Saturday, August 28, 2004

 

Team Bikesport traveled up to the tiny burg of Rockford, MI, a city known as “Good for Strolling…..Great for Shopping” (really, they’ve even trade-marked the slogan).  It’s also the home of the Wolverine Shoe Company and located on the eastern banks of the Rogue River.   More importantly, the race circuit includes the toughest climb of any criterium course in the Michigan Challenge, the steady drag up Maple Street Hill.  A good description of the course would be, climb hill, descend, turn, descend, turn, turn, descend, turn, turn, climb hill, repeat, repeat, repeat.  The fast downhill pretty much made up for the reduction in speed the climbing had on the pack and laps were completed in 1’45” to 2’00” with riders hitting 40+mph on the downhill. 

 

Lining up for the Pro 1, 2 race from Team Bikesport were Matt Siebert, Jeff Hamilton and Josh Tarrant.  The field totaled about 50-55 riders.  Most notable were Kirk O’Bee, former US Criterium National Champion and a member of the Navigators Insurance Cycling Team, a UCI Division 2 trade team, and the 2004 Michigan Criterium champion from ABG Cycling, Brian Sheedy.  Other pro riders included entries from McGuires Cycling, Long John Silvers Cycling Team, Team Monex, as well as the usual suspects from ABG Cycling, Ford/Giant/AAVC, Wolverines Sports Club, and Team Essex Brass.  

 

From the gun the pace was blistering.  The first climb up Maple Street Hill saw 3 riders off the back immediately.  By the second lap another 2 joined them.  After that each lap saw at least 1 rider lose contact.  The bunch was strung out in a single file which stretched nearly a city block in length.  Attacks started immediately with the Team Monex rider being very aggressive.   Within only a couple of laps Kirk O’Bee of Navigators and Brian Sheedy of ABG Cycling had ridden away from the disintegrating pack and were off the front, heads down, on a 2-up time trial.   At this point lap times were around 1’45” and everyone was SUFFERING.  The Ford/Giant/AAVC team worked to chase to no avail.  Most importantly, the work they put in burned up two important matches, Nick Durrie and Nate Griffiths, who would both be pulled from the race. 

 

Jeff Hamilton, Matt Siebert and Josh Tarrant all raced admirably but succumbed to the relentless beatings dished out by Maple Street Hill and were pulled from the race with a group of 10 other riders.

 

Incredibly, Kirk O’Bee and Brian Sheedy lapped the field and then took off again, this time with Brian Adams of Ford/Giant/AAVC latched onto their wheels.  This trio put another 30 seconds into the demoralized pack before the finish.  On the line Kirk O’Bee outsprinted Brian Sheedy for the win with Brian Adams hanging back to secure a well fought 3rd place. 

 

In the Category 3 race which followed the Pro 1, 2 race Team Bikesport was very well represented with Alex Keomany, Vince Roberge, Joe Lekovish, Travis Stebbins, Mark Caswell, Jeff Elam, John Rigdon, Paul Kundrat and James Whitesides lining up.  Despite the prize list being $1,000.00, the field totaled only 36 riders.  The lack of quantity was more than made up for in quality, as nearly all the top Cat 3 riders in Michigan were present.  One notable absentee was Norm Zellers of Team By Grace, current Cat 3 2004 Michigan Road and Criterium champion. 

 

As in the Pro 1,2 race, the pack set a merciless pace from the start.  The second climb up Maple Street Hill saw several riders attempting to split the field already.  Here, only 5 minutes into the race, coming out of the second turn descending from the climb a rider rolled their tubular tire and brought down 4-5 other riders who could not avoid the fallen rider due to the speed and tightness of the corner.  Most notably, Team Bikesport standout Joe Lekovish crashed heavily as he piled into the rider falling in front of him at 30mph.  Luckily, Joe landed on the grass just off the road and escaped without any road rash, just a broken helmet, a bent front wheel (brand new Ritchey Protocol, MSRP $350) and a sore head and shoulder.  James Whitesides of Team Bikesport went down heavily and suffering painful abrasions on his chest, elbow and knees as well as a possible fractured wrist.  Another rider crashing was Nick Wierzba of West Michigan Coast Riders.  Both Joe and Nick would jump back in after taking a brief free lap. 

 

The relentless pace continued as Mike Workman of West Michigan Coast Riders, just back from contesting the Junior National Championships in Park City Utah, put in an impressive solo attack which lasted for nearly ½ the race.  With about 15 minutes and 2 laps remaining in the race Team Bikesport had lost all but 3 riders.  At the front were Vince Roberge, Travis Stebbins and Alex Keomany.  They contributed to the chase and with 5 laps to go brought back Mike Workman.  With only 2 laps remaining the irrepressible Workman was off the front solo again where he would remain to take a great win.  Chasing him in second was Dave Baar of Ada Bike Team.  In the sprint for 3rd, Nick Wierzba of West Michigan Coast Riders took third, while Team Bikesport riders Vince Roberge and Travis Stebbins placed 4th and 5th respectively.  Alex Keomany rounded out the finishers in 12th place.  This race took a painful toll on the pack, with only 19 of the 36 starters finishing the race. 

 

Next up for Team Bikesport are the Labor Day weekend races, the Tour de Via Italia in Windsor and the Debaets-Devos Criterium at the Cadieux Café in Detroit. 

 

See you there!!!