History of SVVC
In the winter of 1985, Tom Fitzpatick opened T.A. Cyclery on Fourth Street in Williamsport. By the spring of the same year, he had revived the Williamsport Wheelmen bicycle club. The original Wheelmen club thrived in the late 1800s sponsoring rides and races in Brandon Park and around Williamsport. Club exploits and event advertisements can be found in the New York Times dating back to the July 12, 1896 edition. An afternoon spent searching the archives of Williamsport’s local library yields a substantial amount of information on the Wheelmen and cycling history in Williamsport. Members of the club raced in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, New York City, Cincinnati and many locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey on both the road and track. The Wheel Inn restaurant located on Route 14 was frequented by members of the Wheelmen Club who enjoyed riding to the club for dinner and an overnight stay as part of a weekend ride north of the city.
By 1994, T.A. Cyclery had closed necessitating a reorganization of the club; the membership represented so many different towns and communities in the greater Susquehanna Valley that the name of the club was changed to the Susquehanna Valley Velo Club (SVVC) to represent the local and regional composition of the group. The club continued to be primarily a racing club with a strong emphasis placed on USCF road racing and mountain biking.
In the 90’s, the SVVC evolved into a club that better represented all facets of the cycling community. The club’s membership included road, mountain and cyclocross racers, tri-athletes, recreational road riders, mountain bikers, rail trail enthusiasts and people who showed their support for cycling simply by joining the local bike club.
In 2013, a group began to investigate forming a local chapter of the International Mountain Bike Association. In September of 2014, an application was completed and approved forming a SVVC IMBA chapter. While membership and club activity ebbed and flowed between 1985 and the early 2000’s, the formation of the IMBA chapter has provided one of the most significant catalysts for sustained growth in club membership, rides, and advocacy. The use of social media to promote rides and events has had a significant impact on the club’s visibility and participation in our events and rides. Beyond organizing rides and events, the IMBA chapter crew is active in trail maintenance, stewardship, and construction.
Since the club was reestablished in 1986, it has promoted more than twenty USCF events including multiple state championship criteriums, time trials, two stage races, fifteen mountain bike races, three spring training and educational clinics, participated in four Wheelmen’s Cup events, and nearly 100 club time trials, and most recently (2015) the Iron Cross.
Off the bike, the club has purchased and donated bicycles to many youngsters in the community, and we have made donations to various charities and nonprofit organizations supporting riders. From the inception of the original Williamsport Wheelmen to the club today, the goal of the club has remained unchanged: to provide social and competitive cycling opportunities to members of the club and citizens of the greater Williamsport community while furthering the enjoyment of one of simplest but most pleasurable machines ever invented – the bicycle.
