There would be heats at a variety of punishing distances, and there would be race demonstrations that conjured old Hawaii, with canoes made not of fiberglass but from albizia logs hollowed by hand with an adz.
Teams have long had little influence in cycling, save for an occasional in-race demonstration over drug testing or dangerous road conditions.
A new mountain-bike festival at Whistler, British Columbia, will feature professional races and demonstrations, along with competitions and tours for amateur cyclists.
But the main event is on Saturday and Sunday on Governors Island, where the festival will offer races and demonstrations of all kinds of feats and games, including unicycle basketball, unicycle hockey and a challenging course for "extreme riders".
Work has begun on the race site and demonstration runs have been held with world champion Sebastian Vettel of Germany test driving the course in June.
Another Norwegian, Birger Ruud, made a great impression at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, winning his second gold medal in the ski jump and placing first in the Alpine downhill race, then a demonstration event.
The demonstration race that Mr. Simes and Mr. Green want to bring to the Kingsbridge Armory would feature six nights of events on a temporary track, with tickets sold for all or part of the competition.
As a first step, they plan to seek city approval to rent the fortress for a demonstration race sometime in the next year as a "proof of concept," Mr. Simes said.
Women are not allowed to compete as a team of four at the Winter Olympics, although last week the FIBT did agree to allow demonstration races at this season's US trials, North America Cup races and the World Championships.
Singh organises charity runs and demonstration races in under-privileged schools, helping raise awareness about the health benefits of running.
As race weekend approached, demonstrations by the Shiite majority against the Sunni-led government were not only increasing in frequency and violence, but some targeted the race itself.
