John Rais was out for one of his weekly rides with a group of Philadelphia cyclists when he struck up a conversation with Carlos Rogers.
Rogers, a hair salon owner and former competitive cyclist, was trying to revive the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic, which began in the mid-1980s and contested its final race in 2016.
Rais and Rogers were discussing the costs of staging the new Philadelphia Cycling Classic when Rais realized he could take something off Rogers’ plate.
“I was like, ‘Carlos, I’ll make the trophies for free for you,’” Rais said. “‘I’ll just do that.’”
Rais, a Massachusetts native, has worked as an artist and metalsmith in a studio in North Philadelphia since moving to the area in 2013.
Rogers took Rais up on his offer. So when the Classic’s winning riders take the stage near the finish line on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Sunday, they will hoist trophies hand-hammered and forged inside Rais’ studio.
Rais designed and produced six trophies for the tournament. The men’s and women’s winners will lift bronze trophies designed to invoke a pair of wings.
There are two stainless-steel trophies for the sprint winners that resemble a quill in an inkwell, while the trophies for the king and queen of the mountain winners represent the steep inclines of the course’s infamous Manayunk Wall.
Rais said he doesn’t usually make trophies, but he was excited by the opportunity to design and forge the awards for the Classic. His usual work includes metal sculptures and wrought-iron railings and doors.
Rais’ experience as a metal artist, which began as a student at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in the mid-1990s, informed the choices he made in forging the trophies.
“[Trophies are] this great kind of intersection between decorative art and fine art,” Rais said. “They usually have some decorative elements on them, and historically they’ve been a little bit kitschy. That’s fine. You win whatever event you’re doing, you hold the trophy up, it symbolizes your victory. Usually it goes in someone’s trophy room, or in a closet, or in a box.
“I felt like if I could do something that had a little more intersection with fine art and design, that it might be something that someone would at least have the option of displaying in a different place in their house. That’s the goal.”
The sprinter trophies are made from stainless steel and weigh between 5 and 6 pounds, including the base that each feather, loosely based on the feather of a peregrine falcon, slides in and out of.
The overall winners’ trophies each weigh about 10 pounds, and Rais estimated the king and queen of the mountain trophies weigh somewhere between 3 and 4 pounds.
While each trophy has a matching pair for the men’s and women’s winners, no set is exactly alike. That’s because each piece is hand-forged, hammered, filed, and polished by Rais and the employees of his studio.
Rais wanted some small differences and imperfections to come through as a sign that each trophy was handmade. From design to the final touches, Rais estimates that 25 to 30 hours of work went into making the trophies for the overall winners.
Rais designed the awards with a trophy lift in mind. The artist said he is excited to see how the winners interact with the hardware after the race.
“I want to see how people hold them up,” Rais said. “Whatever happens, it’ll be interesting. Whether they get confused by how they do it, or whether they get it right away, whether they don’t want to lift them up because they’re heavy. … They’ll just be so excited to win, they’re not going to be thinking about the trophies at the time. … My hope is that they just think about them later, once they’re in their home.”
Playing a small part in the tournament’s return to Philadelphia is meaningful for Rais. He had some interest in cycling while living and working in western Massachusetts, but the community of cyclists he found in Philadelphia helped him develop a passion for the sport.
“Through all my 20s and early 30s, I was just a workaholic,” Rais said. “I just worked all the time. I didn’t think I had time for hobbies. But you get to a certain point in life where you realize you need something else. You need an outlet.”
Rais participated in some casual cycling races after moving to Philadelphia. He also has fond memories of watching the International Cycling Classic in its final years.
In 2016, Rais took in the race from a spot along the Manayunk Wall, close enough to the road to overhear Philadelphia-born cyclist Robin Carpenter during the climb.
“Someone was in front of him, and he told the person in front of him, ‘Hey, go faster,’” Rais said. “It was hilarious. That’s the kind of thing, you get to overhear that. It was just amazing.”
One of the things Rais enjoyed most about the race was that it was open to anyone who wanted to watch.
Viewing areas along the race course are open to the public, and the Classic’s fan fest also is free to attend.
“There’s [cycling] or a marathon,” Rais said. “Those are the only two I can think of where you can walk up to the sidewalk and see what’s happening for free and be a part of it.”
