The Fifth Annual Woodward Loop Ride brought together the largest number of riders ever for this event since its 2009 inception which was the 100th Anniversary of Woodward Avenue being paved.  A total of 170 riders participated in the Loop ride.  90 of the riders started out from Biggby Coffee in Birmingham on Old Woodward & Maple at 7:30 and headed out on the “first” start, riding north to Pontiac and around Wide Track Drive, also referred to as the “Loop.”  Thanks to Kristen J. for her directions around a couple of minor road issues near the tracks south of Downtown Pontiac. Everyone made the north climb of 350 feet without incident and managed an average speed of 18 mph.  On the route back south, the ride leader opened the gates and most of the riders took up the relatively downhill course back to Birmingham on the nearly car-less Woodward at speeds of 28 mph and faster.

Arriving in Birmingham prior to 8:30 and having traveled about 17 miles with 500 feet of climbing, the first wave of riders were greeted by an additional 80 riders who were planning on the trip to Detroit and a view of the Detroit River. Despite construction on Woodward from 14 Mile to Webster where we were riding on one of the two open lanes, not one automobile passed us in the construction zone!  From there it was clear sailing to Detroit.  The roads were smooth, traffic nominal, and several riders, including David Hicken and Ron Rich, facilitated ride leadership to pace the riders to Detroit.  Passing Palmer Park, strollers in short skirts waved hello and many pedestrians and those sitting on the curb cheered us on!  We passed Albert Kahn-designed buildings and headed past Comerica Park without having to detour as we did last year. On to Hart plaza. Russ St. John brought a group of riders from Grosse Pointe to join in and we had a huge group in front of the “Broken Rim” sculpture at Hart Plaza and a nifty photo opportunity.  Scott Kroske took some great photos as did many other riders.  Danny Klein commented, “Man this is a fun ride!” Mark Cahn could not let go of a smile all morning.

From there, about 40 riders split off for a fast tour of Belle Isle and most did two laps.  The bulk of the riders headed north on Woodward where we turned west onto Adams then north again onto Cass.  We rode north toward Wayne State University and stopped at Avalon Bakery for a trail cookie or other snack.  The ride delineated itself with several groups and paces upon the return.  Everyone sat in and the routing was back up Third to Chicago Blvd., across to Hamilton and north to Palmer Park near the Detroit Golf Club.  Our group took 7 Mile to Warrington and north, working our way to Livernois. Despite a bit of construction at 9 Mile, we continued through pleasant Pleasant Ridge.  We took Drayton west which becomes Oak Park Blvd. to Manistee, then north to Northfield and west to Scotia.  Leaving Oak Park we rode through Huntington Woods and onto Beverly Hills and to Birmingham.  The final mileage count was 56.4 miles with 900 feet of climbing.  It is a bit up hill from the Detroit River it seems!

Michigan Youth Cycling gained well over $1000.00 on the generosity of the riders, and special thanks goes out to Joe, Rose, Biancha, and the staff of Biggby Coffee for supporting our ride, tolerating our sweaty jerseys and for again making a generous contribution to MYC!

For those of you who would like to contribute you can do so in cash or check to me and I’ll deliver it to MYC or go to the website:  www.MichiganYouthCycling.org and you can do so by mailing in a check or go online.

Thanks to all the o2/CBC riders who came out and supported this fun event.  Racers and casual riders sharing the route that links the communities along Woodward Avenue like “pearls on a string” reinforces the idea that we are all members of one large community – and that a bike friendly community is a friendly community.

EJ LEVY
Activities Director

The 45+ group produced great results at the 2013 Cherry Roubaix Road Race. The course is 23.3 miles per lap with the masters race completing 3 laps. The start-summit finish line is high atop Sugar Loaf Mt.  I thought I would share what I observed during the race that gave O2 the victory.

Pre-Race

It was decided during a pre-race meeting that Mike Dega was going to be the aggressor, a roll that the Team agreed could lead to a stage victory.  Dega committed himself to a roll of extreme effort that would lead to victory – or an all-out bonk.  No rest, no draft, just mental and physical pain.

Lap 1

The race took off with a more relaxed pace, but of course, Team Hagerty sent a “flyer” off the front to create a break.  The field did not react, letting the rider ride solo within view.  I moved myself to fourth position watching for any moves from Craig Webb of Team Hagerty or Tom Linck of Leadout Racing, who Mark Cahn and I thought were the two strongest riders in the field.

At about the halfway mark into the lap, Dega and a second rider made their move to bridge to the leader.  I was extremely happy to see that the peloton let Dega go and that he was able to drive the break out of our site.  This was an aggressive move that required guts and an all-out commitment for victory.

At this point our team plan was running according to script. 

Lap 2

Cahn and I were doing everything we could to slow the peloton.  C. Webb seemed to be content with his teammate working with Dega in the break, however T. Linck, and Newton Cole, a new rider with Burnham Racing from Chicago, were growing uneasy.  They began trying to increase the speed of the peloton; however the rolling hills made it tough to get anything organized. 

