling Center in Upper Macungie Township. As the person overseeing day-today operations at the Trexlertown velodrome, one of the nation's premier cycling facilities, Hanscom will be responsible for programs ranging from teaching children the basics to handling international competitors, securing corporate sponsors and keeping the place on budget.
Those experiences will come in handy as she takes over a facility in transition. The velodrome had just one full-time employee by the time its season started in June after its former
executive director, Marty Nothstein, was forced out in February. Hanscom now will lead a rebuilt staff of four employees, plus interns, contractors and volunteers.
Success will mean filling the bleachers with new faces for Friday night races. While cycling is one of the most popular sports around the globe, it’s a niche event in the United States. But with an iconic facility offering everything from programs for children to heats featuring top international racers, Hanscom believes the velodrome can provide an affordable night out filled with the thrills of competition.
A key to that growth, she said, will be reintroducing the velodrome to the community. While longtime residents may know the Lehigh County-owned track and its history, she knows the Lehigh Valley has seen significant growth over the last two decades.
“This isn’t sleepy farmland any more,” she said. “I would love to reach the people who may not know we’re here.”
Another goal is to build up cycling programs for women as an opportunity for growth. She noted that cycling is overwhelmingly male, to the point that women have one fewer tier of competition levels because of a lack of female cyclists. Some events elsewhere only offer two levels, forcing intermediate riders to chose between racing against novices or people competing at the sport’s highest levels.
“They get their teeth kicked in by some of the best cyclists in the world,” Hanscom said.
Doing more to develop the women’s side will build on a history of success at the velodrome, Hanscom noted. Emmaus’ Kim Geist won her second world championship in March, and American women are finding the most success in international competition.
The duties should be familiar for Hanscom, who’s made a second career of her love for cycling. In the early 2000s, she was a project manager for AOL, until its merger with TimeWarner made her reconsider her career path. She loved road racing, so she decided to follow her passion for cycling.
“I go back to being a little 4-year-old. I’m a kid on my Schwinn going around and around my block every time I’m on my bike,” said Hanscom, 51.
In 2002, she started as an event director for the Manayunk Bike Race, the one-day event in Philadelphia that ran for 31 years before being canceled in 2017.
From there, she co-created a start-up company that helped organize and produce cycling events. That job led to another, as co-owner of the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross in 2006. The Gran Prix consisted of four to six races across the country, each recognized by the Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for cycling events.
Unlike at the velodrome, where racers compete on a banked concrete course, cyclocross racers cover dirt, wood shavings, grass and pavement. At times, cyclists need to hop off and carry their bikes over obstacles built into the course.
The series ended due to sponsorship problems in 2013, but USA Cycling made special notice of her time with the Gran Prix when it hired her as its vice president of event services. But the position wasn’t an ideal fit, she said, because she preferred to be the person on the ground marketing each race, finding sponsors and organizing volunteers.
“I was helping other people produce the product, but I missed doing it myself,” Hanscom said.
Former colleague Guillermo Rojas, USA Cycling’s director of marketing and communications, credited Hanscom for pushing USA Cycling to design its new software with local race directors in mind. While their time as co-workers was brief, Rojas said he was impressed by her leadership abilities and deep knowledge and connections to the various styles of cycling.
“She’s one of the highest respected people in the sport because she’s worn so many different hats,” he said. “Joan had a knack of being able to communicate at every level and coming up with deliverable ideas and products. I envision she’s going to bring T-Town back to its glory days.”
Hanscom started the velodrome job to little fanfare in October, moving from Colorado Springs to Allentown. While the velodrome’s website lists her as its executive director, it made no formal announcement about her hiring.
Nor did it divulge the departure of Nothstein, an Olympic gold medal cyclist, a Lehigh County commissioner and, at the time, a congressional candidate.
The Morning Call revealed in August that the nonprofit had placed Nothstein on leave in February after it was notified he was the subject of a sexual misconduct investigation by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, an independent wing of the congressionally sanctioned U.S. Olympic Committee.
Nothstein denied the accusations, calling them a “political hit job.” The complaint was filed in late 2017, less than two weeks after he announced his ultimately unsuccessful congressional bid. The investigation against Nothstein was closed with no finding of misconduct. Nothstein in October sued the Velodrome Fund and The Morning Call.
A second Morning Call story in October explained how Nothstein in a decade as executive improved the velodrome’s finances, but his management style led to employee turnover. Also during his tenure, the velodrome failed to provide Lehigh County with required documentation about its finances, personnel and insurance.
Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong said in a recent interview that the nonprofit since has turned over the required documents. He met with Hanscom and Velodrome Fund Chairman Rick Beuttel in December and came away impressed with the new executive director’s resume and commitment to international racing.
“We’re real happy with the direction they’re taking,” Armstrong said.
Beuttel did not return phone calls seeking comment. Bob Martin, a Velodrome Fund board member appointed by Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong, deferred comment to Beuttel. Nothstein declined an interview for this story.
Hanscom said those troubles did not factor into her decision to join the velodrome. The New Hampshire native said she liked the idea of working at an iconic cycling venue on the East Coast.
“I like to create a team environment, and I think we have a very good team here,” she said. “I can’t speak to what happened in the past.”