A rotation did form, so I put myself into 5^th position making it difficult for a large number of riders to participate.  At this point C. Webb was still content sitting in, while T. Linck was expending a lot of energy pushing the 4 rider rotation. 

Half way into the lap, the rotation began to break up and the peloton slowed.  At this point, N.Cole decided to make a strong move to bridge to Dega’s group.  M. Cahn anticipated the move and latched onto Cole’s wheel.  While the peloton was still recovering, N. Cole and M. Cahn met up with Dega to create a five rider break out of the peloton’s site.

At this point, I thought “Checkmate”, but C. Webb and T. Linck had other ideas.

Lap 3

At the beginning of lap three, I could tell Webb was getting nervous. The break was still out of the site and he only had one team member against two O2 team members.  He shouted out to his supporters on the side line for the time gap.  It was more than two minutes. 

Then the fireworks began.  On the next few hills, Webb destroyed the peloton with some hard attacks.  After catching his wheel, I looked back and all we had was T. Linck.  Webb and Linck began their rotation, while I grabbed wheel.  (Being experienced bike racers, both of them knew I had no interest in contributing to the effort, since my teammates were in the break.) 

Three quarters into the lap we looked ahead and Webb saw his teammate was dropped from the break with only a short distance to the finish.  Alarmed, Webb began asking everyone he could for the breaks location.  On the course’s second-from-the-last major climb, Webb was told that the gap was only 29 seconds. 

I moved ahead of Linck and Webb during the climb, since I noticed that they were feeling the effects of their efforts.  (This was where I made a big mistake and corrected it quickly.)  Looking at the pain in Linck’s face I got soft and told Webb “If you catch the break, I’ll give you the win… just don’t make me look bad”.  WOW… What did I just do???  I’ve done this in the past??? If Cahn finds out, I’m toast!  I quickly slowed on the hill and told Webb,” I need to race for the win… game on”.  He smiled.

On top of the climb, Webb and I distanced ourselves away from Linck.  Webb attacked on the decent, and that’s when I looked up and saw Dega, Cahn and Cole.  CRAP!!!  We were coming hard and Webb had new life.  When we caught the group, Webb slowed, Linck was able to hook on, and I moved to the front.

At the front, going into the last climb to the finish line, I looked into the eyes of Cole and said “you’re going to be a problem aren’t you”. He smiled.  Not knowing how my teammates were feeling, I increased the tempo during the first of the two stage climb.  I looked back and saw Cole trying to close the small gap I created.  At the crest of the first stage, I increased my tempo again and noticed that I was not going be caught.

Knowing that my daughter, Eva, was watching at the finish, I threw in some theatrics by pumping my fist.  She thought it was great, my wife rolled her eyes, and I just smiled, since Team O2 just executed another strong team finish and victory. 

Results: 1) J. Ignash, 2) C. Webb, 3) N. Cole, 4) M. Dega, 5) T. Linck, 6) M. Cahn 12) N. Laughton

We had a great day of racing Saturday. Our team was one of the most well represented teams there with a total of 11 racers in 4 categories. Out of those 11 racers, we had 4 on the podium and many others in the top 10. There was some great teamwork throughout the day and even more team support.

The Flahute of the Day goes to Jerry Gase who, despite having rear derailleur problems before the race, raced anyhow. Basically he rode up one of the hardest hills you will find in a race with only two gears (big chain ring or small chain ring). Jerry was leading the pack up the big hill a couple of times so that he could stay in the race. Everyone that knew he only had two gears was impressed with how well he was doing. He finished 10th out of a field of 30 with riders who all had way too many gears to choose from.

The runner-up to the Flahute of the day was Peter Vajda who, despite losing the pack at the beginning of the second lap, rode out the rest of the race solo.

James Ignash was able to take the top step of the podium in the Masters 45+ race with a solo breakaway. With the help of his other teammates sitting on wheels and holding back the group, he was able to finish 2 mins 20 seconds in front of second and 5 mins ahead of the the other chase group.

Riders’ Placings

Road Race
1st James Ignash 45+
2nd Paul Skorupskas Cat 3
3rd Mike Dega 45+
5th Alex Huyghe Cat 4
6th Tony Bruley 35+
10th Jerry Gase Cat 3
16th Peter Vajda 45+
20th Derek Delzer Cat 3

Criterium
5th Derek Delzer Cat 3
7th Doug Burcicki Cat 3
8th Dave Hicken 45+ (Also 23rd in Cat 3)
14th Paul Skorupskas Cat 3
20th Jerry Gase Cat 3
21st Nigel Mullis Cat 4

It would have been nice to see more Cat 5 racers at the races. It looks like the criterium only had 3 riders in it period. We didn’t have any Cat 5 racers in any of the races this weekend. West Branch is one of the best races that we have in the state – hopefully we can get more people out next year.

Overall, we had a great weekend and there were solid results for our team. I look forward to racing next weekend at Mt. Pleasant and hope to see a lot of people there. I know many people will be doing Michigan Mountain Mayhem on Saturday but there is still a Crit on Sunday.